At University of Arizona since 2011. Current positions:
- Department Head, Systems & Industrial Engineering
- Distinguished Outreach Professor, Department of Systems & Industrial Engineering
- Faculty Athletics Representative (liaison to the Pac-12 Conference/NCAA)
Ricardo Valerdi is a Distinguished Outreach Professor in the Systems & Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Arizona. He is also UA's Faculty Athletics Representative to the Pac-12 and NCAA. He has served in other roles on campus including Chair of the Ombuds Committee, Director of the Sports Management Program in the Eller College of Business, and Fellow, Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy.
Previously he was a Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a Visiting Associate in the Center for Systems and Software Engineering at the University of Southern California and a Visiting Scientist at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Previously he was a Visiting Fellow at the Defence & Systems Institute at the University of South Australia, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was Visiting Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) hosted by the University of Bath and Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
Dr. Valerdi is a two-time recipient of the Best Thesis Advisor Award in the MIT Technology & Policy Program, the Best Article of the Year Awards in the Systems Engineering Journal and Defense Acquisition Journal, and Best Paper Awards at the Conference on Systems Engineering Research, International Society of Parametric Analysts, and Conference on Predictive Models in Software Engineering. He was the youngest recipient of the Frank Freiman Award, the top honor given by the International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association and was elected Fellow of the International Council on Systems Engineering. He was elected into the Mexican Academy of Engineering, following in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Jorge Valerdi, and uncle, Dr. Jose Albarran. Dr. Valerdi was named Distinguished Outreach Professor at the University of Arizona in recognition of the development of Science of Sport, a STEM Education program for K-12 he developed in collaboration with professional sports teams which has been used by over 500,000 students in the U.S.
His research focuses on cost estimation, test & evaluation, cybersecurity, and sports analytics. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Army Test & Evaluation, Navy Acquisition Research Program, Air Force Office of the Surgeon General, Air Force Acquisition Chief Process Office, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Office of Naval Research, Sandia National Laboratories, Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, IBM Center for the Business of Government, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the Arizona Diamondbacks. He has taught courses in cost estimation, systems engineering, decision analysis, sports analytics, and the science of baseball.
Dr. Valerdi was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cost Analysis and Parametrics and the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Enterprise Transformation. He served on the Board of Directors of the International Council on Systems Engineering, and is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He received his B.S./B.A. in Electrical Engineering from the University of San Diego in 1999, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Systems Architecture and Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2002 and 2005. Between 1999 and 2002, he worked as a systems engineer at Motorola and has been affiliated with the Aerospace Corporation’s Economic and Market Analysis Center. He served as Program Chair of the 20th and 24th Forum on COCOMO and Software Cost Modeling. He provides expert witness consulting services on various matters including patent infringement, trade secrets, breach of contract, and damages.
His contributions to the field include the Constructive Systems Engineering Cost Model (COSYSMO), a model for estimating systems engineering effort, which has been calibrated with data provided by BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and SAIC.
He is also the Founder and Chief Scientist of the Science of Sport, a non-profit aimed at bringing math & science to life through sports. His programs have been used by the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, LA Galaxy, LAFC, Seattle Sounders, Houston Dynamo, Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, College Football Playoff Foundation, and LA84 Foundation. His work has been featured on ESPN, Fox Sports Arizona, and LA Times. In collaboration with faculty in the UA College of Medicine he developed the first-ever virtual reality concussion simulator for football for the NCAA [video]. In collaboration with ETR and Science of Sport, he developed a video game version of the Science of Baseball lessons called STEMadium which is available in the App Store and Google Play Store.