By Stacy Burns, Air Force Institute of Technology

The Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management awarded six faculty members promotion and tenure upon completion of the academic year 2021-2022 cycle. The six faculty members underwent a rigorous evaluation of their teaching, scholarship and service resulting in promotion of academic rank. Cumulatively, these faculty members have over 380 publications, advised more than 145 students, received more than $8.6M in sponsored research funding, and earned one patent. Promotion awards were presented on 20 July 2022 by Dr. Heidi Ries, AFIT provost and chief academic officer, and Dr. Adedeji Badiru, dean, Graduate School of Engineering and Management.
 

Dr. Brett Borghetti earned promotion to professor of computer engineering with tenure within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He joined the AFIT faculty as a military member in 2008 and became a civilian faculty member in 2013 upon retirement from active duty in the Air Force. His research interests include adaptive algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning, artificial neural networks, computational mathematics and optimization, human factors engineering and human systems integration.

Borghetti has demonstrated excellence in teaching with an average student rating of 4.63 on a five-point scale in the 28 courses he has taught to over 500 students since 2008. He has advised 31 master's and seven doctoral students (four complete, three in-progress). He has contributed to two book chapters; 28 peer-reviewed journal articles; 35 peer-reviewed conference papers (including abstracts) and supported 28 funded research projects totaling $3.03M ($1.46M in personal funding).

Awards recognizing his teaching and scholarly activity include: Air Education and Training Command Educator of the Year (civilian category, 2021); Graduate School of Engineering and Management nominee for Ezra Kotcher Teaching Award (2021); Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Instructor of the Year (2014, 2018); and AETC Winner of the Air Force STEM Outstanding Science and Educator Award (2015).

Borghetti’s service to the general electrical engineeirng/computer engineering/computer science academic community includes numerous reviews for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics; MDPI Sensors; MDPI Remote Sensing; IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics; Applied Sciences Journal; IEEE Computing in Science and Engineering; Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation; IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics; Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Conference; and International Human-Computer Interface Conference. He has also served as a member of the Program Committee for Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Conference, and session chair for International Computer Interface Conference. He is the current faculty council president for the Graduate School of Engineering and Management.

Borghetti earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1992, a M.S. in Computer Systems from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1996 and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota in 2008.

Dr. Scott Graham earned promotion to professor of computer engineering with tenure within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He joined the AFIT faculty as a mid-career military assistant professor in 2004 and served until 2008. Following his retirement from the Air Force, he rejoined the faculty as a civilian assistant professor. His research interests include security at the intersection of real physical systems and the computers that control them. Specific areas of interest include cyber physical systems security, embedded security, computer communication networks, and vehicular cyber security.

Graham has contributed to 26 peer-reviewed journal articles; 59 peer-reviewed conference papers; and 14 book chapters. He has supported 15 funded research projects totaling over $2.1M, including $696K in personal funding; and advised 37 master's (33 complete, four in-progress) and seven doctoral students (three complete, four in-progress); and is a co-author on an awarded patent.

Graham’s notable service includes: director, AFIT Center for Cyberspace Research; chairman, Graduate Cyber Operations Program Curriculum Committee (2017-Present); chairman, Department of Engineering and Computer Engineering (AFIT/ENG) Faculty Search Committee (2016-2018); principal investigator, Cyber-Physical Systems Laboratory (2016-Present); associate guest editor, Digital Threats: Research and Practice (2019-2021); technical reviewer for multiple journals; deputy department head, AFIT/ENG (2006-2007); Chief, Computer Science and Engineering Division, AFIT/ENG (2005-2006); chairman, AFIT/ENG Awards Committee (2004-2005); lead, Graduate School of Engineering and Management's 2d Lt Professional Development Program (2004-2006); member, Technical Program Committee, International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security (2018); chairman, Technical Session, ICCWS (2017); chairman, Technical Session, International Conference on Critical Infrastructure Protection (2018).

Graham earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 1993, a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1999 and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004. He is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Dr. Douglas Hodson earned promotion to professor of computer engineering with tenure within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He joined the AFIT faculty in 2011 as an assistant professor of computer engineering. Prior to that, as an AFIT doctoral student, he taught several classes to master's and doctoral students. His research interests include computer engineering, software engineering, real-time distributed simulation, and quantum communications.

Hodson has taught all three classes within the software engineering sequence as well as an experimental design class and a course in microprocessor design. As an AFIT doctoral student, he taught advanced microprocessor design for several years. In addition, several special study courses on topics ranging from understanding Rust (a systems level programming language) to modeling and simulation time-advance algorithms to hardware logic.

Broadly, Hodson’s research focus concerns the software engineering aspects of modeling and simulation architectures, frameworks, and paradigms. His research productivity includes successfully graduating 19 master's students, one doctoral student and the administration of the selection and funding of a postdoc. He has also served on numerous AFIT master's and doctoral research committees. He is also serving on a doctoral committee of an international student attending the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, Belgium.

Hodson’s research has resulted in 39 journal articles, four book chapters and one book. In addition, he has authored 43 refereed conference papers and presented at numerous conferences. Hodson has been either the principle investigator or co-PI on 33 proposals from multiple sponsors that total over $4.150M.

Hodson has served as the assistant Air Force representative for the U.S./ROK alliance, which hosts the Defense Analysis Exchange every two years in Seoul, Korea. He has served as both a session chair for several conferences and as an associate editor for the Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation and has given keynote presentations at a number of events. Hodson is a Dayton Area Graduate Studies Institute scholar and a member of Tau Beta Pi.

Hodson earned a B.S. in Physics from Wright State University in 1985, and both an M.S. in Electro-Optics in 1987 and an M.B.A. in 1999 from the University of Dayton. He completed his Ph.D. in Computer Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2009.
 

Dr. Anil Patnaik was awarded tenure at the rank of associate professor of physics within the Department of Engineering Physics. His research interests include the theory and experimentation of fundamental laser-matter interactions, both in the realm of classical and quantum regime, and their applications. He has worked on a wide range of topics in quantum optics, non-linear optics, laser-based diagnostics and state-of-the-art AF applications.

Patnaik taught eight offerings of four distinct courses from 2019-2021. He co-developed and co-taught a 36-hour quantum information/quantum computing short course in 2020. He received the Graduate School of Engineering and Management Teaching Award in 2021 and serves as the curriculum chair of the Applied Physics program. Patnaik’s research partnerships resulted in Air Force Office of Scientific Research funding and a Memorandum of Understanding/Memorandum of Agreement between AFIT and Air Force Research Laboratory's Aerospace Systems Directorate for operational lease of Extreme Light Laboratory.

Patnaik has advised three master's theses (two complete, one in-progress) and is currently advising four doctoral dissertations. He has also been or is currently a member of four master's theses and four doctoral dissertation committees.

Since 2019, Patnaik has obtained over $816K in research-grant funding (an average of nearly $270K/year) and he has published five archival journal articles and currently has three manuscripts in review.

Overall, Patnaik has over 43 peer-reviewed publications and another six currently in preparation. He’s had two book chapters published while at AFIT and has published 28 proceedings papers. While at AFIT, Patnaik and his students have made 16 conference presentations, an average of 5.3 per year. He or one of his students has given 11 invited talks since he’s been at AFIT and he gave 30 prior to that.

Within his profession, Patnaik was a program committee member of the Optical Society of America Conference on Laser Application to Chemical, Security and Environmental Analysis in 2021, and is the program committee chair for 2022. He was an invited plenary speaker at the 51st Winter Colloquium on the Physics of Quantum Electronics in 2022 and served as the organizer of their session on ultrafast light-matter interaction. He served as a panelist for the FY20 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program and reviewed six applications. He served as a referee for several peer-review journals and as a reviewer for several AFOSR, National Science Foundation and Department of Engergy Broad-Area Announcement proposals.

Patnaik earned a M.S. in Physics from Utkal University, India in 1995 and a Ph.D. in 2001 from Physical Research Laboratory, Department of Space, India. He is a fellow of the Optical Society of India.
 

Lt. Col. Samuel Butler earned promotion to associate professor of physics with military tenure within the Department of Engineering Physics. He joined the AFIT faculty in 2015. His research interests include hyperspectral analysis, optics and remote sensing.

Butler taught 22 offerings of eight distinct courses from 2015 to 2021. He also taught nine offerings of two distinct refresher courses for incoming students, continually upgrading the material along the way. He has also advised six master's theses and one doctoral dissertation, and has been or is currently a member of another seven master's thesis and one doctoral dissertation committees.

Butler has nine peer-reviewed journal publications and one peer-reviewed conference paper with an impact factor of 2.44. He has 14 conference proceedings, three conference presentations, 149 Google Scholar citations and an h-index of six and i10 index of five. Butler’s total funded research since 2015 totals $354,279 ($339,459 as PI; $14,820 as co PI).

Within his profession, Butler has held 11 different service positions: NATO Systems Analysis and Studies140 panel member (since 2019), Applied Physics curriculum chair (since 2019), Optical Sciences and Engineering curriculum chair (since 2019), the International Society for Optics and Photonics Conference committee member (since 2017), and SPIE student chapter faculty military advisor (since 2017). Butler was awarded the AFIT Graduate School Early Career Achievement Award (2021).

Butler earned a B.S. in Applied Physics from Brigham Young University in 2004, a M.S. in Engineering Physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2010 and a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2015.

Dr. Jeremy Slagley earned promotion to associate professor of industrial hygiene and environmental science with tenure within the Department of Systems Engineering and Management. Prior to coming to the AFIT faculty in 2016, Slagley served 20 years as an Air Force bioenvironmental engineer officer, retiring at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He served as AFIT Department of Systems Engineering and Management military faculty from 2006-2010, establishing the Graduate Industrial Hygiene program. He also served as an assistant professor at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Department of Safety Sciences 2013-2016, before returning to AFIT in 2016.

Slagley’s research interests include modeling and experimental studies in support of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear contamination, decontamination, and control, energy, waste management, and ototoxic chemical effects in the Department of Defense workforce.

Slagley teaches courses in risk assessment, evaluation, and control, as well as systems safety, and human factors engineering. He has successfully advised 32 AFIT theses, including a winner of the AFIT Dean’s Award, and one doctoral dissertation at IUP.  At AFIT, Slagley has served as program director and curriculum chair of the Industrial Hygiene Program and as the program director of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Graduate Certificate Program.

Slagley has published 28 peer-reviewed journal articles, 6 peer-reviewed conference papers, and 8 other publications (book chapters, military “gray” journals, professional magazines, etc.). He has presented or co-presented 48 times at national and international conferences and 11 times at DoD or regional conferences. In the area of research since 2016, he has worked as principal investigator for $1.16M in research grants, and co-investigator for $1.35M in grants.

Slagley recently completed a Fulbright scholarship at the Nofer Institute for Occupational Medicine in Lodz, Poland from March-June 2022. He researched ototoxic chemical exposures and health effects with world-renowned experts in the field.

Slagley is an active member of the American Industrial Hygiene Association since 2004, twice serving as chair of the AIHA Noise Committee. He is also an active member of the American Society of Safety Professionals and serves as an ABET evaluator for the Applied and Natural Sciences Accreditation Commission.

Slagley earned a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY in 1993, a M.S. in Industrial Hygiene from the University of Iowa in 2000 and a Ph.D. in Occupational Safety and Health from West Virginia University in 2006.