Constantine M. Koursaris

Biography

Dr. Constantine Koursaris is an associate professor in the Department of Decision Sciences at the Worldwide College of Business (COB). He has served as program chair for the A.S., B.S. and M.S. in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Dr. Koursaris possesses more than 25 years of facilitating and teaching experience in various disciplines and delivery modalities. His main research interests include operations research optimization models, product and service quality, supply chain network management, lean and agile supply chain methods, revenue management, aviation and aerospace manufacturing and logistics support operations, and organizational management.

Koursaris’ areas of expertise and teaching assignments include supply chain management, transportation, logistics, operations management, forecasting, quality control, quantitative methods and management science, project management, strategic planning, capacity management, lean processes, operations research, engineering management, mathematics, statistics, research methods, discrete event simulation, modeling and decision-making in high reliability organizations, systems engineering, queuing systems, systems analysis and design, service design, information management and innovation. His innovation expertise includes product development, technical marketing, team dynamics and productivity, and technology commercialization strategies.

Dr. Koursaris was the lead principal investigator who established the Worldwide College of Business and Community College of the Air Force (CCAF) Air University Associate-to-Baccalaureate Cooperative (AU-ABC) partnership agreement, offering A.S. graduates the ability to earn their B.S. degrees with no more than 60 additional credit hours. He also has more than 10 years of experience in the aerospace industry. As an undergraduate computer science major, he participated in the first digital design of NetBook, a Knowledge Acquisition Grant proposal at the NASA John Glenn Research Center. This project captured senior engineers’ processes for repairing the RL-10 rocket engine.

While working for NASA at Kennedy Space Center, he held three key positions. As a computer scientist, he provided project management and logistics support to space shuttle ground operations. He led development of the Electronic Inspection Tool (EIT), a custom-designed laser scanner and software application that assessed and repaired thermal protection system (TPS) orbiter damage. The tool supported the corrective action process to prepare more than 25,000 tiles installed on the space shuttle for upcoming missions.

Dr. Koursaris also co-authored the Lockout/Tagout of the Crew Module (LOTO-CM), a software application that logged and documented the state of more than 2,000 switches and circuit breakers in the shuttle’s crew module to meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requirements. Both EIT and LOTO-CM are transferable technologies used in newly developed spacecraft systems.

As a senior instructor, he was certified to teach required NASA employee certification courses to management, engineering and technical staff. These courses emphasized systems and component-level functions, including safety factors. As a senior systems engineer, Dr. Koursaris was a member of the Orion Processing and Strategic Management Team for NASA’s Constellation Program, where he conducted mission success feasibility studies as specified in the Constellation Architecture Requirements Document (CARD). He has also supported U.S. Coast Guard safety patrol missions in protected Cape Canaveral waterways during shuttle and rocket launches.

His professional affiliations include the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM), American Society for Engineering Management (ASEM), Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), Decision Sciences Institute (DSI), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), Institute for Supply Management (ISM), Statistical Analysis System (SAS), Systems Applications and Products (SAP) and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).

Dr. Koursaris has served three terms as a faculty senator and is a member of the COB Faculty Engagement and Enrichment Experience Group, Canvas Advisory Group, COB Rules Committee, Academic Programs Committee, COB Curriculum Review Committee and the Online Education Advisory Committee. He also completed a two-year term on the Board of Directors in the Logistics and Supply Chain Division of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers.

Beyond his professional work, he enjoys spending time with his family, reading, camping, traveling, swimming and practicing karate. He has served as a Florida staff officer in the Department of Public Education of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary and received the Presidential Award for his contributions to U.S. Coast Guard missions protecting waterways around Kennedy Space Center during NASA launches.

Education

• Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Operations Research, Florida Institute of Technology
• M.S. - Master of Science in Systems Engineering, Florida Institute of Technology
• M.S. - Master of Science in Engineering Management, Florida Institute of Technology
• B.S. - Bachelor of Science in Computer Science/Science Option: Economics, Southern University

Research Projects

• Developing and Managing 21st Century Aerospace Cluster

Memberships and Credentials

Dr. Koursaris has been affiliated with several professional organizations, including the Association for Computing Machinery, Decision Sciences Institute, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Production and Operations Management Society, International Council on Systems Engineering, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, Association for Supply Chain Management, American Society for Engineering Management, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, and the Institute for Supply Management.

As a Computer Scientist, Dr. Koursaris was tasked to provide project management and logistics support to Space Shuttle ground operations. He led software development of the Electronic Inspection Tool (EIT), a custom-designed laser scanner and software application to measure, assess, and repair thermal protection system (TPS) orbiter damages as part of the problem reporting and corrective action effort, to prepare the Space Shuttles for their upcoming assigned missions.

Dr. Koursaris co-authored the lockout/tagout of the Crew Module (LOTO-CM), a software application that logged the identification and documentation of the state of more than 2,000 switches and circuit breakers installed in the Shuttles’ crew modules, in order to conform with OSHA requirements. Both EIT and LOTO-CM are transferable technologies to the newly developed spacecraft systems.

As a Senior Instructor, Dr. Koursaris was certified to teach NASA-required employee certification courses to members of management, engineering, and technical staff on Space Shuttle & Solid Rocket Booster concepts. He taught courses emphasizing systems and component-level functions, including safety factors. As a Senior Systems Engineer, Dr. Koursaris was a member of the Orion Processing & Strategic Management Team of NASA’s Constellation Program. Dr. Koursaris was responsible of performing modeling & simulation mission success feasibility studies as specified in the Constellation Architecture Requirements Document (CARD). 

Awards, Honors and Recognitions

Dr. Koursaris received two NASA Inventions and Contributions Board Awards "For the creative development of technically significant software and technological contribution in the advancement of the space and aeronautical activities at NASA" and was recognized for his outstanding contributions during the recovery and investigation of STS-107 Space Shuttle Columbia accident, where EIT was instrumental in the identification and reconstruction of Columbia’s underbelly. Dr. Koursaris received the NASA Group Achievement Award “In recognition of outstanding performance in the development and implementation of the electronic inspection tool and the electronic maps to document in-flight orbiter tile debris hits”.