Adedayo and his research adviser receiving the Merritt Williamson Best International Annual Conference Paper Award

When Nigerian engineer Adedayo Aruwajoye began studying the effects of major hurricanes on electricity systems in the United States, the work involved more than examining how long communities remained without power.

It required him to study how power infrastructure responds to extreme events, how quickly affected systems recover, and what engineers and policymakers can learn from previous disasters.

The research eventually earned Aruwajoye and his research adviser, Dr Henry Lester, the Merritt Williamson Best International Annual Conference Paper Award at the 2023 International Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Management in Denver, Colorado.

Adedayo and his research adviser after receiving the Merritt Williamson Best International Annual Conference Paper Award

The University of Dayton publicly recognised the achievement two months ago, describing how Aruwajoye’s study was nationally critical, as it examined hurricane-related power-system performance across over 500 counties in states like Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

The project involved the analysis of datasets containing hundreds of thousands of power system records across the United States, specifically in the wake of high-impact low-probability (HILP) events like hurricanes. Aruwajoye applied statistical and quantitative methods to identify patterns connected to disruption, recovery, and infrastructure resilience.

The research was important because electrical systems support hospitals, communication networks, transportation, water systems, businesses, and emergency services – all amenities that hundreds of millions of people depend on every day.

As Aruwajoye explained in the University of Dayton’s profile of the research, “every other critical societal infrastructure is connected to power systems,” and when power infrastructure fails, the effects extend to nearly every other part of modern society.

His study sought to support the development of resilience measures that could help engineers predict how infrastructure performs under high-impact disruptions and how rapidly it can return to dependable operation.

The paper, titled Analysis of Power System Resilience to Extreme Events, was presented at the American Society for Engineering Management’s international conference in Denver, Colorado, in October 2023.

Adedayo, presenting his paper at the American Society for Engineering Management’s international conference in Colorado in October 2023

Receiving the Merritt Williamson Award placed the study among the conference’s recognised research contributions and brought external attention to Aruwajoye’s growing work in engineering management and infrastructure analytics.

Merritt A. Williamson Best International Annual Conference Paper Award

The research also represented an important shift in his professional development. Aruwajoye earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Lagos in 2019. His earlier career had focused on technology products, supply-chain operations, process improvement, and the management of large international project portfolios.

At the University of Dayton, where he pursued a Master of Science in Engineering Management, he expanded this practical experience through courses in decision analytics, operations research, statistics, engineering economics, project management, and lean systems.

He completed the programme with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.8 on a 4.0 scale.

His research responsibilities included analysing large datasets connected to natural-disaster recovery programmes and collaborating with engineering and policy specialists. This allowed him to examine not only the technical performance of infrastructure but also the implications of engineering decisions for government planning and public safety.

In 2024, his research was further presented at the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Annual Conference and Expo in Montreal, Canada. He also participated in the University of Dayton’s Joseph Stander Symposium, where students and researchers presented their work to the university community.

During the same year, Aruwajoye completed a program management internship at the enterprise technology company, ServiceNow. The experience strengthened the connection between his academic research and his continuing interest in large-scale technology implementation, digital transformation, and operational performance.

His progression illustrates the increasing importance and impact of professionals who can connect engineering analysis with organisational decision-making.

Power-system resilience is not determined only by the physical strength of poles, substations, and transmission systems. It also depends on the ability of institutions to analyse risk, allocate resources, coordinate recovery activities, and learn from previous disasters.

Through his research, Aruwajoye contributed to that broader understanding of resilience: one in which data, engineering design, public policy, and management systems work together to help communities prepare for and recover from increasingly disruptive events.