Our Team

Dr. Nabil Nasr has worked in the fields of sustainable manufacturing, remanufacturing, clean production, and sustainable product development for over 25 years and is considered an international leader in research and development efforts in those disciplines.  Dr. Nasr has served as an expert delegate for the U.S. government in several international forums, including the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and the OECD, and was recently named as a member of the International Resource Panel of the United Nations Environment Programme. He is also a current member of The National Academies Panel for review of the engineering laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dr. Nasr has a BS in industrial engineering from Helwan University, an MS in industrial and systems engineering from Rutgers University, an ME in manufacturing engineering from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. in industrial and manufacturing engineering from Rutgers University.

Dr. Michael Thurston has been working in the areas of sustainability and sustainment at RIT since 2001. His areas of active research include sustainable production, product remanufacturing, smart products and systems, life-cycle engineering, building and manufacturing energy systems, and asset health management. His project work includes collaborations in product and process design with many companies, and in technology development and deployment with organizations supporting Department of Defense ground, sea, and air systems. Prior to RIT, Dr. Thurston spent 13 years in product development and research positions within the automotive industry, and also has experience in health monitoring systems development and deployment at the Penn State Applied Research Laboratory. He received his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from RIT and his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University at Buffalo.

Merideth Andreucci manages communications, marketing, networking and external relationship development activities for GIS. She works closely with GIS leadership and senior program managers on new program development for industrial and government clients. She also works directly with GIS program managers to increase program awareness and new business development with manufacturing companies through partnership-building with key economic development agencies, entrepreneurial assistance organizations, regional technology development organizations, higher education institutions, and incubators. Merideth has extensive state-wide experience having worked 17 years in high technology business attraction and retention in electronics and semiconductor sectors for Empire State Development (NewYork State’s economic development agency) and various policy positions in the Governor’s Of ce and State Legislature. She has assisted with corporate outreach on past NNMI proposal teams in NY. She holds an MS in Environmental Management & Policy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BA in Political Science from SUNY Albany.

Mark Walluk is Assistant Director at the Center of Excellence in Advanced & Sustainable  Manufacturing. 

Ajay joined RIT after several years of industrial work experience across world class industries in Asia and North America. His prior assignments span a multitude of core manufacturing sectors including steel, mining & bulk material handling, automotive, food & beverage, metal machining and precision engineering. Transforming business operations across value stream to create sustainable positive impact has been Ajay’s career passion. His core expertise includes leading strategic digital transformations via industry 4.0 solutions, lean and six sigma implementation, leading capital projects for technological advancements, manufacturing engineering and organizational culture change.

Ajay is a mechanical engineer with a master’s degree in engineering management and a six sigma black belt.