Prior to coming to CSPO, Mahmud was the managing director of the NEXTRANS Center at Purdue University. He helped steer the USDOT Region V Regional University Transportation Center from its start-up through the development and execution of its 3-year strategic plan to provide a multidisciplinary program of transportation research, education and technology transfer with an annual operating budget exceeding $4 million.

Before joining Purdue, Mahmud served as the associate director of research development in Physical Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, director of collaborative research projects at the City University of New York, and deputy director of the Policy Program at the New York Academy of Sciences.

Mahmud holds a Ph.D. in science, technology and public policy from George Mason University and an MPA in technology and information policy from Syracuse University.

As a graduate research assistant at CSPO in late 1990s, Mahmud investigated the historical development of industrial roadmapping and research foresight initiatives in the United States and Europe. The work led to his doctoral dissertation on the evolution of technological forecasting and contemporary policy systems.