As MIT’s Managing Director of Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S), Dr. Durak is the responsible administrator for health, safety and environmental programs. Dr. Durak leads EH&S to assure university activities are conducted in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, best business practices as well as by supporting development, implementation, and monitoring of prevention control strategies and initiatives. In addition to the main MIT campus, EH&S provides support for off-site and international departments, laboratories and research centers.
Dr. Durak holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, a MS in Industrial & Systems Engineering and a PhD in Building Construction / Environmental Design and Planning. He has over 20 years of experience in engineering and EH&S in higher education. During his career, he has served in the capacity of EHS Director, Authority Having Jurisdiction, Responsbile Official, Fire Marshal, Risk Manager, Radiation Safety Officer, Laser Safety Officer, Safety Engineer, Project Manager and Emergency Manager for government agencies as well as universities with extensive healthcare and research facilities. During his academic tenure, Dr. Durak is also an Affiliate Faculty of Institute for Medical Engineering and Science at MIT. In addition to medical engineering, he has research interests in building sciences with emphasis on performance, energy efficiency, retrofitting solutions, systems integration, integrated control strategies and smart building materials