Junfeng Ma

Biography

Junfeng Ma is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at UCF. He joined UCF in August 2026. Prior to joining UCF, he spent 10 years at Mississippi State University, where he advanced from assistant professor to full professor and received early promotion to full professor in 2026. He earned his dual-title doctorate in industrial engineering and operations research from Pennsylvania State University in 2016.

Ma’s research focuses on the design and optimization of complex systems, with applications in logistics and transportation, advanced design and manufacturing, and human–AI/robot teaming. To date, he has secured more than $12 million in competitive research funding from federal agencies, including NSF, NIH, DOE, USDA, DOD, EPA and DOT. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles with his students and collaborators in leading journals. Ma has received numerous research and teaching honors, including being named a 2025 Mid-Career Scholar Award Finalist, 2023 Academy of Distinguished Teachers Award at Mississippi State University and receiving more than 10 Best Paper Awards from IISE and ASME. He is an active member of IISE, ASME, INFORMS, IEEE and ASEE.