Matthew F. Dabkowski, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army who is completing his PhD in systems and industrial engineering at the University of Arizona, has received a 2016 Omar N. Bradley Officer Research Fellowship in Mathematics. The three-year fellowship recognizes Army officers who are actively engaged in the study of mathematics, have the best-developed plans for conducting significant work and have demonstrated analytic research ability.
Dabkowski received the award to conduct research in applying optimization to network science, or social network analysis, which is not to be confused with online social networking. He began studying network science for his minor in sociology and has integrated it into his doctoral research on the cost estimation and growth of major defense acquisition programs. As an operations research and systems analyst for the Army, Dabkowski uses the tools of mathematics -- statistics, optimization, simulation, mathematical modeling -- to streamline military procedures, increase efficiency and minimize risk. He has applied these tools to help the military address practical issues, such as how to reduce the number of soldiers on duty while maintaining a certain level of capability. Read More