Birhanu Beshah is an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, Addis Ababa University. He has a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Addis Ababa University. He was Head of the Railway Engineering Center at Addis Ababa University before joining the Ethiopian Railways Corporation as Deputy CEO. Until recently, he was serving as CEO of the Ethiopian Railways Corporation. He was also Center Leader for African Railway Education and Research Center (ARERI), which is one of the African Centers of Excellence supported by the World Bank. He was awarded the 2014 emerging faculty scholar award by Addis Ababa University for his contributions to the University. He is also a Founding Fellow of the Ethiopian Young Academy of Sciences. He has published extensively on such subjects as quality engineering, national quality infrastructure, industrial management and engineering.