Dr. Placid Ferreira received his B.S. from the University of Bombay (1980) and M.S. from the Indian Institute of Tech, Bombay (1982). He later earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University in Industrial Engineering (1987). Currenlty Dr. Ferreira is the Department Head and Grayce Wicall Gauthier Professor of Mechanical Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.