I am an assistant research professor of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, with a minority appointment at CMU’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy.  I am also the CEO and principal partner of Valdos Consulting LLC, a strategy and applied research firm serving clients in defense, finance, technology, advanced manufacturing and health and human services.

My academic research focuses on the implications of technology choices and process design for skill demand, and on workforce supply chain levers to meet industry skill demand needs. My work seeks to develop a systematic basis for understanding why technologies augment some types of worker skill and may substitute for others. I am also interested in how regional and national labor supply may constrain economic productivity and innovation, and in finding systematic solutions that enhance outcomes for workers and firms. 

The Valdos portfolio includes the economics of adoption and deployment of transformative technologies such as AI, engineering and economic models for national and international supply chain resilience, modernization of the defense and civilian industrial base, market design for social service procurement, and other complex problem spaces at the intersection of technology and society.

I have served on the leadership council of the American Institute for Manufacturing Photonics and currently advise the U.S. Navy on industrial strategy.

Email: ccombema@andrew.cmu.edu, christophecombemale@valdosconsulting.com