Gheorghe to Speak on Infrastructure Security in Oslo, Norway

Adrian Gheorghe, the Batten Endowed Chair in system of systems engineering at Old Dominion University, will present a seminar on critical infrastructures protection at the Norwegian Atlantic Committee headquarters in Oslo on Monday, Oct. 12.

The ODU professor will speak on the topic "Exploring Interactive Energy Alternative Futures Through Simulation Serious-Game-Based Modeling," presenting work he has done as part of a project funded in part by the Norwegian Atlantic Committee.

The parent project, "Energy Security and Critical Infrastructure Protection Strategy for Romania and the Regional Perspective," was also sponsored by the EURISC (European Institute Risk, Security and Communication Management), which is based in Romania and for which Gheorghe has served as an honorary president.

The Norwegian Atlantic Committee, which is supported by public funds, was established in 1955 to support Norwegian security policy. It works both in Norway and abroad, with information and study programs that also address NATO policies and negotiations on arms control.

A Romanian by birth, Gheorghe was educated in Bucharest and London and has more than three decades of experience as a risk engineer. He joined ODU in 2006 after serving as director of the Centre of Excellence on Risk and Safety Sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

He is among the pioneers in applying system of systems engineering to risk assessment and management. He and colleagues in Europe have developed computational models for these purposes, with a focus on risks from sabotage, terrorism, cyber vandalism and natural disasters. At ODU he is working with the university's National Center for System of Systems Engineering, as well as the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center.