Directory

Research focuses on system design, manufacturing and engineering education

Beshoy Morkos is an associate professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia where he directs MODE2L (Manufacturing Optimization, Design, and Engineering Education Lab) Group. His research group currently explores the areas of system design, manufacturing, and their respective education. His system design research focuses on developing computational representation and reasoning support for managing complex system design through the use of Model Based approaches. The goal of Dr. Morkos’ manufacturing research is to fundamentally reframe our understanding and utilization of product and process representations and computational reasoning capabilities to support the development of models which help engineers and project planners intelligently make informed decisions.  On the engineering education front, Dr. Morkos’ research explores means to improve persistence and diversity in engineering education by leveraging students’ design experiences. Dr. Morkos’ research is supported by federal [National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Naval Research (ONR), United States Navy, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)] and industry partners [Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Sun Nuclear, Northrop Grumman, Rockwell Collins, PTC, Alstom].

Dr. Morkos received his Ph.D. from Clemson University under the tutelage of Dr. Joshua Summers. His Ph.D. dissertation was awarded the ASME CIE Dissertation of the year award for its transformative research on the development of nontraditional representation and reasoning tools for requirements analysis. Dr. Morkos was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Engineering & Science Education at Clemson University working alongside Dr. Lisa Benson performing NSF funded research on engineering student motivation and its effects on persistence and the use of advanced technology in engineering classroom environments. He graduated with his B.S. and M.S in Mechanical Engineering in from Clemson University. His past work experience include working at the BMW Information Technology Research Center (ITRC) as a Research Associate and Robert Bosch Corporation as a Manufacturing Engineer.

Dr. Morkos comes from a low-income background, having overcome limited access to many math and science prerequisites at every academic level prior to college. This experience led to his commitment to increasing justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in engineering.  This is evidenced by his research on improving student persistence in engineering and graduate student recruitment.