PhD Student Workshop on Transportation and Logistics Challenges and Opportunities; Loyola University of Chicago; Chicago, Illinois; May 2019

Loyola University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

This grant supports a workshop that will contribute to the national prosperity and welfare, by expanding the capabilities of the United States scientific community focused on transportation and logistics systems to meet their changing needs and increased opportunities. Market factors such as same-day delivery, technological innovations such as drones, and societal concerns such as sustainability are driving needs and opportunities for new and more efficient transportation and logistics systems. This workshop will bring together PhD students with diverse backgrounds and from a wide selection of United States universities to learn from academic and industry experts in these areas. By exposing these PhD students to experts from both academia and industry, the workshop will broaden and deepen the students' knowledge in a context wherein they see how that knowledge can impact practice. These students will then be better positioned and trained to perform research that enables today's and tomorrow's US organizations to succeed economically in a sustainable manner. By encouraging a diverse student population attending the workshop, it will foster diversity in tomorrow's university faculties, and a scientific community that is prepared to handle challenges on a global scale. This workshop will broaden and deepen the knowledge base of PhD students doing research in transportation and logistics at United States universities, both in terms of methodologies and application domains. The workshop will include learning activities that will enable the students to interact with and learn from the academic and industry experts. The academic speakers will bring a broad assortment of areas of scientific expertise, including deterministic, stochastic, and dynamic optimization methodologies as well as their application to various transportation and logistics systems. Applications will include designing transportation systems, planning the use of drones for home delivery, and supporting the transportation of hazardous goods. The industry experts will come from various sectors, including eCommerce, software development and consulting, and transportation, and will ensure that student learning remains connected to practice. As a result, these students will be better positioned and trained to develop further advancements in our understanding of how transportation and logistics systems should be designed, planned, and executed. To ensure that the workshop attracts a broad population of students, the organizing committee will actively recruit students from a broad selection of universities, including those that serve under-represented groups. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.