Network

Initiatives

Definition of logistics Standards carried out by the Humanitarian Logistics Association

Establishment of a common digital architecture for humanitarian products through the Frontline Humanitarian Logistics (FHL) initiative

ESUPS is part of

Academic partners

Contributing to the Advocacy pillar
Burcu Balcik
Professor

Ozyegin University

Bio

Burcu is an Associate Professor in the Industrial Engineering Department at Ozyegin University (Istanbul, Turkey) and a member of Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT).  She got her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from University of Washington (Seattle, USA) and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences Department at Northwestern University (Evanston, USA). She was a visiting researcher at HUMLOG Institute (Helsinki, Finland), and a visiting professor at HEC Montreal (Canada).

Dr. Balcik’s research focuses on developing analytical methods (based on mathematical modeling, optimization, simulation) to support the effective design and management of humanitarian supply chains and logistics operations. Her work has focused on a variety of topics such as pre-positioning, logistical network design, needs and damage assessment, collaborative logistics, last mile distribution, supplier selection, framework agreements, performance measurement, and beneficiary appointment scheduling. She has collaborated with various governmental and non-governmental agencies including the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, World Vision International, Turkish Red Crescent, and a few local agencies in Syria.

Dr. Balcik is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Humanitarian Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Production and Operations Management, and Journal of Operations Management. She served as the president of the INFORMS Public Sector Operations Research Section, and has been a member of the executive board of the EURO Working Group on Humanitarian Operations. She is a recipient of the Young Scientist Award from The Science Academy, Turkey.

Lamia Gulnur Kasap
PhD Student

Ozyegin University

Bio

Lamia is a PhD student in the Industrial Engineering Department of Ozyegin University since 2016. She has been working as a Research Assistant of Industrial Engineering Department at Istanbul Medipol University since 2015. She holds B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Sakarya University and a M.Sc. from Marmara University in Istanbul. As non-academic experience, she worked as a quality engineer at Izrek (automotive label company) between 2013-2015.

Lamia’s research interests are mainly on supply chain management and logistic operations. She has been working on humanitarian logistics since starting her Master’s. She has focused on various topics such as debris removal operations, pre-positioning, stock sharing, postponement.

Marie-Ève Rancourt
Associate Professor

HEC Montreal

Bio

Marie-Ève is an associate professor of Logistics and Operations Management at HEC Montréal. She is also a member of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT) and affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Transportation and Logistics (MIT CTL). Her research interests are in the areas of humanitarian logistics, supply chain and transportation using techniques rooted in data science.

Her recent work focuses on the use of mathematical programming to solve real problems in applications with social impact, particularly logistics problems related to relief operations, food security and healthcare delivery in several countries. She is working in collaboration with different organisations, such as the World Food Programme, Red Cross Societies (e.g., Canadian and Austrian), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, the World Bank, and ESUPS to develop analytical methods for managing and designing supply chains to better assist populations located in underserved areas. She received her Ph.D. in management science from HEC Montreal in 2013; a M.Sc. in modeling and decision support from HEC Montreal in 2007; and a B.Sc. in mathematics from the University of Montreal in 2004.

Contributing to the Data Analysis pillar
Jason Acimovic
Associate Professor

Penn State University

Bio

Jason is Associate Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems in Smeal College of Business at Penn State University. He holds a Ph.D. from the MIT’s Operations Research Centre and a B.Sc. in Physics from Yale University. His non-academic experience includes CapitalOne, Amazon and Doctors Without Borders.

Jason’s research interests include applied operations research and non-traditional supply chains. Specifically, he has focused on characterising and developing implementable solutions fot the unique problems arising in supply chain networks of online retailing, computer manufacturing, mobile money in Africa, and disaster relief pre-positioning.

He teaches supply chain analytics at Penn State. His work appeared in the ASA’s Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and Journal of Operations Management. He has been awarded the INFORMS Dantzig Dissertation Award, the CSCMP Doctoral Dissertation Award, the M&SOM best paper award and has been a finalist for the M&SOM Practice-Based Research Competition.

Jason is also part of ESUPS Steering Group.

Franka Schellekens
Research Master Student

Tilburg University

Bio

Franka is a research master student in business at Tilburg University where she follows the Operations Research track. She has a B.Sc in Econometrics and Operations Research and an M.Sc in Business Analytics and Operations Research from Tilburg University. Since 2018 she has been working as a student assistant at the Dean’s Office department of Tilburg School of Economics and Management. As a non-academic experience, she joined De Kleine Consultant on a voluntary basis from 2018 to 2019. De Kleine Consultant is a strategy consultant for profit and non-profit companies and is run by students.

Franka’s research interests are mainly in operations research and game theory. She has been working on humanitarian logistics since this year when she joined the Zero Hunger Lab at Tilburg University to write her master’s thesis. She currently focuses on determining the absorption capacity of emergency response after sudden onset disasters.

Florian Grenouilleau
Postdoctoral researcher

HEC Montreal

Bio

Florian Grenouilleau is a Postdoctoral researcher in the department of Logistics and Operations Management at HEC Montréal. He holds a BSc in Statistics and a Msc in Operations Research from the Institute of Applied Mathematics of Angers. He did his Ph.D in Operations Research at Polytechnique Montréal.

Florian’s research interests are in the areas of healthcare transportation, humanitarian logistics and hospital resources optimization. Since 2020, he is collaborating with multiple humanitarian organizations to provide them decision-making tools allowing more efficient and robust supply chains.

Florian is currently collaborating with ESUPS in order to provide potential improvements for the ponderation table system, allowing a better consideration of transportation networks’ vulnerabilities and helping ESUPS to provide solutions ever closer to partners’ needs.