Axia Announces Leadership Changes

July 29, 2025

Midland, Mich. – Charles Hasemann, Associate VP for Innovation and Economic Development at Michigan State University, has named Bahar Aliakbarian, Ph.D. as the Interim Director of the Axia Institute. Aliakbarian succeeds John Hatfield, who resigned to pursue a position in the private sector. She will be responsible for leading the Institute’s operations and research portfolio while a search is undertaken for a permanent director.

“Appointing Bahar in this role is an excellent opportunity for Axia to continue its growth without losing a beat—partnering with corporations to deliver innovative value chain research and solutions for the healthcare, food and agriculture, and advanced manufacturing industries. The Axia Institute is poised for success,” added Hasemann. “John has led Axia through a renaissance, of sorts, over the past five years, establishing Axia as a premier center of excellence.  Bahar is well-suited to build on that success and make her own mark on Axia’s future.”

Aliakbarian joined Axia in 2017 and has been instrumental in managing Axia’s research portfolio, creating and developing the Axia Lab and its areas of focus. Bahar’s multidisciplinary research experience has led to innovative research using smart technologies, specializing in radio frequency identification (RFID), to track and monitor food and pharmaceuticals along the supply chain.

Under her guidance, Axia Lab has received globally recognized ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation from the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB). She has completed numerous research projects and secured funding from both public and private sources. She is widely recognized within the industry and continues to develop excellent relationships with many of the Institute’s key partners.

Hatfield Established Axia as a ‘Premier Center of Excellence’

Hatfield served as Axia’s executive director since 2021, partnering with companies to improve value chains through research, education, and outreach. Highlights include:

• Increasing the number of engaged member companies to 35, across three industry-sector consortia: healthcare, food and agriculture, and advanced manufacturing.
• Established Axia’s competitive positioning as an industry leader in seven research areas of value chain: circular economy, fundamental R&D, packaging design, talent development, traceability solutions, value chain digitization, and value chain optimization.

Bahar assumed the interim director role on Monday, July 28.