Research

Research

Growth and Efficiency in the Cloud

For the past year ISyE Assistant Professor Martín Zubeldía and ISyE Ph.D. student Yishun Luo have been working together to find ways to improve the operational efficiency of data centers, sometimes also known as the Cloud. Originally spurred by Luo, the topic aligns with Zubeldía’s background in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as well as his passion for theoretical and algorithmic work.

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Optimizing the Transplant System

Since her Ph.D. in Applied Math and subsequent postdoctoral work, Saumya Sinha, an Assistant Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Minnesota, has been driven by meaningful, high-impact research. Sinha’s work on optimizing the organ transplantation system addresses an important problem: How to design organ allocation systems and policies to improve transplant access?

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Efficient And Equitable Housing Allocation

Since beginning his journey in the department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Assistant Professor Nick Arnosti has showcased his passion for humanitarian research. Most recently, Professor Arnosti has been awarded the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Grant. This 5-year award will allow Arnosti to research the efficiency and equitability of the housing programs in the United States. His proposal specifically focuses on four topics related to housing allocation - housing voucher issuance, housing voucher portability and exchange, applicant prioritization, and policies intended to reserve assistance for particular applicant groups.

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Turbo-charging AI

AI

More than ten years ago, Professor Zhaosong Lu foresaw the burgeoning impact of machine learning (ML) models as a fertile ground where his technical optimization skills could play a vital role. His journey into the realm of ML commenced with collaborations with experts from various domains, particularly in sparse and low-rank learning. Together with his collaborators, he developed innovative optimization models and methods for dimension reduction and variable selection.
 

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Mitigating Food Insecurity With Mobile Grocery Markets

Food insecurity—inconsistent access to nutritious food to meetdaily needs—has been a persistent problem in the United States for years. In 2020, the U.S. witnessed an alarming increase in food insecurity, affecting millions, including vulnerable children. Over the past decade, mobile markets have emerged as a means for mitigating food insecurity. SyE Assistant Professor Yiling Zhang and Professor William Cooper recognized that the tools and approaches of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Operations Research could be of great value in helping mobile markets improve their operational efficiency while maintaining focus on the core goal of improving food access.

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A Web of Connections

Professors Ankur Mani and Krishnamurthy Iyer, among others in the ISyE Department, are analyzing the structure, properties, and the advantages that come from large societal networks. These networks—both social and otherwise—surround us today. They include the transportation networks, communication networks, and electrical power grids, which when combined allow global economies and cities to run efficiently while accommodating massive populations.

"In the last 10 years, there has been a lot of focus on understanding how network structures can be used for previously unconsidered purposes: controlling epidemics, designing better transportation systems, increasing physical activity, reducing waste," says Mani. "We are finding broader and beneficial applications for network design."

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Optimizing Cancer Treatment Plans

ISyE professor Kevin Leder views tumors, in many ways, like a wedding cake. "There’s a foundation of pre-cancerous cells, out of which come further mutated cancer cells, out of which come even further mutated cells," he says. However, when it comes to treating cancer, oftentimes only one type of mutated cell is targeted. This raised questions in Leder's mind about treatment optimization.

"If we had a model of mutation development, could we better deliver treatments for tumors at different stages?" Leder wonders. "Could we even use such models to better identify—and possibly eliminate—precancerous cells?"

 

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COVID Contingency Planning

Amidst a pandemic, how do you safely operate a campus? If you ask ISyE Assistant Professor Ankur Mani, he will tell you: “That’s a systems and operations question.”

Industrial and systems engineers are uniquely equipped to dissect large-scale problems—such as a public health emergency—and design new, more efficient operations. That’s why as higher education institutions sent everyone home or locked down in the spring, Mani started to wonder if there was another way to protect a campus community from COVID-19. The models he helped develop have gone on to influence how universities returned to campus.

 

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