Zaira Pagan-Cajigas, Ph.D., recently earned her doctorate in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan, where she was advised by Dr. Seth Guikema. She is a SHPE Scholar, Bill Anderson Fellow, and Rackham Merit Fellow.
Her research focuses on quantifying the impact of natural hazards on the functionality and accessibility of critical services and infrastructure. She developed a building-level framework to assess access to essential services before, during, and after disasters, leveraging publicly available data and local stakeholder knowledge. Her work includes a predictive model for power outages from future tropical cyclones and the development of a synthetic water distribution system, built entirely with publicly available data, to simulate hazard impacts on water availability at the building level.
Her research interests include data analysis, risk analysis, infrastructure modelling, risk and resilience assessments, outage forecasting, simulation, climate change adaptation, and probabilistic risk assessment.
Position Sought: Seeking a full-time position in academia or industry where I can apply my expertise in risk analysis, data analytics, and operations research to support data-driven decision-making and system optimization.
Ph.D., Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan
Academic Advisor: Dr. Seth Guikema
Graduation Date: May 2025
GPA: 4.00/4.00
M.S.E., Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan
Academic Advisor: Dr. Seth Guikema
Graduation Date: December 2022
GPA: 4.00/4.00
B.S., Industrial Engineering, University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Campus
Graduation Date: May 2020
Academic Honor: Magna Cum Laude
Graduate
Fellowships and Scholarships
Bill Anderson Fellow, 2024
Society of Hispanic Engineers Scholar, 2023-2024
Rackham Merit Fellow, 2020 - 2025
Awards
SRA Engineering & Infrastructure Student Merit Honorable Mention, 2022
UM Student Academic Multicultural Initiative (SAMI) Award, 2022
Bonder Scholar Travel Grant, 2022
SRA Foundational Issues in Risk Analysis Specialty Group (FRASG) Student Merit Award, 2021
Undergraduate
UPRM Frederick W. Taylor IOE Department Award, 2020
CIAPR Award - Institute of Industrial Engineers, 2020
University of Puerto Rico Honor Roll, 2017-2020
INFORMS at the University of Michigan
Antiracism, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair, 2022 - 2024
Ph.D. and M.S. Mentorship Program, 2021 - 2025
Volunteer with a nonprofit organization as part of our Pro-Bono team, 2021
Society for Risk Analysis (SRA)
SRA Journal Reviewer (2023-Present)
Justice, Equity, and Risk Specialty Group Student Member, 2021 - Present
Engineering and Infrastructure Specialty Group Secretary and Treasurer, 2023 - 2024
Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE)
SHPE UM Board Member, 2022 - 2025
Engineering Research Symposium (ERS) at the University of Michigan
Advance Poster Session Chair, 2021
Kids Who Code: Facilitator of an online introductory Python course for high school students from underrepresented backgrounds, across the U.S., building foundational programming skills.