Alex Mehr, Ph.D.
Entrepreneur, Investor, Former NASA Scientist
Co-Founder and President of deal.ai - AI Business Buying & Selling Platform for Small and Medium Sized Businesses. (Acquisitions: Adley.ai)
Co-Founder Retail Ecommerce Ventures (Acquisitions: Pier 1 Imports, RadioShack, Dressbarn, Stein Mart, Modell's Sporting Goods, Linens N’ Things, Franklin Mint, Bodybuilding.com, Ralph & Russo, The Book People, Sitehands)
Sample Press Coverage: [Wall Street Journal] [Forbes] [Yahoo Finance] [CNN] [TD Ameritrade] [Boston Globe] [CNBC] [New York Post] [Yahoo Finance Interview] [WSJ #2] [Business Insider] [PE Hub] [Forbes #2] [Forbes #3] [Forbes #4] [Business Insider #2] [WSJ #3] [Cheddar] [Fashion United] [Retail Dive] [CSA]
Previous: Co-Founder, President and Co-CEO of Zoosk.com
Sample Press Coverage: [Spark Networks Acquires Zoosk for $258M] [Forbes] [Wall Street Journal Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies] [PC Magazine] [Inc. 5000] [Effie Award] [Wikipedia] [3rd highest iOS app by all-time worldwide revenue as of 2015, ranked by AppAnnie: Link 1, Link 2]
Education
Post-Doctoral Studies, Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, 2003-2004
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 2003
M.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, 2002
B.Sc., Mechanical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, 2000
MBA (Not Completed - dropped out last semester to start Zoosk), UC Berkeley, 2006-2008
Patents
Patent #US9838400 - System and method for validating users using social network information, Alexander Mehr, Shayan Zadeh. December 2017
Patent #US9716705 - System and method for verifying user supplied items asserted about the user for searching and/or matching, Alexander Mehr, Shayan Zadeh, Jared Crane, Joshua Royse. July 2017
Patent #US9230103 - System and method for registering users for communicating information on a web site, Doug Wehmeier, Alexander Mehr, Shayan Zadeh. January 2016.
Patent #US9391974, System and method for verifying user supplied items asserted about the user, Alexander Mehr, Shayan Zadeh, Jared Crane, Joshua Royse. July 2016.
Patent #US9466064 - System and method for locating desired traits in resources using a network, Alexander F Mehr, Shayan G Zadeh. October 2016
Patent #US8606646 - System and method for selling products and services via a network of at least three computer systems, Doug Wehmeier, Alexander Mehr, Shayan Zadeh. December 2013
Patent #US9639695 - System and method for validating users using social network or other information from a web site. Alexander Mehr, Shayan Zadeh. October 2013
Scientific Research Career
Research Scientist - NASA Ames Research Center (employed and staffed by QSS Group), 2005-2007
Publicly Available Research Output at NASA:
Risk-based Decision-Making for Managing Resources during Design of Complex Space Exploration Systems, A. Mehr and I. Tumer, ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Special Issue on Risk-based and Robust Design, Vol 128(4), pp. 1014-1022, 2006
Download: [Journal of Mechanical Design]
Optimal Design of Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) Systems for Improving the Safety of NASA’s Exploration Missions: A Multidisciplinary Design Approach, Mehr, A., Tumer, I., Barszcz, E., Proceedings of the 6th World Congress on Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization (WCSMO’05), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2005.
Download: [Full Paper][NASA Technical Reports Server: Abstract]
A New Information-Exchange Tool for Capturing and Communicating Risks during the Early-Phase Design and Concept Evaluation, Tumer, I., Mehr, A., Barrientos, F., Ullman, D., Proceedings of the International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Expo (IMECE), Space and Aviation Systems Risk and Safety, Orlando, FL, 2005.
Download [Research Gate] [Direct Download]
Using Information Theory in Optimal Test Point Selection for Health Management in NASA's Reusable Launch Vehicles, A. Mehr and I. Tumer, 2005 (Technical Short Paper)
Download: [NASA Technical Reports Server]
A New Approach to Probabilistic Risk Analysis in Concurrent and Distributed Design of Aerospace Systems, Mehr, A., Tumer, I., Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conference (DETC), Design Automation Conference (DAC), Long Beach, CA, 2005
Download: [Research Gate]
Optimal Design of Integrated Systems Health Management (ISHM) Systems for improving safety in NASA's Exploration Vehicles: A Two-Level Multidisciplinary Design Approach, I. Tumer and A. Mehr (Technical Short Paper)
Download: Journal: [NASA Technical Reports Server], Conference Paper: [NASA Technical Reports Server]
Towards Risk Based Design (RBD) of Space Exploration Missions: A Review of RBD Practice and Research Trends at NASA, Tumer, I., Barrientos, F., Mehr, A., Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conference (DETC), Long Beach, CA, 2005
Download: [Research Gate]
Comparative Study of Several Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithms, Mehr, A., Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Congress (GECCO 2005), Washington DC, 2005
Download: [GECCO]
Cost-benefit Analysis of ISHM in Aerospace Systems, C. Hoyle, A. Mehr, I. Tumer, W. Chen, 2007, ASME Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Integrated Systems Engineering Symposium, IDETC/CIE2007, Las Vegas, NV, 2007
Download: [Research Gate] [IEEE]
A Multidisciplinary and Multiobjective System Analysis and Optimization Methodology for Embedding Integrated Systems Health Management into NASA’s Complex Systems, Mehr, A., Tumer, I., Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conference, Philadelphia, PA, September 10-13, 2006
Download: [Research Gate]
Challenges in Integration of Simulation and Automated Planning and Scheduling, Frank, J., Jarvis, P., Mehr, A., Wysocki, P., Proceedings of the 2006 Simulation Interoperability Workshop, Orlando, FL
Download: [Research Gate]
Comparison of Event Detection Methods for Centralized Sensor Networks, Sauvageon, J., Agogino, A., Mehr, A., Tumer, I., Proceedings of IEEE Sensors Applications Symposium, Houston, Texas, 7-9 February 2006
Download: [IEEE]
Post-Doctoral Researcher (2003-2004) and Graduate Student Researcher (2000-2003): Design Decision Support Laboratory, University of Maryland
Approximation of Multi-Response Engineering Simulations: A Dependent Meta-Modeling Approach, L. Genzi, S. Azarm, A. Mehr, and A. Diaz, 2006, Journal of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Springer-Verlag, Vol. 31(4), pp. 260-269
Download: [Springer]
Bayesian Meta-Modeling of Engineering Design Simulations: A Sequential Approach with Adaptation to Irregularities in the Response Behavior, A. Mehr and S. Azarm, 2005, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, John Wiley InterScience Publishing, Vol. 62(15), pp. 2104-2126
Download: [John Wiley & Sons]
On Maximizing Solution Diversity in a Multi-Disciplinary Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm for Design Optimization, S. Gunawan, A. Mehr and S. Azarm, 2004, Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines Journal, Taylor and Francis publishers, Vol. 32(4), pp. 491-514
Download: [Research Gate] [Taylor & Francis]
An Information-Theoretic Performance Metric for Quality Assessment of Multi-Objective Optimization Solution Sets, A. Mehr and S. Azarm, 2003, ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 125(4), pp. 655-663.
Download: [American Society of Mechanical Engineers]
Multi-Level Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm using Entropy to Preserve Diversity, S. Gunawan, A. Mehr, and S. Azarm, 2003, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, Vol. 2632, pp. 148-161.
Download: [Springer]
Minimal Sets of Quality Metrics, A. Mehr, and S. Azarm, S., 2003, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, Vol. 2632, pp. 405-417.
Download: [Springer]
Entropy-Based Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm for Design Optimization, A. Mehr and S. Azarm, 2002, Journal of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Springer-Verlag, Vol. 24(5), pp. 351-361.
Download: [Springer]
Meta-Modeling of Multi-Response Engineering Simulations, Mehr, A., Li, G., Azarm, S., Diaz, A., Proceedings of the 10th AIAA/ISSMO Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference, Albany, NY, 2004
Download: [American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics]
Approximation-Assisted Crashworthiness Design of Front-end of a Pick-up Truck: A Bayesian Approach, Mehr, A., Azarm, S., Diaz, A., Ravisekar, A., Proceedings of ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conference (IDETC), Design Automation Conference (DAC), Chicago, IL, 2003
Download: [American Society of Mechanical Engineers]
A Customer-Based Expected Utility Metric for Product Design Selection, Besharati, B., Azarm, S., Mehr, A., Proceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference (IDETC), Design Automation Conference (DAC), Montreal, Canada, 2002.
Download: [American Society of Mechanical Engineers]
On the Entropy of Multiobjective Design Optimization Solution Sets, Mehr, A., Azarm, S., Proceedings of the ASME 2002 Design Engineering Technical Conference (IDETC), Design Automation Conference (DAC), Montreal, Canada, 2002.
Download: [American Society of Mechanical Engineers]
A Sequential Information-Theoretic Approach to Design of Computer Experiments, Mehr, A., Azarm, S., Proceedings of the 9th AIAA/ISSMO Symposium on Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization (MA&O), Atlanta, Georgia, 2002.
Download: [American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics]
Diversity Assessment of Pareto Optimal Solutions: An Entropy Approach, Mehr, A., Azarm, S., Proceedings of the IEEE World Congress on Evolutionary Computation, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2002.
Download: [Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]
Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithms with Concepts from Statistical Thermodynamics, Mehr, A., Azarm, S., Proceedings of Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO 2001), San Francisco, CA, 2001.
Download: [ACM]
Some Preliminary Results on the Development and Comparison of a New Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm, Mehr, A., Wu, J., Azarm, S., Proceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference (DETC), Design Automation Conference (DAC), Pittsburgh, PA, 2001.