Engineering Management Faculty - Office of Professional Programs

Dr. Neil Rothman | Program Director

Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Dr. Neil Rothman, Professor of the Practice and Graduate Program Director for Professional Programs in Engineering, came to UMBC as a Lecturer in 2012. He uses his 30+ years of industry experience to provide a professional engineering practice perspective to all of his courses. Before UMBC, he was the VP of Applied Research and Technology Development at BrainScope Company Inc., translating clinical research into new products for the diagnosis of traumatic brain injury/concussion. Dr. Rothman holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and was recently awarded his 25th patent.

Toby Gouker, Ph.D. | Graduate Faculty

Ph.D., Applied Management and Decision Sciences, Walden University
M.B.A., University of Houston
B.S., Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Toby Gouker, an adjunct with UMBC since 2011, has over 38 years of management experience in industry and academia. For the past five years, Toby served as the Provost and Chief Academic Officer for the SANS Technology Institute. In addition to his work with SANS, Toby held a number of academic positions over the past 10 years. As the Provost at Lyman Spalding Institute, he led the effort to build a global continuing education program for scientists and engineers, as the Vice President of University Affairs at American Graduate University, he functioned as the lead academic and operating officer, and as Executive Director at Laureate Education he led National Technological University through its merger with Walden University.

In addition to his academic endeavors, Toby has worked extensively in industry. He worked as the Chief Strategy Officer for LongView International Technology Solutions and as Chief Operating Officer for Computer Technology solutions to build federal healthcare information technology and security practices. Prior to his federal contracting positions, he was the Director of Operations at CertisUSA where he managed several biotech facilities, a Research and Development Manager at W.R. Grace commercializing power plant and other source air pollution control products, and a Project Leader for several synthetic fuels ventures at Exxon Research and Engineering.

Dr. Gouker received his Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences from Walden University, his M.B.A. at the University of Houston, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dr. Gouker is also a Graduate Faculty member at American Graduate University and DeVry University.

Sheldon Broedel, Ph.D. | Graduate Faculty

Ph.D., Microbial Genetics, UMBC
M.S., Microbial Genetics, UMBC
B.S., Biology, State University of New York at Geneseo

Sheldon Broedel, a member of the UMBC faculty since 2008, has a combined 33 years of industry and academic experience. He is a founder/CEO/CSO of Athena Environmental Sciences, Inc., a diversified biotechnology company that specializes in designing, developing and manufacturing bio-based products. Under the Athena Enzyme Systems™ brand, the company makes and sells a line of biotools designed to improve the expression and recovery of recombinant proteins. Additionally, Dr. Broedel has held research and management positions with Martin Marietta Laboratories (now Lockheed-Martin), Dorlin Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (formerly ChekTec Corporation). In 2005, Dr. Broedel received UMBC’s Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award. He has a diverse range of scientific publications, holds five issued patents, and has designed, reduced to practice and launched more than 160 products. Dr. Broedel and his development teams have received ten SBIR grant awards for their work with infectious diseases, environmental products and diagnostic tests. Athena currently has a portfolio of over 500 products serving world-wide biotechnology and consumer markets.

Dr. Broedel completed his B.S. in Biology at the State University of New York at Geneseo and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Microbial Genetics at UMBC. He also holds positions as the Associate Graduate Program Director and Instructor for the MPS: Biotechnology at UMBC and as an Adjunct Professor with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University School of Medicine.

You can view Dr. Broedel’s public LinkedIn profile here.

John Johnson, Ph.D. | Graduate Faculty
Ph.D., Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University
M.S., Industrial Engineering, M.B.A., Finance, University of Miami
M.S., Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
B.S., Electrical Engineering, Tuskegee University

John Johnson’s professional experience includes nearly three decades in private and government sectors at various capacities as an engineer, analyst, and manager. Over his career he has lead manufacturing operations, quality assurance, and supply chain management in domestic and international markets. Dr. Johnson co-founded Systems Thinking & Solutions, a Virginia corporation, where he is currently providing professional services specializing in systems engineering and program management support for IT systems. Dr. Johnson’s research interests are focused on problems and opportunities associated with unexplained phenomena (i.e., emergence) in engineered systems. His research interests also include the application of systems thinking and modeling & simulation methods to solve policy and process challenges. He has published multiple conference papers, journal articles, and book chapters related to these interests.

Dr. Johnson is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and an American Society for Quality (ASQ) Six-Sigma Black Belt. He received a Ph.D. in Engineering Management and Systems Engineering from Old Dominion University; a Master’s degree in Systems Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute; a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, as well as an M.B.A. in Finance, from the University of Miami; and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tuskegee University.

Michelle Jones | Graduate Faculty

M.S., Accounting and Business Advisory Services, Towson University and University of Baltimore
B.S., Business Administration, University of Baltimore

Michelle Jones has over 25 years of experience in various accounting management positions. Currently, she serves as the Director of Finance at Hertzbach & Company, P.A., a certified public accounting and consulting firm that serves clients with assurance, tax, consulting and advisory services. In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the financial, banking, budgeting, payroll and administrative operations for the firm.

Prior to joining Hertzbach & Company, P.A., Ms. Jones held a CFO and several Corporate Controller positions, managing the day-to-day accounting of financial reporting, accounts receivables and collections, accounts payable and payroll. Ms. Jones has also been responsible for year-end financial, bank and 401K audits, reporting and filing payroll, sales tax and personal property tax returns, budgeting and forecasting. She has also participated in several system implementations, worked on acquisitions and dissolutions, benefit and insurance renewals, 401K administration, developed and completed Sarbanes-Oxley documentation and compensation plans used in labor union negotiations.

Ms. Jones holds a B.S. in Business from the University of Baltimore, and a joint M.S. in Accounting and Business Advisory Services from Towson University and the University of Baltimore. She is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Keith R. Kirkwood | Graduate Faculty

M.S., Engineering Management, UMBC
B.S., Computer Information Systems, Eastern Washington University
Graduate, U.S. Army Computer Science School

Mr. Kirkwood has almost 30 years of leadership and management experience in both industry and the U.S. Army. He is currently an Engineering Program Manager for Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems in Linthicum, MD. He has been with Northrop Grumman for 18 years in a variety of leadership and management positions. His assignments include serving as the Communications Integrated Product Team lead for the Tactical Exploitation System, Department Systems Engineering Manager for the C4ISR Department, Lead Systems Engineer and Chief Engineer for the Distributed Common Ground System – Army (Version 4), and the manager for the Processing Architectures Department in the Advanced Concepts & Technology Division. Keith has also served as technical business development engineer and has been a functional manager for the previous 9 years.

Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Keith served as a Cavalry officer and a Systems Automation Acquisition officer for the United States Army for 11 years. As an acquisition officer, he was responsible for the software lifecycle management for the All Source Analysis System (ASAS). As a Cavalry officer, Keith was fortunate to be able to witness firsthand the fall of the East-West German border.

Keith’s principal areas of interest include cyber security, system of systems engineering, processing architectures, intelligence processing systems, component based software engineering and model driven engineering.

Adam Lippe | Graduate Faculty

J.D., University of Maryland School of Law
B.S., Political Science, The Johns Hopkins University

Mr. Lippe is a career prosecutor who serves as the Chief of the Economic Cyber Crimes Unit, as well as the Animal Abuse Unit for the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office (a jurisdiction of over 800,000 people). In this role he manages direct reports and personally works on complex embezzlements and frauds, including identity theft, internet scams, check and credit card frauds, large material thefts, organized retail crime, financial exploitation of vulnerable adults, entitlement fraud, animal cruelty, in addition to handling murders. He was a district and juvenile court prosecutor, before heading to violent crime and narcotics for many years before his current position. Mr. Lippe has been an adjunct faculty member at UMUC, as well as both the University of Maryland School of Law and University of Baltimore School of Law and several other local colleges and universities helping to teach undergraduate and graduates both on-campus and on-line. He also was a frequent lecturer at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina for the National District Attorney’s Association. Licensed in both the state of Maryland and New Jersey, Mr. Lippe is an alumni of the University of Maryland School of Law and The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Thomas G. Moore, Ph.D. | Faculty

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Northwestern University
M.S., Electrical Engineering, Northwestern University
B.S., Electrical Engineering, Northwestern University

Dr. Moore has worked over 25 years in industry designing, developing, and testing products. His most recent position was the Director of Systems Engineering and Logistics for Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems. While at Electronic Systems Dr. Moore held a variety of positions ranging from technical strategy development to business area director responsible for capturing and executing technology development programs.

Dr. Moore received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University. He attended the Harvard Business School General Managers Program. Dr. Moore has published papers in the areas of computational electromagnetics, and radar signal processing. He holds several patents. Dr. Moore is a senior member of the IEEE, and a member of Sigma Xi.

Sam Negahban Ph.D. | Graduate Faculty

Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park
M.S., Civil Engineering (Construction Management, Water Resources), Drexel University
B.S., Civil Engineering (Construction Management, Transportation), Drexel University

Dr. Sam Negahban has been a fixture in the Maryland Commercial Construction Industry for over 30 years. He is a Senior Vice President with Brawner Builders, Inc. based in Hunt Valley, MD. Currently he is managing Brawner Builders Inc.’s facilities renovation programs for Federal, State, and local agencies. He has successfully developed a program to allow Brawner Builders, Inc. to compete and be awarded multiple Task Order, IDIQ, On-Call, Time & Material, Design Build Contracts. In addition, he has developed and managed a team that is currently competing successfully in public and private sector construction contracting.

Over the last twenty years, Dr. Negahban has developed an expertise for completing projects for Universities and local school districts under severe budgetary and time constraints. These projects have consisted of renovations to dormitories, lecture halls, class rooms, theaters, sport facilities, laboratories, and offices.

Dr. Negahban has published numerous research articles in journals and international conferences.

George Ray, D.Mgt. | Graduate Faculty
D.Mgt., SMC University
M.S., Software Engineering, Marketing West Virginia University
B.S., Computer Science, University of Maryland
B.S., Accounting, University of Maryland, Magna Cum Laude

Dr. Ray is Chief of Application Services for the U.S. Judiciary and has 37 years of experience in the information technology field. Past positions include Senior Architectural Engineer and Senior Consultant at Microsoft, Manager of Microcomputer Systems at Amtrak, Director of Information Systems at the American Occupational Therapy Association and Computer Programmer for the Bell System.

Dr. Ray has expertise in complex management for international, national and regional businesses, agencies, military units and advanced projects in the following sectors: Finance, manufacturing, electronics, software, education, government, military, communications, consulting, healthcare and medical associations. His work background also includes international partnering, consortium and alliance building in multi-cultural, international environments with expat assignments in 5 countries including Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil.

Additionally, he has systems development and project management experience with national and international financial institutions including: Citibank, Bancomer, FilanBanco, various Federal Reserve Banks, Bureau of Public Debt, and NASDAQ. He has served as a Computer and Communications Officer in the United States Air Force, doing systems development work in a tempest secure facility. Finally, Dr. Ray has data warehouse development and information architecture experience with national and regional health care providers including: Veterans Health Affairs, and Sentera Health Systems, as well as knowledge management, workflow and collaboration work at the U.S. Judiciary.

Dr. Ray has been elected into the Beta Gamma Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi and Golden Key International Honor Societies. Other honors include the University of Maryland Honors Convocation for Outstanding Scholarship, Microsoft Outstanding Achievement Award, Microsoft Outstanding Contribution Award, Letter of Commendation from the Chief of Engineering USAFR, and the Commandant’s List of Distinguished Students, USAARMS.

Dr. Ray has the following credentials and certifications:
– Project Management Professional – Project Management Institute;
– IBM Advanced Application Developer Certification
– Sun Microsystems Java 2 Programmer Certification
– Microsoft Certified Solution Developer
– Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer
– Microsoft Certified Trainer, Solution Development Discipline.

You can view Dr. Ray’s public LinkedIn profile here.

Jeff Ray, D.Mgt. | Graduate Faculty
D.Mgt. SMC University (Zurg, Switzerland)
J.D. University of Maryland School of Law
M.S. Civil Engineering, University of Maryland
M.S. Engineering Management, George Washington University
B.S. Civil Engineering, University of Maryland

Dr. Jeffrey Ray, who began teaching for UMBC in 2011, is a Project Manager and Senior Systems Engineer at Northrop Grumman with 30 years of broad based problem solving experience related to the structured acquisition of information technology systems. Through his various positions at Northrop Grumman, Dr. Ray has managed the development and integration of software and computer hardware systems into military vehicle platforms, a Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) Integration and Test Lab (CITL) that brought in $25M worth of sales, implemented a data labeling system wrapper into the WinNT OS, qualified the integrated Command & Control software applications and introduced a streamlined IRAD documentation methodology adopted across the company.

Dr. Ray is a Subject Matter Expert in the areas of technical resource planning, staffing, and resource management, project planning and control, Scheduling, budget forecasting, and status reporting, systems engineering, integration and test, bringing structured process controls to software development, integration and test activities, and new business development and capture planning.

He received his B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland, a M.S. in Engineering Management from George Washington University, his J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, and his D.Mgt. from SMC University, Zurg, Switzerland.. Additionally, Dr. Ray is a PMI certified Program Management Professional (PMP), INCOSE Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP), licensed Attorney at Law, certified six sigma black belt, registered Professional Engineer, and instrument rated private pilot with detailed knowledge of the national airspace system.

You can view Dr. Ray’s public LinkedIn profile here.

Stanley E. Stigdon | Graduate Faculty

M.S., Engineering Management, George Washington University
B.A., Secondary Education, Concordia University

Mr. Stigdon has more than 25 years of experience in business development & engineering management across the market domains of Defense, Intelligence, Civil and International Aerospace and C4ISR systems.

Mr. Stigdon is currently serving as the Sector Direct of Offer Development and Acquisition Strategy for Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems Sector. In this role he is responsible for providing leadership, coaching, training, and resources in the pursuit and capture of over $25B in new business across the enterprise. These pursuits span the globe and seek to deliver differentiating affordable capabilities from underseas to space for our customers.

While at Northrop Grumman Mr. Stigdon has served in numerous leadership positions providing strategic planning , project/program planning and execution, business development, market segmentation & analysis, customer relationship management, marketing communications, and talent management.

Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Mr. Stigdon worked for CACI, Lockheed Martin, and the Unisys Corporation.

Mr. Stigdon received his B.A. from Concordia University in Secondary Education with a concentration in Computer Science and Mathematics. He holds a M.A. in Engineering Management from George Washington University.

He is also a graduate of the UCLA Marketing Executive Leadership Course as well as the INSEAD International Business Programme.

Lawrence Stout, Ph.D. | Graduate Faculty

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Arizona State University
M.S., Electrical Engineering, Kansas State University
B.A., Economics and Political Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Lawrence Stout, specializing in quality and reliability engineering and management, lean principles, and associated statistical methods, is the Branch Chief of Microphotonics in the Electro-Optics and Photonics Division at the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, MD. He currently manages a group of scientists and engineers doing basic and applied research and development in a number of different areas of opto-electronics and photonics, provide technical leadership, and facilitate technology transitions into systems. Prior to this position, he was an associate professor of electrical engineering at Idaho State University and has taught 17 different engineering courses and received almost 2M dollars of research and equipment funding as either the principal investigator (PI) or as a co-PI. Dr. Stout has extensive leadership, management, supervisory, planning, mentoring, and budgetary skills and a wide range of technical hardware and software abilities. Additionally, he has five years of active duty military experience as an Army field artillery officer with expertise in field artillery, combat arms, planning, operations, intelligence and personnel.

Dr. Stout received his B.A. in Economics and Political Science at the University of Wisconsin, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Kansas State University, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University. Dr. Stout has frequently been published and has attended many workshops and conferences to present on a variety of topics. He is also a member of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

You can view Dr. Stout’s public LinkedIn profile here.

Charles R. Swassing, II | Graduate Faculty

M.P.S., Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy, UMBC
B.A., Health Science and Policy, UMBC

Mr. Swassing has nearly 30 years of leadership and executive management experience in the information technology and healthcare fields serving as Chief Information Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Executive Officer. He founded and led three Maryland-based IT firms serving civilian government and military agencies, intelligence community, academia, and the private sector for 24 years.

Currently, Mr. Swassing is consulting as virtual CIO/CISO for firms in financial, manufacturing and construction industries. In these roles, he provides the leadership to assure IT capabilities, policies and cyber resiliency fully support corporate mission and performance objectives. Prior to this, Mr. Swassing served as CIO for a large regional healthcare provider. In this role, he managed the development of the IT mission, collaborated with the executive board to establish operational, governance and security policies and their application in electronic medical records systems. Previously, Mr. Swassing served as Management Information Systems Center Director for a U.S. Navy contractor, Computer Facility Administrator to the U.S. Department of Transportation, and Physical Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Mr. Swassing received both his B.A. in Health Science and Policy and his M.P.S in Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy from UMBC. Mr. Swassing has published papers at international scientific community consortiums and IEEE conferences in the fields of ocean surface currents, digital signal processing, and RADAR and sonar applications in oceanographic research. Mr. Swassing is a member of IEEE since 1984.

Richard Wilson | Graduate Faculty

M.A., Philosophy

Richard Wilson, a member of the UMBC Faculty since 2000, has been teaching philosophy for 30 years with a focus in applied ethics for 20 years. Currently, he is a full-time member of the UMBC philosophy department, where he developed a series of ethics courses and is currently teaching Ethical Issues in Science, Engineering and Information Technology, Ethical Issues in Information Technology, and Business Ethics at UMBC.

For the last 20 years, Mr. Wilson has taught traditional topics in applied ethics focusing on Medical and Bioethics, Business Ethics, and Environmental Ethics. He has been an ethics trainer for the Department of Justice with a focus on ethical issues in Police and Law Enforcement Agencies for the last 8 years. Additionally, Mr. Wilson has conducted numerous courses, seminars and ethics training workshops, including annual lectures during Ethics Week for the Community College System of Baltimore. Consultation work has included ethics training as part of Continuing Professional Education for the Administrative Judges of Maryland as well as numerous police agencies.

Mr. Wilson has also authored a number of books including Logic: Deductive, Inductive and Informal Reasoning; Logic, Values and Ethical Analysis; and, Business Ethics and Contemporary Issues. In his off time, Mr. Wilson currently is the chairman of the Board of Directors and ethics advisor for Family Building Center, Inc., a licensed child placement agency, and a board member of the Baltimore Museum of Art’s Print, Drawing and Photography Society (PDPS) of the Baltimore Museum of Art.

James Ziegler | Graduate Faculty

M.B.A., Finance, Loyola College
B.S., Accounting, Towson University

James Ziegler, a financial officer with 25 years of experience, is Vice President of Finance and Administration at Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) in Baltimore, MD. In his current position, Mr. Ziegler manages a staff of seven professionals and is responsible for all facets of Accounting, Financial Reporting, Cash Management, Human Resources and Traffic related activities. During his tenure at MASN, he has successfully implemented a five year business plan and assisted in the network achieving its short and long term financial goals.

Mr. Ziegler holds a B.S. in Accounting from Towson University and a M.B.A. with a Finance Concentration from Loyola College. He is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

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