Directory

W. Steven Gray received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an M.S. in Electrical Engineering, an M.S. in Applied Mathematics, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined Old Dominion as a visiting associate professor of electrical and computer engineering in 1997 and was tenured and promoted to associate professor in 2002. Recognition of his accomplishments in teaching, research and service include the ECE Department’s Outstanding Teaching Award (2003, 2025), the ECE Department’s Outstanding Research Award (2005), the College of Engineering’s Excellence in Research Award (2005), the College of Engineering’s Outstanding Teaching Award (2010), Reign On Faculty Recognition Award (2020), Dear of Student’s Shining Star Recognition Award (2015), and the Dean of Student’s Inspirational Faculty Member Award (2018).

Prof. Gray has advised 15 master's and doctoral students at Old Dominion University.  His administrative experience includes serving as a co-director for the Systems Research Laboratory at Old Dominion (2002 to present), serving on the ECE Department’s graduate committee (1998-2008, 2010-2013, 2018-2024), and representing Old Dominion in the International Master’s Program (2000). He also served as an external expert for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2016).

Prof. Gray's research concerns mathematical system theory and its applications in engineering, physics, and biology. He has 250 published papers, technical reports, and abstracts. He was awarded 19 grants totaling over $3.1M, made approximately 200 presentations at scientific meetings or invited seminars, and organized or co-organized 15 professional scientific meetings. 

 Dr. Mounir Laroussi joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Old Dominion University in 2002 as an associate professor and achieved the rank of professor in 2008. He served as the director of the ODU Laser and Plasma Engineering Institute from 2007 to 2014, and as the director of ODU’s Plasma Engineering and Medicine Institute from 2014 to May, 2024. He was the recipient of the ECE Department’s Excellence in Teaching Award in 2006 and 2014. He was the recipient of the Batten College of Engineering and Technology Excellence in Research Award in 2005 and the recipient of ODU’s Research Achievement Award in 2009. In addition, Dr. Laroussi was the recipient of several prestigious award on the national and international stage in the field of low temperature plasma physics and its biomedical applications, a field where he is recognized as a pioneer and a leading authority. Dr. Laroussi published more than 200 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings. He has consistently been ranked in the top 2% of researchers in the world. He authored and co-edited a total of 4 books and contributed 8 chapters to other books. He is a fellow of the IEEE, APS, and IPCS. He served as chair of various conferences and still serves on editorial boards of several scientific journals. 

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John Sokolowski received a BS in Computer Science from Purdue University, a Master’s in Engineering Management, and a Ph.D. in Modeling and Simulation from Old Dominion University. After a career in the U. S. Navy spanning 27 years, he joined Old Dominion in 2001 as a senior research scientist under the ODU Research Foundation. In 2004 Sokolowski transitioned to ODU and became Chief Scientist for ODU’s Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC). He was selected as VMASC’s Executive Director and awarded the faculty rank of Associate Professor in 2010. He was awarded tenure on the Department of Computational Modeling and Simulation (CMSE) in 2016. In 2017, Sokolowski stepped down from his Executive Director role at VMASC and transitioned to teaching in the CMSE department.

Sokolowski has served as the major professor for 12 master’s and doctoral students at Old Dominion University. He also served as a co-advisor for an additional 18 master’s and doctoral students. He has served on ODU’s Faculty Senate since 2010 and was Chair of the Senate from 2019 to 2022. Sokolowski is personally responsible for over $8M of research funding spanning his time at VMASC. As VMASC’s Executive Director he diversified the Center’s research portfolio beyond that of the Department of Defense into several areas, including cyber security.

Sokolowski’s research concerns the computational representation of human behavior in computer simulation. He has published four books in modeling and simulation and served as author or coauthor on 16 journal articles and 46 conference papers. He has also served as President and Chairman of the board for the Society for Modeling and Simulation International.

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Vahala received her B.S in Physics from the University of Illinois, an M.S in Physics from the University of Iowa and in 1983 was the first to be awarded a Ph. D in Applied Physics from Old Dominion University. She was appointed Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Old Dominion in 1987, and an Associate Professor in 1993, being the first female to be granted tenure in her department. She was an Associate Dean from 2004-2016. Much of her efforts have been in mentoring undergraduate students and being the faculty advisor for various student clubs including the Society of Women Engineers and the Amateur Student Radio Club. A Kaufman Prize Winner selected Vahala as ‘the most inspirational faculty member’. She was selected as the Peninsula Engineer of the Year award in 1995, the only time this award has been awarded to a faculty member in the College of Engineering. In 2012 she received the Engineer’s Club of Hampton Roads (ECHR) Distinguished Service Award in appreciation for years of Dedication and Service.

Vahala has served as the major professor for 10 Masters and Doctoral students at Old Dominion University. Her research spans from plasma fusion to cell phone characteristics in commercial airplanes to quantum computing. She has secured funding from NASA, AFOSR, NSF, Department of Energy and Department of Education. She was a member of the computational group that was a Gordon Bell finalist at the 2005 Supercomputer Conference for their lattice Boltzmann turbulence simulations on the Japanese Earth Simulator which at that time was the world’s fastest supercomputer. The Department of Energy chose just 4 codes to be run on the Earth Simulator - and these runs had to be done on-site in 2004-5. The 2023 December issue of The Physics of Plasmas selected our simulation results to be on the Cover Page of the Journal and the paper chosen as Editor’s Pick.

Vahala has published over 110 papers, with over 230 presentations at national and international conferences (and invited talks). Her theoretical grants and contracts awarded totaled over $4.8M.