Vahid Eghbal Akhlaghi graduated with a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Tabriz in Iran and an M.Sc. from Middle East Technical University in Turkey. Working on two research projects at Middle East Technical University, under the supervision of Dr. Hakan Gultekin, opened his eyes to how beautiful research could be.  He decided to pursue graduate school because of uplifting moments like publishing significant work and the joy of giving a great presentation. In Fall 2017, he became a Hawkeye and started to work towards a Ph.D. in Business Analytics under the guidance of his advisor, Prof. Ann Campbell. He is appreciative of the mentorship from his advisor, who is his biggest supporter and role model for his work as a teacher and researcher. Vahid’s dissertation examines different ways of mitigating logistics problems on islands impacted by natural disasters.  He considers different ways that islands can be better prepared for disasters through prepositioning supplies and logistics planning. This type of work requires mathematical modeling techniques to understand the problem and extensive computational skills to be able to solve real-world size instances. Outside his work, Vahid enjoys yoga, playing music, and playing Xbox with his roommate.