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About

Andrew Kusiak is a pioneering researcher whose work spans flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), artificial intelligence, and production automation. Emerging in the mid-1980s as a formative voice in manufacturing intelligence, Kusiak made foundational contributions to the design and modeling of FMS environments at a time when automated production was rapidly reshaping industry. His 1986 edited volume *Modelling and Design of Flexible Manufacturing Systems* became a landmark reference in the field, accumulating 77 citations and synthesizing critical advances in robotics, materials handling, and production planning. Alongside this, his early exploration of expert systems for FMS scheduling demonstrated a prescient understanding of how artificial intelligence could be integrated into real-time manufacturing control — a theme that would define decades of subsequent research. His 1984 analysis of robot applications across different FMS configurations further established him as a rigorous systems thinker attentive to both technological capability and operational constraint. Decades later, Kusiak has returned to AI's transformative potential, contributing a state-of-the-art review on AI's impact on office and administrative occupations in 2024, reflecting both intellectual longevity and a sustained commitment to understanding how automation reshapes human work across sectors.