Meet the Team

Dr. Shengfan Zhang is an Associate Professor and 2021-2022 John L. Imhoff Chair in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. She received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University. Zhang’s current research focuses on developing methodologies and solution approaches in medical decision making, especially advancing predictive and prescriptive analytics for disease prevention and treatment. Her research is funded by the National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Transportation, Arkansas Biosciences Institute, etc. She and her student co-authors have won several awards and recognition, including the IISE Best Paper Award in Track and the INFORMS Interactive Sessions Competition. Zhang is currently an Area Editor for the journal Health Systems and Associate Editor for IISE Transactions on Healthcare Systems Engineering.  She is serving as the Past President for the INFORMS Section on Public Sector Operations Research, and a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of INFORMS.

Dr. Eric A. Specking serves as the Assistant Dean for Enrollment Management and Retention for the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas. Specking received a B.S. in Computer Engineering, a M.S. in Industrial Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Arkansas. His research interest includes decision quality, resilient design, set-based design, engineering and project management, and engineering education. During his time at the University of Arkansas, Eric has served as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, or Senior Personnel on over 40 research projects totaling over $6.6 Million, which produced over 50 publications (journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, newsletters, and technical reports). He is an active member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) where he has served in various leadership positions.

Shawn E. Bell is the director of the University of Arkansas STEM Center for Mathematics and Science Education and the Arkansas NASA Educator Resource Center in Fayetteville.  Before becoming the director, Mr. Bell was the science instructional specialist at the STEM Center from 2016-2018.  Prior to his roles at the university, he was a middle school science teacher in Farmington, AR, for 18 years. 

In his current position at the STEM Center, his main responsibilities are connecting K-12 students and educators to materials, resources, and personnel while providing professional development for K-20 pre- and in-service educators.  He collaborates with the ADE Office of Professional Development and with other directors and specialists at ESCs and STEM Centers around the state. 

Mr. Bell is the UA Professional Development Assurance officer and the director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Science and Engineering Fair for 5th -12th-grade students (ISEF affiliated).

Dr. Shannon G. Davis is the Managing Director for the Cybersecurity Center for Secure Evolvable Energy Delivery Systems (SEEDS).  She received her Ph.D. in 1998 from the University of Kansas in the Division of Government. She focused her studies on political psychology, and political decision making in the world of government.  She has put this to practice in the form of proposal writing, contract negotiations and project management of government and nonprofit organization funding for the past 32 years.  She has served the College of Engineering by managing the research infrastructure, collaborating to develop proposals, addresses project management issues, and negotiate contracts with various types of sponsors.  During her 19 years at the University of Arkansas, she has written, co-written and participated on proposal teams resulted in over $35 million in funding.

Dr. Karl Schubert is a Professor of Practice and serves as the Associate Director for the Data Science Program for the University of Arkansas College of Engineering, the Sam M. Walton College of Business, and the J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences.His research interests include data science and analytics, innovation, technology, and interdisciplinary project-based active learning methodologies.As part of his current role, Karl is leading a State-wide multi-college faculty and administration workgroup, with the Arkansas Center for Data Science as the Education & Workforce Development Research Theme for the NSF EPSCoR grant, to develop a consistent and collaborative interdisciplinary multi-college B.S. and Associate degree, and certificate program in Data Science, and leading a team developing a State-wide High School path for Data Science for the Arkansas Department of Education, and he is developing an interdisciplinary multi-college Innovation Curriculum.Prior to his appointment at the University, in senior-level corporate roles that include CIO, CTO, Global SVP of Engineering, and General Manager, Karl has developed a steadfast reputation for driving strategic business growth and technology innovation. He has strong experience in interdisciplinary data science, innovation and technology, and lifecycle management, operations, global business, through working in companies includingIBM, Dell, Lifetouch, midrange companies and start-ups and his own company, TechNova Consulting, LLC.Dr. Schubert has authored two books and has been awarded patents for early work in storage systems architecture, storage area networks, data analysis methods, touch screen technologies, and other technology areas. He is an elected member of the Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineers, a 2008 recipient of the College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award, was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering & Technology(IET)in 2015 and inducted as a charter member of the University of Arkansas Academy of Computer Science and Computer Engineering in 2017. He established an endowed faculty award in Computer Science, an endowed undergraduate scholarship in Chemical Engineering and an endowed undergraduate scholarship to attract under-represented students to Engineering to help establish the College of Engineering’s Early Career Awareness Program (ECAP).

Dr. Allison Ames Boykin is an Assistant Professor in Educational Statistics and Research Methods at the University of Arkansas. She serves as the project’s external evaluator, focusing on the experiences of AR-DATA participants. Dr. Boykin’s personal research focuses on developing statistical methodologies for measuring response style behaviors and Bayesian latent variable modeling. In addition, she collaborates across the University of Arkansas as a quantitative methodologist on National Institute of Health, National Science Foundation, and internally funded projects.