Dr. Alice E. Smith, a 1991 Ph.D. graduate in engineering management from S&T, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
“It’s not just a recognition,” Smith says. “I’m really looking forward to being involved with the academy and bringing my perspectives and ideas. I can also be a spokesperson for the universities I’ve had affiliations with, including Missouri S&T.”
Originally from St. Louis, she earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Rice University in Houston and an MBA from Saint Louis University.
Today Smith is a distinguished professor of industrial and systems engineering at Auburn University in Alabama. Previously, she served on the faculty of industrial engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, which she joined after industrial experience with Southwestern Bell Corp.
Smith said she hopes to bring a global perspective to her newly elected role since she’s done a lot of work globally, received four Fulbright Fellowships and managed collaborations from several countries. Many of her Ph.D. students are international, and she’s had many visiting scholars.
“I think I have a pretty good global perspective, and I definitely want to share that,” Smith says.
“It’s important in technology to embrace the world to the highest degree possible and share ideas, work together and learn from each other.”
Dr. Alice E. Smith
Smith has been promoting engineering to diverse groups for over 30 years with a strong focus on women.
“I am a woman engineer and there still aren’t that many of us, especially at the senior level,” Smith says. “That’s another thing I want to get involved with, and that I have been involved with, but now this will allow me to work at it on a broader and higher level.”
Smith was elected to the NAE for her advancements in computational intelligence, as applied to modeling and optimization of complex systems. While at S&T, Smith worked with Dr. Cihan Dagli, professor of systems engineering.
At the time, Dagli was just starting to apply artificial intelligence, specifically neural networks (deep learning). Her dissertation featured that type of research in the field of quality control for production environments. As one of the early works in that area, it attracted a lot of attention.
“I think having an opportunity to bring those perspectives to my new role, especially given the current hype of AI, will be really good,” Smith says.
She said it’s also important for her to recognize universities such as Auburn University and Missouri S&T as doing excellent engineering research and graduating competitive engineering students.
“I think my presence will be great, because when the opportunity arises to talk about my experiences as a student at Rolla and as a faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh and Auburn, I think those will be opportunities for people to have a better appreciation of those universities but also universities like them,” Smith says.
The NAE elected 128 new members and 22 international members this year, which brings the total U.S. membership to 2,487. Smith was formally inducted in October during the NAE annual meeting in Washington, D.C.