Edward Huang

Dr. Edward Huang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Auburn University. Previously, he held the position of associate professor in the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason University. He was affiliated with the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at George Mason University. He obtained his B.S. degree in industrial engineering and engineering management from National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, in 2001. He further earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial systems engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, in 2008 and 2011, respectively.

Dr. Huang’s research interests encompass facility design, model-based systems engineering, and the disruption of illicit networks. With considerable expertise in empirical studies and modeling of both legitimate and illicit supply chains, Dr. Huang and his team have undertaken comprehensive research into illicit supply chains. They systematically gathered data on all sex trafficking civil cases, examining the factors influencing the selection of specific hotels by sex traffickers. This analysis sought to uncover whether the selection process reflects certain geographic attributes of hotels or the facilitating role of the hospitality sector, as alleged in ongoing legal cases. Furthermore, Dr. Huang’s team analyzed various attributes of hotels where exploitation cases were reported in the U.S., taking into account factors such as price levels, ratings, spatial distribution within cities, and economic characteristics of the neighborhoods. Additionally, they conducted thorough cyber analysis of counterfeit supply chains for personal protective equipment (PPE) and pharmaceuticals. This involved the collection and analysis of hundreds of websites advertising counterfeit opioids on the open web, utilizing cyber and supply chain analysis techniques to identify established and emerging illicit networks and their interrelationships. He has served as the Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI on several projects funded by organizations such as the NSF, AFOSR, IARPA, CICMHE, and POSTECH. He is a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS).