He received B.Sc. degrees in Mathematics and Industrial Engineering from Middle East Technical University in 2003. Later, he received M.Sc. degree in Operations Research in 2006 and Ph.D. degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering in 2009 from Georgia Institute of Technology. After completing his Ph.D., he has worked in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Houston for four years. He has research experience in health and humanitarian logistics, disease spread modeling, vehicle routing and scheduling/packing applications. Ali collaborated with the HHS Center while at Georgia Tech on influenza pandemic planning and developing strategies for food distribution for the American Red Cross Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter.