Reliability and Warranties: Methods for Product Development and Quality Improvement (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780367453756)

Marlin U. Thomas, Ph.D., is dean, Graduate School of Engineering and Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology. Prior to joining AFIT he was professor and head of the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University where he had also served as director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Engineering Studies. He received his B.S.E. (1967) from the University of Michigan Dearborn, and M.S.E. (1968) and Ph.D. (1971) in industrial engineering from the University of Michigan. He has been a registered professional engineer since 1970, with engineering R&D and product development experience with Owens-Illinois, Inc., and as a manager of vehicle reliability planning and analysis with Chrysler Corporation, where he first became interested in developing quantitative methods for analyzing warranties. He also has served as a program director for the National Science Foundation working in operations research and production systems., Dr. Thomas' teaching and research areas include stochastic modeling, reliability, and logistics systems, with emphasis on contingency operations. He has received several awards for his professional accomplishments, including the Frank Groseclose Medallion Award (for his notable impact on the industrial engineering profession) and the Albert G. Holzman Distinguished Educator Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers. He has authored or co-authored over 60 articles and technical papers that have appeared in publications such as IIE Transactions, Operations Research, Management Science, IEEE Transactions on Reliability, and he has delivered over 100 presentations and lectures at major conferences and universities., Dr. Thomas has held the position of president of the Institute of Industrial Engineers; department editor, IIE Transactions; area editor, Operations Research; and was a member of the Army Science Board. He is a member of the American Society for Engineering Education and American Indian Science and Engineering Society; as well as a Fellow of the American Society for Quality, the Institute of Industrial Engineers, and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences. He is also a Captain, Civil Engineer Corps, U.S. Navy Reserve (retired).