Amrou Awaysheh, Ph. D., is an Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Kelley School of Business. Professor Awaysheh is the Executive and Founding Director of the Business Sustainability and Innovation Lab at IU as well as being the Founding Director of the IU IoT Energy Efficiency Lab. Professor Awaysheh’s work has appeared in top academic journals as well as the popular press, including: Forbes, The Economist, The Financial Times, and The World Economic Forum. He has also appeared on TV on the CNBC, Fox News, ABC, NBC and CBS news channels. Professor Awaysheh has won over 25 awards for teaching and research. He was a finalist for professor of the year for The Economist and was selected as Professor of the Week by the Financial Times and named as one of the “40 Most Outstanding Professors under 40.”
Professor Awaysheh’s research has been awarded over $9 million from public sources and over $12 million from private institutions. He led Indiana University’s effort to secure funding from the Department of Energy and was instrumental to Indiana University becoming a managing member of the Cyber Security and Manufacturing Innovation (CyManII), the 16th US Manufacturing Innovation Center. Professor Awaysheh also received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, the European Space Agency, Indiana University, Siemens Digital Industries, the Spanish Ministry of Science, the IE Foundation, the Canadian Purchasing Research Foundation, and the Association of Supply Chain Management.
Professor Awaysheh has managed and participated in over 65 global corporate social responsibility initiatives with various Fortune 500 companies. These projects help companies achieve their net zero targets as they work towards being regenerative companies. These projects specifically addressed how companies integrate sustainability within their operations and supply chains, by eliminating waste to landfills, decreasing energy consumption and carbon emissions, reducing water extraction, and improving stakeholder livelihoods. The cumulative impact of these projects resulted in savings of over $2.1 billion and revenue increases of over $1.3 billion. In addition to these financial impacts, these projects had a positive impact on the environment. To date, the combined impact that these projects have is that they prevented over 29.7 million tons of CO2 emissions, diverted over 5.6 million tons of waste and plastics from landfills, prevented the extraction of 110 billion gallons of water, and reduced over 135 trillion BTU’s (British Thermal Units) of energy.
In his free time, Professor Awaysheh enjoys spending time with his wife and three children.
My goal is to keep spreading this message of environmental business sustainability and involve more companies in Indiana.
Professor Awayseh
Images Courtesy of Professor Amrou Awaysheh
Q and A with Professor Awaysheh
I research business sustainability, so I think that it's important that we look at how companies can contribute to societal well-being and help address the climate issues in our natural environment.
I’m trying to look at how companies can better enhance society and the well-being of its workers, customers, and other stakeholders. I'm also looking at how companies can contribute positively to the natural environment and be regenerative companies.
I look at how we can reduce the energy consumed and decrease CO2 emissions. I also examine how companies can eliminate the waste they send to landfills and reduce the water that they extract for use in their manufacturing processes.
I love that I’m working with companies as they are addressing current issues that we're facing. There is no “textbook” solution that academia has come up with. In some instances, industry is further ahead than academics, and I love being able to bridge those two.
I work with companies, and I always make sure to involve our students. This gives our students the opportunity to see what is happening outside universities, and it better helps prepare them for life after graduation.
I try and work with many of my junior colleagues and engage them in this research to expand their research portfolios.
My goal is to keep spreading the message. Unfortunately, many companies have not figured out and understood the business advantage of being involved in sustainability. My goal is to keep spreading this message and involve more companies in Indiana.
Conversation with Professor Awaysheh
On Friday, July 22, 2022 from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. Professor Awaysheh will give a virtual presentation about his work on “Integrating Sustainability Into Your Life.” During this discussion, Professor Awaysheh will discuss the concept of environmental business sustainability and explain its various elements and how sustainability can be integrated into business operations and supply chains. He will also share examples on how to leverage sustainability to create business value. This event will be interactive with lots of opportunities to ask questions.
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IU Indianapolis faculty member conducting translational community-based research
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