Biography

Jennifer Lather, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She holds a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University with a graduate minor in Computational Sciences, specializing in the use of technology and simulation in integrative design. Dr. Lather’s work focuses on process-layout simulation and optimization in the healthcare sector, creating a hybrid modeling system including layout optimization and discrete-event simulation. She is already funded to collaborate with Dr. Macht on collecting and analyzing preliminary data from the URI VOTES project in order to understand how layout optimization can aid the implementation of new scanning machines and alleviate congestion issues. She has worked for 6-years in the development and implementation of prototypes for the built environment, including data-driven and user experience-based prototypes. Her previous work developed an ontology of interactive workspaces and their use cases in the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction industries. Currently, her research interests are in modeling stochastic systems, developing methods in generating optimal layouts, and understanding how technology impacts communication and collaboration.