He came to this position following 8 years as a Safety and Reliability Engineer in the aerospace and defense industries. Dr. Gernand conducts research into the occupational risks of dust exposure including engineered nanoparticles, the use of data mining techniques for quantitative risk assessment, and related regulatory policy questions. He has a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University and Rice University respectively, and a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.