Mario Ventresca

Mario Ventresca is an Associate Professor at the Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering, Purdue University. He holds degrees from Brock University (BSc), Guelph University (MSc), and the University of Waterloo (PhD). His research focuses on developing algorithms and models for analyzing complex systems, with emphasis on approximation algorithms, network science, and medical operations research. He has been affiliated with prestigious institutions such as the University of Cambridge and the University of Toronto, and co-directs the Network Morphospace Lab at Purdue. His work spans theoretical and applied domains, including pandemic planning, brain network modeling, and infrastructure optimization.

Education:

• PhD, Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo (2009)
• MS, Computing and Information Science, University of Guelph (2005)
• BS (Honors), Computer Science, Brock University (2003)

Research Interests: His research integrates computational methods with real-world challenges, such as designing robust networks, optimizing vaccine strategies, and modeling human brain connectivity. He emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches combining machine learning, graph theory, and optimization.

Teaching: Courses include Computing in Industrial Engineering, Nature-Inspired Computing, and Stochastic Models in Operations Research. He has also taught computer science and algorithms at the University of Toronto.

Lab Affiliations: Co-Director of the Network Morphospace Lab, exploring network configurations and functional connectomes in complex systems.