Lauren Murphy was a four year member of the Buccaneer women's soccer program from 2010 to 2013. In her time in a Buccaneer uniform, coach Murphy scored 18 career goals, leading the Bucs in goals scored in her freshman (4) and senior (9) seasons. Of those 18 career goals, five were game winners, including three in her senior season. In her final year at Maritime she was named Captain of the team.
Murphy graduated in the Spring of 2014 with her Bachelor's Degree in Marine Transportation. Following graduation, she shipped out with the Master Mates and Pilots Union, of which she is a member.
Prior to coaching, Lauren was a player on the Olympic Development Program for both the state of Massachusetts and the North East Region. She played club level soccer where her team was finalist for the state cup 3 times. During her senior year of high school, she led her team to a Bay State Games Championship.
After four years on the ocean, Lauren has decided to come back and find a job shoreside and work with the program she dedicated so much time to as a Cadet at the Academy.
Education: Ph.D. in Dynamics and Control, Aerospace Engineering, Old Dominion University, USA • M.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt • B.Sc. in Aerospace Engineering, Cairo University, Egypt
Background: Dr. Ashraf Omran is an Associate Professor in the Facilities Engineering Department at MMA. He earned his Bachelor's and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering from Cairo University in Egypt. His master’s research focused on the kinematics, dynamics, and control of Stewart manipulators, and during that time he served as a teaching and research assistant. Following a competitive international scholarship, Dr. Omran completed his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at Old Dominion University (ODU) in Virginia in 2010. His doctoral research, partially funded by the State of Virginia, investigated the dynamics and control of MAGLEV trains. After completing his Ph.D., he remained at ODU as a research scientist and adjunct assistant professor, contributing to several high-profile research projects. These included: Enhancements to the ATOS NASA Flight Simulator in collaboration with Lockheed Martin and Spacecraft rendezvous and proximity operations research with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. Dr. Omran later transitioned to the automotive industry, joining CNH–Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in Chicago, where he worked for nearly eight years. During his tenure, he led the advanced development and testing of powertrain and transmission control systems, resulting in 24 international patents. His work encompassed controller design, model-based testing, and hands-on validation in both lab and field for construction and agricultural vehicles. Returning to academia, Dr. Omran has held faculty positions at several universities including: Texas A&M University – Kingsville, where he launched the Aerospace Engineering Minor and developed a new course in Vehicle Systems Dynamics, Loyola University Chicago, Johns Hopkins University and currently he teaches at MMA. Dr. Omran’s scholarly work focuses on dynamics, robotics, and control, and he has published widely in these areas. His accomplishments have been recognized through numerous awards, including the 2010 Lee M. Klinefelter Faculty Award for Overall Excellence in Aerospace Engineering from ODU. He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), and regularly serves as a peer reviewer for leading journals published by IEEE, ASME, and AIAA. He has also chaired multiple technical sessions at the American Control Conference. Currently, Dr. Omran in the process of releasing his textbook, 'Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines,' which is scheduled to be published by Springer: Kinematics and Dynamics of Machines: Modeling and Design with MATLAB®, Simulink® and Simscape™ Multibody™: Omran, Ashraf: 9783031727009.
Teaching Interests: Dr. Omran’s teaching interests span a wide range of interdisciplinary engineering subjects, including: • Dynamics and Control Systems • Robotics and Mechatronics • Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics • Vehicle Powertrain and Transmission Systems • Aerospace Engineering (Flight Dynamics, Spacecraft Dynamics) • Operational Controls and Facilities Engineering Applications • Engineering Design and Experiential Learning He is deeply committed to project-based and hands-on learning, integrating real-world engineering problems into the classroom through laboratory instruction, simulations, and industry collaboration.
Research Interests: Dr. Omran’s research focuses on the modeling, simulation, and control of dynamic systems across several engineering domains. His specific interests include: • Dynamics and Nonlinear Control of Mechanical and Aerospace Systems • Vehicle Systems Dynamics and Powertrain Control • Robotics, including Parallel Manipulators and Autonomous Systems • Aerospace Applications: Spacecraft Rendezvous, MAGLEV Trains, and Flight Simulators • Model-Based Design and Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Testing • Engineering Education and Experiential Learning Pedagogy His work has led to numerous peer-reviewed publications and international patents, and he has collaborated with organizations including NASA, Lockheed Martin, and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
Marc Palombo took the helm of the Buccaneer women's lacrosse program in 2017. Overall he has served in a coaching capacity with the team since 2013, the team's second year of existence. A resident of Sandwich, Mass, Palombo is the third head coach and winningest coach in program history.
“Marc has symbolized excellence in lacrosse both as a student-athlete and as a coach, and we are very pleased that he will be leading our women’s program in the years to come. He is greatly respected in both the lacrosse and Academy communities, and we look forward to watching him take this team to a higher level of success."
Palombo is no stranger to the Massachusetts Maritime lacrosse community, as he ranks as one of the top players in the history of the Academy’s men’s program en route to induction into the Buccaneer Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. A three-sport athlete at Massachusetts Maritime, the Nahant, Mass native graduated in 1978 after leading the Colonial League in scoring on three occasions and earning all-conference accolades in each of his four seasons of play. Selected to play in the East-West Senior All-Star Game as a senior, Marc graduated as the school record-holder for goals in a season (33) and career (150) while also serving as team captain in both 1977 and 1978. His lacrosse jersey #28 was officially retired by the Academy in 1988.
Palombo excelled on the gridiron as well for fellow Hall of Famer Don Ruggeri, as he served as a captain on the Buccaneers’ first New England Football Conference championship squad as a senior and collected all-league honors along the way. Marc was also a two-year ice hockey captain and copped a pair of all-conference accolades during the winters of 1976-77 and 1977-78, and he was tabbed as Massachusetts Maritime’s Athlete of the Year following his senior year.
In three seasons, Coach Palombo has coached two second-team All-MASCAC players (Kianna Carpenter (2017) & Stephanie Hunt (2018)) and one MASCAC Rookie of the Year (Casey Sullivan (2018)).
Greg Perry came to Buzzards Bay as the head men's soccer coach in 1993 and has been a fixture on the sidelines ever since, as he has shattered the school record for career wins along the way. Perry led Massachusetts Maritime to a 4-2-1 league slate in 2014 before falling to eventual conference tournament champion Fitchburg State in the semifinals, as the Buccaneers followed up another highly successful 2013 campaign that saw the program earn its first post-season victory with a MASCAC quarterfinal round triumph over Salem State.
Perry has garnered MASCAC Coach of the Year honors on three occasions, the last coming in 2013 when the Buccaneers recorded eight overall wins and knocked off rivals Bridgewater State and Coast Guard along the way.
A 1989 graduate of Westfield State, Perry was a four-year letterwinner for the Owls after a stellar high school career at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional. He has coached numerous all-conference and all-New England players over the past two-plus decades as well as NSCAA All-America and Buccaneer Hall of Famer Brendan Duggan ’06.
Perry, who resides in Marshfield, Mass., also serves as Massachusetts Maritime’s Assistant Baseball Coach and directs all athletics facilities operations for the Camps & Conferences Department.
