Senior Engineer; Professor of Policy Analysis, RAND School of Public Policy
Fabian E. Villalobos is a senior engineer at RAND and a Professor of Policy Analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. He is an inaugural fellow of RAND's Global Scholar Program for the Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chains. He manages RAND's Engineering and Applied Sciences Speaker Seminar Series.
Villalobos' research focuses on the intersection of technology, economics, and geopolitics and how it relates to national security. His work includes topics on emerging technologies, logistics, acquisitions, strategy, the defense industrial base, and China. He has a specific interest in the impact of electrification and critical minerals on military technology, energy security, development, trade, climate, and international relations. Recent work includes the mineral-technology supply chains, protracted industrial capacity, the auto sector, competitiveness of Chinese firms, U.S.-China technological competition, China's industrial policy, military deception, and technological risk.
Villalobos has a background in materials science and chemical engineering. He is a co-inventor and co-author of patents. Previously, he worked in industry at startups and established manufacturers supporting R&D, product development, supply chains, quality assurance, business development, and more.
His commentary has been published in War on the Rocks, World Economic Forum, The Hill, Barron's, DefenseNews, and more. He has been quoted in the New York Times, Indo-Pacific Defense Forum, The Wire China, and more. Villalobos has been invited to speak to a variety of international audiences on critical minerals, batteries and drones, economic security, and industrial policy.
In his spare time, Villalobos enjoys reading, judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Ph.D. in materials science, UC Riverside; B.S. in chemical engineering, UC Riverside; A.A. in liberal arts, San Bernadino Valley College
