Dr. Ana Wooley

Assistant Professor, ISEEM

Contact

5000 Technology Drive NW
Olin B. King Technology Hall
Room N136
Huntsville, AL 35899
Campus Map

256.824.6253
Ana.wooley@uah.edu

Biography

Dr. Ana Wooley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Engineering Management (ISEEM) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville.  She completed her PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering in 2023 at Auburn University, and she holds a Master's degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the same institution. She is an expert in digital engineering, modeling and simulation of manufacturing systems, with a particular research focus on digital twin development, smart manufacturing, simulation, and seamless integration of these technologies into manufacturing systems. She has collaborated with leading automotive companies and organizations, including Honda, MxD, and the Department of the Army. She is a co-director for the Digital X Lab at UAH, which supports applied research in digital transformation through a variety of hardware and software assets, including a digitally enabled manual assembly line for drones. Her previous work includes developing digital twins and advanced simulations for automotive manufacturing lines, as well as conducting comparative analyses of the capabilities of Digital Twins and simulations in cyber-physical systems.

Dr. Wooley’s research advances digital engineering through the integration of digital twins, modeling and simulation, and data-driven technologies to support high-confidence decision-making in advanced manufacturing, defense, and complex engineered systems. Her work focuses on systematically combining data integration, simulation, and AI/ML to enable more reliable, transparent, and actionable insights across the system lifecycle. A central theme of her research is addressing the ambiguity surrounding digital twins by developing structured frameworks that clarify their capabilities, maturity, and trustworthiness, allowing organizations to adopt these technologies with greater confidence and measurable impact. 

Her current research advances the practical implementation of digital twins in industry through the development of the Digital Twin Analytical Framework (DTAF), which integrates data readiness, simulation requirements, maturity assessment, and V&V into a unified methodology. Supported by MxD, this work builds on established approaches such as the Digital Twin Consortium Periodic Capability Table and is being applied to manufacturing use cases, including CNC milling, with a focus on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises. In parallel, Dr. Wooley is developing an AI-enabled agent to assist decision-making within the DTAF process and investigating the integration of digital twins and AI for model training, testing, and lifecycle optimization as part of a broader U.S. Army effort on human-systems integration. Complementing this work, she is establishing a digitally enabled manual drone assembly line that incorporates low-cost IoT sensing for real-time monitoring and operator feedback, demonstrating scalable and accessible digital manufacturing solutions. Overall, her research aims to provide structured, implementable pathways for organizations to successfully adopt and scale digital transformation initiatives.

Curriculum Vitae

Personal Website

Education

  • Auburn University, AL, Industrial & Systems Engineering Ph.D., 2023
  • Auburn University, AL, Industrial & Systems Engineering M.S., 2020
  • Universidade Federal de Itajuba, Brazil, Industrial Engineering B.S., 2018

Affiliations

  • Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE), Member
  • Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), Member

Expertise

  • Advanced Manufacturing Systems
  • Digital Manufacturing
  • Digital Twin
  • Simulation
  • Digital Engineering
  • Continuous Improvement Methodologies and Implementation

Recent Publications

  • Lussier, J., Hua, E. Y., Ledford, A., Thomas, D., Van Bossuyt, D. L., & Wooley, A. (2025). Differentiating Between Digital Twins and Control Systems for Complex Systems. Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, 1-52. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4070329

  • Wooley, A., & Womack, L. (2025). Digital Engineering: A Systematic Literature Review of Strategies, Components, and Implementation Challenges. Systems, 13(12), 1046. https://doi.org/10.3390/systems13121046

  • Wooley, A. (2025). Designing a digital engineering curriculum for manufacturing education: Industry-aligned course development. Manufacturing Letters. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mfglet.2025.10.001