BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Operations Research Graduate Program - ECPv6.18.2//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Operations Research Graduate Program X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://or.ncsu.edu X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Operations Research Graduate Program REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20230312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20231105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20250309T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20251102T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20260308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20261101T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251103T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251103T173000 DTSTAMP:20260210T203626Z CREATED:20250826T205512Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T203626Z UID:10000008-1762187400-1762191000@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: ORGSA Panel DESCRIPTION:Join the Operations Research Graduate Student Association (ORGSA) as they discuss current topics of interest to new and current students\, including how to prepare for your upcoming qualifying exam. All OR alumni and friends are welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/99989048564?pwd=p24TVn1pdVDUBJCvPfWKOCsDcyRblQ.1 \nMeeting ID: 999 8904 8564\nPasscode: 638150 \nPanelist Biographies\nWill Kirschenman\nWill Kirschenman has served 15 years in the U.S. Army\, first as an Engineer and now as an Operations Research / Systems Analyst (FA49). He is in his final year of the Operations Research (OR) Ph.D. program and will subsequently join the OR department faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey\, California. His research focuses on multi-level prioritized packing for both general and military applications\, developing efficient metaheuristic and matheuristic algorithms to solve these problems. He and his wife have three children and enjoy fitness\, the outdoors\, and spending time together as a family. \nCameron Lisy\nCameron is a 6th year PhD student in Operations Research whose research and career interests include fossil fuel market dynamics and how they impact the cost and reliability of the power grid. \nAndrew Shaeffer\nAndrew Shaeffer is 23 years old from Cleveland\, Ohio. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy with a Bachelors of Science in Operations Research at US Air Force Academy in 2024. Additionally\, he graduated with a Masters of Science in Operations Research at NC State in December 2025. He was then assigned at JB Langley-Eustis in Hampton\, VA where he worked as an Operations Research Analyst providing support to Air Combat Command. His thesis involves using Simulation to Optimize Batting Lineups in Major League Baseball. His hobbies include running\, playing sports\, watching sports\, lifting\, movies\, trivia\, and painting. \nElizabeth Harris\nElizabeth Harris is a third year Ph.D. student in Operations Research. She has a bachelors of science in Mathematics and Chemistry from Furman University. Elizabeth is working with Dr. Rachunok and her research interests are developing\, however she’s currently looking into the interactions between power and cell outages after natural disasters. Outside of school Elizabeth enjoys singing and is even in an a capella group at NC State! URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-informs-11-03-2025/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/or-seminar-series-orgsa-panel-11-03-2025-featured-image-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251020T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251020T173000 DTSTAMP:20251021T121803Z CREATED:20250826T204428Z LAST-MODIFIED:20251021T121803Z UID:10000007-1760977800-1760981400@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: INFORMS Practice Talks DESCRIPTION:Come out and support OR Ph.D. Students as they practice their talks for the upcoming INFORMS Annual Conference. \nDid You Miss It?\nDon’t worry. You can Watch it here.\nPasscode: #2%kENkQ \nStudents\n\nJoshua Grassel\nRegan Richardson\nHou-An Chen\nCameron Lisy\n\nTalk Title\, Abstract and Biographies\nJoshua Grassel\n\nStress Testing the Numerical Stability of LP and MIP Solvers \nModern solvers for linear programming (LP) and mixed-integer programming (MIP) are indispensable tools in optimization\, yet they can yield incorrect results due to roundoff errors from floating-point arithmetic. These errors\, such as reporting suboptimal solutions as optimal or misidentifying problems as infeasible\, cast doubt on solver reliability. Their impact is particularly acute in domains requiring high numerical precision\, such as biochemical modeling\, astrophysics simulations\, compiler optimization\, and mathematical proofs. To mitigate these issues\, various strategies have been developed\, including presolve scaling\, algorithm tuning\, and exact arithmetic subroutines. However\, current evaluation practices rely heavily on standard problem libraries\, which may not expose numerical weaknesses in a consistent or generalizable way. This research proposes a novel framework for generating synthetic LP instances that systematically stress test solvers’ numerical robustness. Inspired by worst-case complexity constructions\, the framework allows control over key parameters\, such as variable count and coefficient precision\, enabling exploration of solver behavior under varying numerical stress. Each generated problem is guaranteed to have an exactly representable input data in floating-point\, ensuring that any observed errors originate from solver internals rather than input encoding. This approach provides a systematic method for testing solver reliability and benchmarking numerical stability. The presentation showcases results from applying this framework to a range of commercial and open-source solvers\, highlighting both their strengths and limitations when facing numerically challenging LP instances. \nJoshua Grassel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 2021. During his undergraduate studies\, he completed three internships—two in manufacturing engineering with defense subcontractors and one in logistics engineering with a wine and spirits bottling and distribution company. Joshua began his PhD in Industrial Engineering at Arizona State University in Fall 2021 and transferred to the Operations Research PhD program at NC State in Fall 2023. His research has spanned topics such as the wisdom of crowds and sustainable solid waste management. Currently\, he is focusing on optimization algorithms with a special interest in numerical precision. Outside of academia\, Joshua enjoys cooking\, playing board games\, running\, cycling\, and exploring the outdoors with his wife and dog.\n \nRegan Richardson\n\nExamining the Unintended Impacts of Disruptions to the Illicit Drug Market on Violent Crime and Overdose Death \nThe use of illicit substances remains an ongoing and widespread part of society\, with the illegal drug market estimated to be 1% of the total global trade. The true scale of this market is unknown because it is an illicit underground trade that is poorly understood\, dynamic\, and complex. While there have been trends towards decriminalization or legalization of marijuana in the United States\, the overarching policy and strategy has been consistently been to allocate large amounts of resources to law enforcement agencies to disrupt and dismantle illicit distribution networks. Therefore\, the purpose of this project is to utilize national integrated data to develop an understanding of the impact of law enforcement disruptions to the illicit drug supply on both public health (e.g. overdoses) and public safety (e.g. violent crime) outcomes. In the present study\, we utilize multivariate granger-causality to investigate the relationships between police drug seizures and violent crime rates\, and between police drug seizures and overdose death rates using data from the National Incident Reporting System (NIBRS) and the National Center for Health Statistics Mortality Data from CDC WONDER. \nRegan Richardson received her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with a minor in Data Analytics from Furman University in 2020. She is in her second year of the Operations Research PhD program. Her current area of research is in applications and methodology of causal discovery. Her advisors are Dr. Maria Mayorga and Dr. Osman Ozaltin. In her free time\, Regan enjoys reading\, watching hockey\, and taking ballet classes.\n \nHou-An Chen\n\nBilevel Formulation for Share Allocation in Food Distribution Auctions \nChoice system is a food donation distribution mechanism operated by Feeding America. In Choice\, a specialized currency called “shares” is distributed to food banks\, and is used to bid on food bundles in auctions. Currently\, shares are distributed proportionally to a food bank’s service area population\, which often results in smaller food banks receiving fewer shares and being less likely to win auctions. We study the allocation of shares that leads to a better participation\, using a multi-follower bilevel model to capture the hierarchical and decentralized nature of this decision process. Feeding America\, acting as the leader\, seeks to maximize the minimum food bank utilities. The followers consist of multiple food banks that compete for the goods. Each food bank places bids to win allocations and earn utilities\, which they seek to maximize. This interdependency between food banks is modelled as a generalized Nash equilibrium problem at the lower level. A single-level reformulation is derived and solved by the cut-and-column generation algorithm. Extensive computational experiments provide managerial insights on the operations of Choice. \nHou-An Chen is a Ph.D. student in the Operations Research Program at North Carolina State University. His research centers on game theory\, with a particular focus on applications in food bank operations. In particular\, he employs methodologies such as market design and bilevel programming to address complex decision hierarchies and improve resource allocation in humanitarian logistics.\n \nCameron Lisy\n\nModelling Extreme Weather Risks to Daily US Natural Gas Markets Under Near-term Growth in Electric Power and LNG Export Demand \nRecent steady growth in the production of U.S. domestic natural gas has kept up with rising demand in the power sector\, and prices have remained stable despite rising geopolitical headwinds from conflict and uncertainty in trade relationships. But this balance of fundamentals may shift in the near term as more LNG export terminals have begun operations and hyperscale datacenter growth encourages the building of more gas turbines by utilities to meet their 24/7 demand for electricity. Simultaneously\, natural gas infrastructure vulnerability to extreme winter storms\, most recently experienced from weakened polar vortex events in 2019\, 2021\, 2023\, 2024 and 2025 have raised concerns about the potential for disruption at critical times of year when customers and grid operators rely on natural gas deliveries for space heating. To understand the impacts these events may have on the price and availability of natural gas\, we develop a daily market clearing model of U.S. production and state-to-state transmission infrastructure. \nCameron is a 6th year PhD student in Operations Research whose research and career interests include fossil fuel market dynamics and how they impact the cost and reliability of the power grid. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-informs-10-20-2025/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/or-seminar-series-phd-students-informs-10-20-2025-featured-image-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251006T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251006T173000 DTSTAMP:20260210T203804Z CREATED:20250826T203750Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T203804Z UID:10000006-1759768200-1759771800@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Kristy Borda and Alp Tezbasaran DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Kristy Borda and Alp Tezbasaran\, NC State Librarians\, as they discuss using library spaces\, services and AI tools. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. NOTE: Due to the hands-on nature of this event\, it is in-person ONLY. \nTitle and Abstract\nResearch 101: Libraries Spaces\, Services and AI Tools \nIn this session\, you will learn about the Libraries spaces and services that exist to support graduate student learning and research. You will also learn about AI tools that can support your research process at various stages\, including literature searching\, citation management\, data cleaning and preparation and coding. \nBiographies\nKristy Borda is a Research Librarian for Sciences & Instructional Strategy at NC State University Libraries. She holds a Master’s of Library and Information Science from Kent State University and a Bachelor’s of Science from The College of William & Mary. Kristy collaborates with faculty and students across STEM disciplines through instruction and outreach. She is currently focused on integrating AI literacy into research and learning. \nAlp Tezbasaran is a Data Science Librarian in the Data Science Services Department at NC State University Libraries. In his role\, Alp leads instruction on AI and Python programming topics\, provides consultation on data science topics and tools and manages the Data Labs (Dataspace and Data Experience Lab) to provide specialized hardware and software to patrons. Alp is a Ph.D. student in Nuclear Engineering\, a research adjunct in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Lab at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences and a research affiliate at Coastal Carolina University. His research focuses on high-performance computing\, AI and ML applications in nuclear engineering\, specifically in probabilistic risk assessment. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-kirsty-borda-alp-tezbasaran-10-06-2025/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/or-seminar-series-kristy-borda-alp-tezbasaran-10-06-2025-featured-image-10-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250929T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250929T173000 DTSTAMP:20260210T203930Z CREATED:20250826T201207Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T203930Z UID:10000004-1759163400-1759167000@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Gal Mendelson DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming ISE’s own Gal Mendelson\, assistant professor\, as he discusses efficient\, scalable and sustainable computing. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid You Miss It?\nDon’t worry. You can watch it here.\nPasscode: 6zHW0&j6 \nTitle and Abstract\nLoad Balancing using Sparse Communication \nLoad balancing across parallel servers remains a central challenge in service systems. For example\, servers need accurate\, real-time congestion information. However\, obtaining this data often requires heavy communication. Therefore\, this step can be impractical in fast-changing settings like data centers or energy-saving wireless networks. \nIn his talk\, Mendelson will explain how sparse communication improves resource use in parallel servers. First\, he will present a new load-balancing framework. Next\, he will show how it separates communication\, information\, and routing decisions. Consequently\, this approach allows algorithms to perform well even with limited communication. \nThe presentation will also highlight both theory and numerical results. Specifically\, Mendelson will show that sparse communication can approximate queue lengths. Moreover\, he will demonstrate that these approximations maintain strong performance while reducing communication by more than 90 percent. \nFinally\, he will connect this research to his broader agenda. In particular\, he aims to ensure energy is used efficiently and sustainably during the rise of artificial intelligence and the energy revolution. \nBiographies\nGal Mendelson joined the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC State University in 2025. His research focuses on applied probability\, data science\, and operations research. In particular\, he studies how energy systems can use resources more efficiently. As a result\, his work helps manage complex systems more effectively. \nBefore NC State\, Mendelson taught at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology from 2023 to 2025. He earned a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Technion in 2020. Then\, in 2022\, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. These experiences shaped his current research path. \nIn addition\, Mendelson brings industry expertise. He worked at IBM Research from 2017 to 2018. Later\, he joined NVIDIA from 2020 to 2021. In both roles\, he tackled scalability challenges in data centers. Furthermore\, he earned several honors\, including the INFORMS Applied Probability Society Best Student Paper Award in 2019. He also received recognition from the INFORMS George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award and the Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholarship. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-gal-mendelson-09-29-2025/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/or-seminar-series-gal-mendelson-09-29-2025-featured-image-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250922T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250922T173000 DTSTAMP:20250923T123959Z CREATED:20250826T202406Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250923T123959Z UID:10000005-1758558600-1758562200@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Renran Tian DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming ISE’s own Renran Tian\, assistant professor\, as he discusses human–AI driving interactions. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid You Miss It?\nDon’t worry\, you can watch it here.\nPasscode: dLQ*2Dj8 \nTitle and Abstract\nArtificial Social Intelligence in Automated Driving \nAutonomous vehicles (AVs) must operate as technical systems and as active participants in complex social traffic environments. \nFocus\nThis seminar introduces Artificial Social Intelligence as a foundation for enabling AVs to interpret\, predict\, and engage in social interactions with human road users. \nResearch Highlights\nGrounded in explainable AI\, cognitive AI\, and human computation\, my work on human–AI interaction addresses: \n\nOn the road: pedestrian behavior prediction and intention modeling.\nInside the vehicle: transparent and interpretable decision-making for passengers.\n\nLooking Ahead\nThe seminar concludes with open questions on how to incorporate dual-process decision-making and metacognition into AVs and approaches for developing user-centered AI explanations. \nBiography\nRenran Tian is an Assistant Professor in the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University in 2013\, after completing his master’s and bachelor’s degrees at Tsinghua University in Beijing\, China. \nTian has published more than 70 refereed research papers. His research focuses on Human-Centered Computing\, Human–AI Interaction\, Cognitive Psychology\, and Deep Learning. \nHonors and Awards \n\nInstitutional Lead Award\, IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society (2025)\nNSF CAREER Award (2022)\nBest Paper Award\, HCI International (2019) URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-renran-tian-09-22-2025/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/or-seminar-series-renran-tian-09-22-2025-featured-image-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250915T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250915T173000 DTSTAMP:20260210T204049Z CREATED:20250825T174552Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T204049Z UID:10000003-1757953800-1757957400@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Archis Ghate DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Archis Ghate\, ISE department head at the University of Minnesota\, as he discusses Inverse Markov Decision Processes. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid You Miss It?\nThat’s okay. You can Watch it Here.\nAccess Password: ^CRm8^B@ \nTitle and Abstract\nInverse Markov Decision Processes \nInverse optimization seeks parameter values that make the chosen decision variables optimal. In contrast\, forward optimization computes optimal decision variables from given parameters. This talk will focus on inverse optimization in Markov decision processes (MDPs). Specifically\, we will study how to impute rewards and transition probabilities that make a policy optimal. \nTo start\, we will review prior work on imputing rewards. After that\, we will formulate the problem of imputing transition probabilities. While both issues rely on mathematical programming forms of Bellman’s equations\, they differ in difficulty. In particular\, imputing rewards is easier because the problem is linear. However\, imputing transition probabilities is harder since the issue is bilinear. Therefore\, we will present exact and approximate methods for solving versions of this bilinear challenge. \nNext\, we will show how to use uniformization to extend these methods to continuous-time MDPs. Finally\, we will also describe an extension to semi-Markov decision processes. \nBiographies\nArchis Ghate is a professor and the department head of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Minnesota. Previously\, he worked as a professor of industrial engineering and held the Fluor Endowed Chair at Clemson University. \nBefore joining Clemson\, Ghate was an industrial and systems engineering professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. During that time\, he worked as associate chair for six years. In addition\, he held a College of Engineering endowed professorship for five years. \nHe began his career at the University of Washington as an assistant professor. He earned a Ph.D. in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan in 2006. He also received an M.S. in management science and engineering from Stanford in 2003. Moreover\, he completed his undergraduate studies at the Indian Institute of Technology\, Bombay\, in 2001. \nGhate has received many honors. For example\, he earned the NSF CAREER Award. He also won an excellence in teaching operations research award and a best paper award from IISE. Furthermore\, he has received several teaching accolades from the University of Washington. His students have also excelled by winning the Dantzig Dissertation Award and the Bonder Scholarship in healthcare operations research from INFORMS. \nIn addition\, Ghate has served on the editorial boards of several journals. He also held leadership roles\, including general chair of the INFORMS 2019 Annual Meeting and program co-chair of the 2021 IISE Annual Conference. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-archis-ghate-09-15-2025/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/or-seminar-series-archis-ghate-09-15-2025-featured-image-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250908T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250908T173000 DTSTAMP:20260210T204750Z CREATED:20250825T151438Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T204750Z UID:10000002-1757349000-1757352600@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Jerome Rutinowski and Sven Franke DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Jerome Rutinowski and Sven Franke\, Chairs of Material Handling and Warehousing at TU Dortmund University\, as they discuss TU Dortmund University and their Inno Lab. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid you Miss it?\nDon’t worry\, you can watch it now\nAccess Password: 5!fy8M.i \nTitle and Abstract\nIntroduction to TU Dortmund University\, Germany\nTU Dortmund University stands in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region\, home to 10 million residents. As a result\, the university has played a decisive role in shaping Europe’s logistics hub. The Chair of Material Handling and Warehousing interprets logistics in a modern and forward-looking way. In the Inno Lab\, researchers envision future logistics as a cyber-physical system. The lab\, in turn\, supports a wide range of applications. For example\, researchers design robots that achieve speeds of 10 m/s. They also test swarms of drones for innovative logistics solutions. \nConsequently\, the lab provides a unique environment for advancing logistics innovation. During their talk\, Rutinowski and Franke will introduce the research infrastructure. They will also outline current projects and long-term development plans. In particular\, they will present work on computer vision and mobile robotics. Finally\, they will highlight progress in human activity recognition and related research topics. \nBiographies\nJérôme Rutinowski\nJérôme Rutinowski studied mechanical engineering at Ruhr University Bochum. During his studies\, he spent a semester abroad at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. In 2020\, he began working as a research associate at the Chair of Material Handling and Warehousing. In 2024\, he defended his Ph.D. dissertation on reliable identification of logistic entities using inherent visual features. Since then\, he has served as Deputy Head of Research and Operations. In this role\, he guides the institute’s strategic direction and scientific development. \nSven Franke\nSven Franke studied industrial engineering at TU Dortmund University. During his studies and afterwards\, he worked at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics in the Warehousing and IT Planning department. Since 2022\, he has served as a research associate at the Chair of Material Handling and Warehousing. His research centers on communication interfaces in mobile robotics for industrial peripherals. In addition\, he examines definitions and perceptions of terms in mobile robotics as part of his Ph.D. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-jerome-rutinowski-sven-franke-09-08-2025/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/or-seminar-series-jerome-rutinowski-sven-franke-09-08-2025-featured-image-08-3035-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250828T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250828T163000 DTSTAMP:20250827T140256Z CREATED:20250827T140256Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250827T140256Z UID:10000013-1756393200-1756398600@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:Fall 2025 CCEE and ISE Ice Cream Social DESCRIPTION:Start the Fall 2025 semester by joining CCEE and ISE students\, staff and faculty for a sweet celebration. Enjoy creamy ice cream from Goodberry’s with friends as you connect with your campus community. Next\, try refreshing dairy-free sorbet from Andia’s while you meet new people and catch up with classmates. Remember that Delta Airport Consultants generously support this event through a thoughtful donation. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/fall-2025-ccee-ise-ice-cream-social/ LOCATION:Angel Plaza\, 915 Partners Way\, 2nd Floor Entrance\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27606 CATEGORIES:OR Program Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/fall-2025-ccee-ise-ice-cream-social-08-28-2025-featured-image-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250825T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250825T173000 DTSTAMP:20260210T205721Z CREATED:20250825T143043Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T205721Z UID:10000001-1756139400-1756143000@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:Fall 2025 Welcome Back Orientation DESCRIPTION:This seminar session is devoted to welcoming everyone back and introducing the new graduate students. All OR students and faculty are invited to attend. After the introductions\, an orientation session is held to review requirements for new students and to answer questions. \nCan’t make it in person?\nZOOM URL: https://ncsu.zoom.us/j/99989048564?pwd=p24TVn1pdVDUBJCvPfWKOCsDcyRblQ.1\nMeeting ID: 999 8904 8564\nPasscode: 638150 URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/fall-2025-welcome-back-orientation/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Program Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/operations-research-leadership-maria-mayorga-1500x844-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250502T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250502T103000 DTSTAMP:20260128T202533Z CREATED:20260128T201512Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T202533Z UID:10000032-1746176400-1746181800@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:Spring 2025 Graduation Ceremony DESCRIPTION:The OR Spring 2025 Graduation Ceremony begins at 9 a.m. with a reception right after the service. The ceremony will be live-streamed (http://go.ncsu.edu/isegraduation) starting at 8:45 am for friends and families to enjoy. The event will be held at the McKimmon Center in Room 2 on NC State’s campus and parking is FREE. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/spring-2025-graduation-ceremony/ LOCATION:McKimmon Center\, 1101 Gorman Street\, Raleigh\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Program Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/graduation-ceremony-default-feature-image-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250422T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250422T210000 DTSTAMP:20260128T205431Z CREATED:20260128T205413Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T205431Z UID:10000033-1745344800-1745355600@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:Annual Alumni Reunion 2025 DESCRIPTION:Join us for a special night of food and drinks as we celebrate another alumni reunion at The Raleigh Times! Don’t miss this opportunity to socialize with fellow OR faculty and students\, as well as\, OR alums and their families. We will also celebrate student achievements and your families are welcome to attend. \n\nMaria Mayorga\, OR Director\, will welcome you and share updates on the program’s latest developments and\nfuture plans.\nEnjoy a delicious dinner with entrees\, appetizers\, desserts\, and a selection of beer and wine.\nHear a special address from the Outstanding Alumni Award recipient.\nCelebrate the achievements of our newest graduates.\nWatch as the Salah E. Elmaghraby Distinguished Student Award is presented.\nGrab some free OR swag at various points throughout the event! URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/annual-alumni-reunion-2025/ LOCATION:The Raleigh Times\, 14 E. Hargett Street\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27601 CATEGORIES:OR Program Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/alumni-annual-reunion-04-22-2025-featured-image-01-2026-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250414T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250414T174500 DTSTAMP:20260210T210425Z CREATED:20260128T210233Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T210425Z UID:10000034-1744648200-1744652700@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Subramanian Pazhani DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Subramanian Pazhani\, Senior Operations Research Specialist at the SAS Institute\, as he discusses optimization applications. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/99042438351?pwd=OTRIWG3ySiA21TubNEVBxpsvnxLRoa.1 \nMeeting ID: 990 4243 8351\nPasscode: 973594 \nTitle and Abstract\nApplications of optimization for real-world problems: Implementations in a semiconductor industry and a logistics industry \nOptimization is the act of making something as fully effective as possible and we benefit from its application every day in our lives. There are numerous applications of optimization in industries. In this talk\, I will discuss two optimization-based solution implementations in real industry.\nIn the first part\, we will discuss an implementation in a semiconductor manufacturing facility to minimize operating cost and improve throughput for wafer cleaning processes. Wafer cleaning process in semiconductor fabrication comprises multiple steps at various stages of the product flow to remove particles and oxidize organic contaminants\, using different chemicals. We consider J equipment groups which run I clean process steps and uses M different chemicals. We propose a bi-criteria mixed integer linear programming model to allocate daily demands to the equipment groups with the objectives of improving cycle time & throughput by minimizing the maximum utilization of the equipment groups and minimize operating costs by reducing chemical usage across these equipment groups. We also propose a priority based dispatching algorithm to translate the model output and implement in a dispatching system. Results show that the model reduces chemical pre-dispense resulting in significant cost saving\, improved throughput due to cascading\, and balanced utilization across the equipment groups.\nIn the second part\, we will focus on custom-built solutions that combine heuristics with optimization algorithms for optimizing routing decisions for a large logistics provider in the US. Complex business problems typically need advanced analytics tools and solutions to efficiently solve them\, with flexibility to create analytics pipelines that use complementary solution techniques. We will discuss customers’ business problems and share how to use multi-stage analytics solution approaches to efficiently solve them. \nBiography\nSubramanian (Subbu) Pazhani is a Senior Data Scientist with the Applied AI & Modelling\, R&D\, SAS Institute\, Cary\, North Carolina. His main responsibilities include designing\, developing\, and implementing optimization-based solutions for a variety of industries including Health Care\, Transportation\, Manufacturing\, and Education. Subbu is also an adjunct faculty member at the North Carolina State University and teaches Data Analytics for Industrial Engineers\, and Design & Analysis of Production and Service Systems. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research from the Pennsylvania State University\, University Park & a Master’s degree in Supply Chain Management from IIT Madras\, India. Prior to SAS\, Subbu also has 6+ years of semiconductor manufacturing experience where he developed analytical and optimization models for improving wafer manufacturing operations\, focused on improving cycle times\, productivity\, and variability reduction using optimization & dispatching.\nHis research areas include network design in closed loop supply chains\, inventory optimization in supply chains\, inventory routing problems\, designing supply chains for resiliency\, and dispatching and cycle time optimization in Semiconductor fabs. He has published a focus book titled Design and Analysis of Closed Loop Supply Chain Networks and contributed to book chapters. He has also published several research articles in prestigious peer-reviewed journals such as International Journal of Production Economics\, Computers & Industrial engineering\, International Journal of Production Research\, Applied Mathematical Modelling\, Applied Soft Computing\, and International Journal of Operational Research. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-subramanian-pazhani-04-14-2025/ LOCATION:2115 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way Fitts-Woolard Hall\, Room 2115\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-subramanian-pazhani-04-14-2025-featured-image-12-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250407T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250407T174500 DTSTAMP:20260210T211119Z CREATED:20260128T211944Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T211119Z UID:10000035-1744043400-1744047900@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: ORGSA DESCRIPTION:Join the ORGSA as they discuss how to prepare for your upcoming qualifying exam. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/99042438351?pwd=OTRIWG3ySiA21TubNEVBxpsvnxLRoa.1 \nMeeting ID: 990 4243 8351\nPasscode: 973594 \nTitle\nThe Operations Research Graduate Student Association presents: Preparing for Qualifying Exams \nSeminar Panelists\n\nJoshua Grassel\nElizabeth Harris\nCaroline Hayes\n\nBiographies\nJoshua Grassel\nJoshua Grassel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 2021. During his undergraduate studies\, he completed three internships—two in manufacturing engineering and one in logistics engineering. Josh began his PhD in Industrial Engineering at Arizona State University in Fall 2021 and transferred to the Operations Research PhD program at NC State in Fall 2023. His research under Dr. Escobedo has spanned topics from the wisdom of crowds to sustainable solid waste management . Currently\, he is focusing on optimization algorithms with an interest in numerical precision. Outside of academia\, Josh enjoys cooking\, playing board games\, running\, and exploring the outdoors with his wife and dog. \nElizabeth Harris \nElizabeth Harris is a second year Ph.D. student in Operations Research. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Chemistry from Furman University in Greenville\, SC. Her research interests are developing\, however\, she is currently working with Dr. Rachunok\, looking into the interactions between power and cell outages after natural disasters. \nCaroline Hayes\nCaroline Hayes is a second year Ph.D. student in Operations Research. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Christopher Newport University in Newport News\, VA and is about to get her master’s degree from North Carolina State University in OR in the fall. She works with Dr. Rachunok and is interested in optimizing resilience. Her current research is looking at access to essential goods\, and comparing planning decisions pre and post natural disaster to see how access is impacted\, with hopes to shift this work toward improving energy system resilience. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-orgsa-04-07-2025/ LOCATION:2115 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way Fitts-Woolard Hall\, Room 2115\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/or-seminar-series-default-featured-image-01-2026-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250331T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250331T174500 DTSTAMP:20260210T212031Z CREATED:20260128T213339Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260210T212031Z UID:10000037-1743438600-1743443100@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Jorge Haddock DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Jorge Haddock\, Professor of Business Administration at the University of Puerto Rico\, as he discusses embracing interdisciplinary. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid You Miss It?\nDon’t worry. We recorded it.\nAccess Password: K*^mF!@0 \nTitle and Abstract\nA Systems View Embracing Interdisciplinary: Exploring Scope\, Detail\, and the Interplay of Disciplines \nIn this presentation\, the speaker\, with over 45 years of experience in academia and consulting projects\, reflects on the lessons learned in teaching Operations Research and its practical applications. Topics include critical thinking\, quantitative analysis\, modeling and analysis\, algorithms and heuristics\, and communication skills. The subjects are discussed with a historical perspective\, as well as numerous examples of his teaching\, research\, and consulting experiences. \nBiography\nJorge Haddock served as the 12th president of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR)\, which at the time boasted 50\,000 students on 11 campuses\, 4\,000 faculty members\, and 6\,000 employees. Noteworthy successes in this role included regaining UPR’s Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) accreditation\, managing $300 million+ in budget cuts without layoffs or campus closures\, increasing research funding and philanthropic donations\, creating a program that covers tuition for around 80% of undergraduate students\, and improving global rankings.\nCurrently\, he is a professor at UPR’s Rio Piedras campus\, where he is responsible for business administration courses and research.\nIn previous roles\, Haddock served as dean and professor in the College of Management at the University of Massachusetts Boston\, where he initiated an ambitious strategic plan\, increased graduate enrollment and expanded graduate programs. Under his leadership as dean of the School of Management at George Mason University\, the undergraduate business program jumped 16 spots on U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings\, and for the first time\, was included on the Best Part-time MBA and Best Online Graduate Business Program lists.\nIn his time as dean of the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond\, he completed an $18 million campaign\, raising $12 million in two years and underwriting the expansion of academic facilities for the school.\nHe is a transformational trainer and coach for Benchmark\, ChoiceCenter Leadership University\, Mastery in Transformational Training\, and Descubrir\, and he has consulted for companies such as Mackie Designs\, CSX World Terminals\, Peavey\, Baxter\, Citicorp\, Citibank\, Michelin\, and Cedel.\nHaddock has 100 publications and manuscripts to his name and has completed 20 research projects utilizing $5 million in external funding. He has taught more than 20 different undergraduate and graduate courses\, supervised 15 PhD and 24 master’s students\, and holds one patent. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-jorge-haddock-03-31-2025/ LOCATION:2115 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way Fitts-Woolard Hall\, Room 2115\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-jorge-haddock-featured-image-12-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250324T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250324T174500 DTSTAMP:20260128T215307Z CREATED:20260128T215307Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T215307Z UID:10000039-1742833800-1742838300@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Mo Liu DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Mo Liu\, assistant professor from NC State’s Department of Statistics\, as he discusses decision-focused optimization. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid You Miss It?\nDon’t worry. We recorded the event\nAccess Password: *O2?dHr= \nTitle and Abstract\nValue of One Data Point: Active Label Acquisition in Decision-Focused Learning \nDecision-focused learning refers to machine learning methods that consider the downstream decision-making problem when designing and training prediction models. When building such a prediction model\, using informative data can significantly reduce the expected loss from suboptimal decisions induced by the model. \nThis talk will introduce a sequential data collection method that iteratively gathers informative data within the decision-focused learning framework. It will first review recent developments in decision-focused learning and then focus on the personalized assortment optimization problem. \nWe introduce a novel concept\, the ‘value of one data point\,’ which evaluates the marginal contribution of acquiring a specific customer’s preference to the expected revenue in personalized assortment optimization\, given the existing training set. Notably\, this value drops to zero once the optimal assortment for this specific customer is determined. To estimate this value and identify important customers for acquiring their preferences\, we derive a feature-dependent upper bound. This bound provides significant insights into the importance of each data point for revenue growth. Based on this upper bound\, we develop a personalized incentive policy for effectively collecting survey data from customers to obtain their preferences. Theoretically\, we show that our personalized incentive policy requires smaller cumulative incentives than any fixed incentive policy to achieve the same level of revenue. Additionally\, our numerical experiments with real-world and synthetic datasets validate the effectiveness of our personalized incentive algorithms over fixed strategies. \nBiography\nMo Liu is an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on data-driven decision-making and machine learning\, with a particular emphasis on decision-focused learning—a methodology that designs and trains prediction models to account for decision-making in downstream optimization problems. These downstream problems include real-world applications in revenue management\, such as product recommendation\, assortment optimization and inventory management. Prior to joining UNC-Chapel Hill\, he received his Ph.D. from the University of California\, Berkeley\, in 2024\, and his bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University in 2019. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-mo-liu-03-24-2025/ LOCATION:2115 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way Fitts-Woolard Hall\, Room 2115\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-mo-liu-featured-image-12-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250317T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250317T174500 DTSTAMP:20260128T215530Z CREATED:20260128T215510Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T215530Z UID:10000040-1742229000-1742233500@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: David Neira DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming David Neira\, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue\, as he discusses quantum discrete optimization. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid you Miss It?\nDon’t worry\, we recorded it\nAccess Password: 0XA%r&QG \nTitle and Abstract\nReformulations and Decomposition for Quantum Discrete Optimization: applications in optimal power flow \nQuantum computing has the potential to accelerate specific challenging computational tasks compared to classical computers. In particular\, given the Ising spin model to quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) equivalence\, methods have been proposed to tackle discrete optimization through quantum methods. We present a series of tools that allow reformulating discrete nonlinear optimization problems into QUBO and solving them using current quantum computers. Details can be found in https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.02577 and https://github.com/JuliaQUBO/QUBO.jl Given its quadratic formulation\, Alternate Current Optimal Power Flow (ACOPF) appears to be a promising candidate for quantum computers. Nevertheless\, the standard reformulations into a quantum system were found costly\, with small networks requiring thousands of qubits. By analyzing individual constraints\, we developed problem-specific strategies for reducing qubit requirements that are still beyond current-era quantum computer capabilities. Final perspectives of problem decomposition are presented as alternatives to exploit current quantum devices when aiming for practical discrete optimization applications. \nBiography\nDavid E. Bernal Neira is an assistant professor at the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. He specializes in applying mathematical and computer science tools to address problems relevant to science and engineering\, for example\, physics and chemical\, process\, and energy systems engineering. In particular\, he works in nonlinear discrete optimization\, where\, besides applications\, he has been working in theory\, algorithms\, and software. He has been involved in research and teaching related to these topics for over a decade\, complemented with research in Quantum Computing. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-david-neira-03-17-2025/ LOCATION:2115 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way Fitts-Woolard Hall\, Room 2115\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-david-neira-featured-image-12-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250303T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250303T174500 DTSTAMP:20260128T215817Z CREATED:20260128T215754Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T215817Z UID:10000041-1741017600-1741023900@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Md Abdul Quddus DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Md Abdul Quddus\, assistant professor at NC State’s Textile Engineering Department\, as he discusses operations research topics. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid You Miss It?\nDon’t worry\, we recorded the whole presentation!\nPasscode: sjr8#V+K \nTitle and Abstract\nOptimizing Sustainable Networks for Biomass Pellet Processing Depots Under Supply Uncertainty \nThis study develops a two-stage stochastic mixed-integer programming model to manage multi-purpose pellet processing depots under feedstock supply uncertainty. The model aims to minimize costs and emissions in the supply chain network by considering three Biomass Processing and Densification Depot (BPDD) technologies: conventional pellet processing\, high moisture pellet processing\, and ammonia fiber expansion. A hybrid decomposition algorithm\, combining Sample Average Approximation with an enhanced Progressive Hedging (PH) algorithm\, was used to solve this problem\, with Mississippi and Alabama as testing grounds. The results of the analysis reveal promising insights that could lead to recommendations to help decision makers achieve a more cost-effective environmentally-friendly supply chain network. \nBiography\nMd Abdul Quddus is an assistant professor in the Department of Textile Engineering\, Chemistry and Science at NC State University. He received his Ph.D. in industrial & systems engineering from Mississippi State University in Starkville\, Mississippi. He also has over five years of experience at FedEx Express as a Senior Operations Research Advisor\, where he worked on various logistics research projects. His research focuses on supply chain and logistics\, big data analytics\, stochastic programming\, geospatial analytics for optimization. Additionally\, his work includes the application of AI\, machine learning\, cloud computing and HPC\, and operations research techniques to solve large scale supply chain network and risk management problems. He received multiple Bravo Zulu and leadership excellence awards from FedEx. He also received the Best Paper Award at INFORMS ENRE 2017. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-md-abdul-quddus-03-03-2025/ LOCATION:2115 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way Fitts-Woolard Hall\, Room 2115\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-md-abdul-quddus-featured-image-12-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250224T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250224T174500 DTSTAMP:20260128T220030Z CREATED:20260128T220030Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T220030Z UID:10000042-1740414600-1740419100@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Wentao Tang DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Wentao Tang\, assistant professor of Chemical Engineering at NC State\, as he discusses dissipative properties for control. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid You Miss It?\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/rec/share/ecWLi8mYzUZxWejM624xUWQv7zNIJNWt4b9_wy1bFoL_YEz6kXx4SZjmKAcuUt-h.qnbu3mqcJJYyu6p7\nAccess Password: z&H#W56! \nTitle and Abstract\nLearning of Dissipative Properties for Control \nWhile machine learning techniques have been increasingly used for the control of nonlinear systems\, discovering or preserving the structured properties underlying the nonlinearity is an issue of fundamental importance. From a thermodynamics point of view\, conservation and dissipation are the universal laws governing engineering systems\, and the learning of such properties from data not only facilitates the design of controllers with guaranteed performance but also provides physical insights and interpretability. In this talk\, I will introduce the dissipative systems theory and its origin from irreversible thermodynamics\, as well as its connections to convex optimization and dynamic optimization. I will also present some formulations of dissipativity learning for nonlinear systems\, with elementary theoretical analysis and applications to reaction and separation processes\, from my recent research. \nBiography\nWentao Tang is an Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State University. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and B.S. in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics from Tsinghua University in 2015\, and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from University of Minnesota in 2020. He was a process control engineer at Shell from 2020 to 2022 prior to joining NC State. His research focuses on developing data-driven model-free control methods for problems in nonlinear control theory\, the analysis of optimization algorithms as dynamical systems\, as well as potential applications in chemical processes. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-wentao-tang-02-24-2025/ LOCATION:2115 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way Fitts-Woolard Hall\, Room 2115\, Raleigh\, North Carolina\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-wentao-tang-featured-image-01-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250203T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250203T174500 DTSTAMP:20260128T220249Z CREATED:20260128T220222Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260128T220249Z UID:10000043-1738600200-1738604700@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Greg Hauser DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Greg Hauser\, OR alumnus and founder of OpenSolve\, as he discusses large-scale linear optimization. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nDid you Miss It?\n$1b. For fill-and-flow simulations\, we will discuss how results are used to evaluate the impact of strategic investments. \nBiography\nDavid Cornejo is the Director of Data Science within the Portfolio\, Decision Sciences and Analytics team at GSK. He is responsible for Data Science innovation\, analysis\, and data operations supporting portfolio decision-making and strategic planning. He has previously worked as a data scientist for several organizations\, including McKinsey & Company and Caterpillar. Cornejo received his Doctorate in Operations Research from NC State where his research focused on applications of simulation modeling and optimization in health policy design. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-david-cornejo-11-18-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-david-cornejo-featured-image-08-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241111T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241111T174500 DTSTAMP:20260129T141825Z CREATED:20260129T141421Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T141825Z UID:10000047-1731342600-1731347100@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Itai Gurvich DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Itai Gurvich\, James Allen Professor from Northwestern University\, as he discusses operations research topics. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/93445582296?pwd=FykTWtJLHlZkhaVn6aV4AZrwVmMrF7.1 \nMeeting ID: 934 4558 2296\nPasscode: 051656 \nTitle and Abstract\nOnline Allocation of Reusable Resources: The value of information and the cost of randomness \nItai Gurvich will discuss the problem of dynamically allocating reusable resources to customers of n types. There are d pools of resources and a finite number of units from each resource. If a customer request is accepted\, the decision maker collects a type-dependent reward and the customer occupies\, for a random service time\, one unit from each resource in a set of these. Upon service completion\, these resource units become available for future allocation. This is a loss network: requests that are not accepted leave immediately. The decision maker’s objective is to maximize the long-run average reward subject to the resource-capacity constraint. This is the basic model for revenue management with reusable resources. \nThe goal is to develop a nearly optimal admission control algorithm. In the talk\, Gurvich will consider the online problem against benchmarks that capture the value of information and the cost of randomness. The benchmarks will expose an interesting contrast with the perishable-resource case which serves as the basic model for network revenue management. \nBiography\nItai Gurvich is a professor at the Kellogg School of Management\, Northwestern University. He earned a Ph.D. from the Decision\, Risk and Operations department at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business in 2008. After his PhD\, he spent 8 years at Kellogg and 4 years at Cornell University’s campus in New York City (Cornell Tech) before returning to Kellogg in 2021. \nHis research interests include performance analysis and optimization of processing networks and the theory of stochastic-process approximations. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-itai-gurvich-11-11-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-itai-gurvich-featured-image-08-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241104T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241104T174500 DTSTAMP:20260129T141833Z CREATED:20260129T141619Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T141833Z UID:10000048-1730737800-1730742300@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Hossein Tohidi DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Hossein Tohidi\, Senior OR Specialist from SAS\, as he discusses molecular structure with Graph Neural Networks. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/93445582296?pwd=FykTWtJLHlZkhaVn6aV4AZrwVmMrF7.1 \nMeeting ID: 934 4558 2296\nPasscode: 051656 \nTitle and Abstract\nGraph-Based LogP Prediction: Leveraging Molecular Structure with Graph Neural Networks \nMolecular structures can be effectively represented as graphs\, with atoms as nodes and bonds as edges\, offering rich connectivity patterns crucial for property prediction tasks. LogP\, the logarithm of the partition coefficient\, serves as a pivotal descriptor reflecting a molecule’s hydrophobicity\, influencing its behavior in biological and chemical environments. In this study\, we propose a novel approach utilizing Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) to predict LogP values from molecular graphs directly. \nOur method exploits the inherent graph representation of molecules to learn informative nodes autonomously\, and graph features crucial for LogP prediction. Leveraging SAS Viya capabilities as well as the Torch Geometric Python package\, we train our model on diverse datasets\, ensuring robustness and generalization across various molecular structures. We conduct extensive experiments\, benchmarking our approach against state-of-the-art methods in LogP prediction. Our results underscore the efficacy of our graph-based model in accurately predicting LogP values. \nIn summary\, our work showcases the potential of Graph Neural Networks in elucidating graph properties for LogP prediction. By integrating graph representation learning with molecular property prediction\, we offer a promising framework to enhance drug discovery and molecular design processes. \nBiography\nHossein Tohidi is a Senior Operations Research Specialist at SAS\, working in the SAS R&D in the Network Analytics team. He earned his PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering from North Carolina State University in 2020\, with a dissertation titled “Expert Systems for Decision Making in Multistage Healthcare Problems\,” supervised by Dr. Osman Ozaltin. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-hossein-tohidi-11-04-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-hossein-tohidi-featured-image-08-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241028T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241028T174500 DTSTAMP:20260129T142128Z CREATED:20260129T142039Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T142128Z UID:10000049-1730133000-1730137500@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Tyler Kroon DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Tyler Kroon from NC State’s Libraries as he discusses NC State library resources. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/93445582296?pwd=FykTWtJLHlZkhaVn6aV4AZrwVmMrF7.1 \nMeeting ID: 934 4558 2296\nPasscode: 051656 \nTitle and Abstract\nIntro to the Library and AI-Powered Research Tools \nKroon\, a Research Librarian for Engineering at NC State\, will introduce attendees to library services and resources that they may find useful throughout their time here\, with a focus on recommended databases\, search strategies\, data management\, and citation management. He will also provide a brief overview of some AI-powered tools that he’s found most useful for the research and writing process. This session will incorporate open discussions and demonstrations throughout. \nBiography\nTyler Kroon is a Research Librarian for Engineering at NC State. He plans and teaches library instruction sessions and research workshops and provides research consultation services for engineering students and faculty. He serves as the library liaison to the Civil\, Construction\, and Environmental Engineering\, Industrial and Systems Engineering\, Materials Science and Engineering\, and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering departments within the College of Engineering. \nKroon also serves on the NC State University Libraries’ Alt-Textbook Team\, working to reduce textbook costs for students\, and the Community\, Culture\, and Belonging Committee\, working to facilitate learning and collaboration in the Libraries that contributes to a more inclusive and equitable campus environment. He co-teaches the 1-credit HON 398 Critical Disinformation course and has a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from Kent State University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Keuka College. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-tyler-kroon-10-28-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-tyler-kroon-featured-image-08-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241007T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241007T174500 DTSTAMP:20260129T142429Z CREATED:20260129T142429Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T142429Z UID:10000050-1728318600-1728323100@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: INFORMS Practice Talks DESCRIPTION:Come out and support OR Ph.D. Students as they practice their talks for the upcoming INFORMS Annual Conference. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/93445582296?pwd=FykTWtJLHlZkhaVn6aV4AZrwVmMrF7.1 \nMeeting ID: 934 4558 2296\nPasscode: 051656 \nStudents\nYamil Essus\nTitle: Estimating Access Risk During Blackouts Due to Vehicle Electrification in North Carolina \nAbstract: Vehicle electrification is a key component of sustainable development goals\, yet the mass adoption of electric vehicles can lead to unintended consequences for community mobility during natural hazards. Electric vehicles pose a challenge to owners during natural hazards that lead to power outages\, as a lack of home charging limits the mobility of EV owners. Due to the direct relation between driving distance to essential services and vehicle battery consumption\, changes in mobility will be impacted by geographic and technological factors. Geography determines the driving distance to essential services\, which will be translated to electricity consumption devoted to transportation\, and technology determines the size of electric vehicle batteries and vehicle efficiency. The linkage between mobility\, electric power availability and quality of life has broad implications for community resilience as equitable access to essential services has been identified as the most important aspect of community resilience. We present the results of a computational framework for estimating the risk of losing access to essential services during a prolonged blackout in North Carolina\, assuming complete adoption of electric vehicles. We leverage an open-source routing engine to compute driving distance to services\, census data to identify driving requirements (such as school enrollment and commuting by private car) and a database of previous blackouts to estimate county-level blackout risk. Additionally\, we incorporate a heuristic to approximate distance driven on commuting using isochrone curves. Finally\, we explore the sensitivity of our results to vehicle battery capacity\, which is tightly linked to vehicle affordability. \nBiography: Yamil Essus is a Ph.D. student in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department working in modeling community systems to understand and quantify the impacts of technological and social changes on the ability of communities to withstand natural hazards using statistical and data visualization tools. \nHyungkhee Eun\nTitle: Comparative Analysis of Distance Metrics in Distributionally Robust Optimization for Queuing Systems: Wasserstein vs. Kingman \nAbstract: This study examines the effectiveness of different metrics in constructing ambiguity sets for Distributionally Robust Optimization (DRO). Two main approaches for building ambiguity sets are the moment- and the discrepancy-based approaches. The latter is more widely adopted because it incorporates a broader range of distributional information beyond moments. Among discrepancy-based metrics\, the Wasserstein distance is often preferred for its advantageous properties over ϕ-divergence. In this study\, we propose a moment-based Kingman distance\, an approximation of mean waiting time in G/G/1 queues\, to determine the ambiguity set. We demonstrate that the Kingman distance provides a straightforward and efficient method for identifying worst-case scenarios for simple queue settings. In contrast\, the Wasserstein distance requires exhaustive exploration of the entire ambiguity set to pinpoint the worst-case distributions. These findings suggest that the Kingman distance could offer a practical and effective alternative for DRO applications in some cases. \nBiography: Hyungkhee (HK) is a second-year Ph.D. student in the ISE department at North Carolina State University. He received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Handong Global University\, and M.S. degree in Development Policy from KDI School of Public Policy and Management\, Korea. HK’s research interests include stochastic simulation and optimization. His current research focuses on bias correction and novel techniques for rapid identification of worst-case performance in distributionally robust optimization. \nWill Kirschenman\nTitle: Automated Vessel Selection and Combat Load Planning \nAbstract: In large-scale combat operations\, the U.S. military must move and maneuver its forces through intratheater and intertheater modes of transportation. Threat forces exacerbate these demanding requirements through efforts to hinder the flow of friendly forces. Contested landing zones\, whether they be fixed ports or beaches\, are the starting point for a landing force’s ground combat operations. It is imperative that the landing force expeditiously off-loads in the prescribed order of priority to support the planned scheme of maneuver upon off-loading. We first discuss current and historical methods of load planning while emphasizing the need for more detailed and automated methods driven by the expected nature of future conflicts against near-peer threats. We then present a model that optimizes vessel selection\, sequencing\, and combat load configurations of a large military force by considering multiple levels of priority and group unity\, which enables efficient off-loading into desired tactical formations for follow-on objectives. \nBiography: Will Kirschenman has served 14 years in the U.S. Army\, first as an Engineer and now as an FA49 Officer or ORSA (Operations Research / Systems Analyst). He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2010 and his M.S. in Operations Research (OR) from George Mason University in 2020. He is in his second year of the OR Ph.D. program and will graduate in Spring 2026. His research involves combinatorial optimization in vessel selection and combat load planning in the military\, where multiple levels of priority and group unity must be incorporated. He has a wife and three kids and enjoys fitness\, the outdoors\, and spending time with his family. \nBehnam Jabbari\nTitle: Derivation and Generation of Path-Based Valid Inequalities for Transmission Expansion Planning with New Bus Integration \nAbstract: This research tackles the intricacies of DC OPF-based transmission expansion planning (DC-TEP)\, accommodating the integration of new buses into the power grid. To handle the general intractability of this problem\, the primary computational strategy involves deriving Valid Inequalities (VIs). The proposed approach utilizes problem structure and graph-based methodologies to generate highly effective VIs. More specifically\, these VIs are generated by identifying relevant power flow paths connecting buses within the existing and expanded network before solving the dispatch problem. While in the associated theorems identifying the longest paths is deemed essential to preserve integer solutions\, the proposed approach efficiently circumvents such an inefficient procedure. \nBiography: Behnam Jabbari is a Ph.D. student in Industrial and Systems Engineering and a Master’s student in Operations Research at NC State University. His research focuses on Systems Analytics and Optimization\, with a particular emphasis on developing theoretical methodologies for solving discrete optimization problems. Specifically\, Behnam is working to improve computational methods for Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) in power systems optimization\, aiming to design efficient algorithms with robust guarantees.\nVeronica Diaz Pacheco\nTitle:Assessing the Vulnerability of Power Systems in Decarbonized Power Grids: A Network Interdiction Study \nAbstract: Decarbonizing electric power systems will likely involve greater reliance on variable renewable energy\, especially wind\, and solar\, which provide lower electricity output per land area than fossil fuel and nuclear-based power. As a result\, a distinct feature of future bulk power systems may be more numerous\, lower-capacity generators spread more evenly throughout the network. The impacts of this new configuration on the vulnerability of system operations are still unclear. Motivated by recent physical attacks on grid infrastructure\, this study examines how decarbonization through variable renewables could alter the vulnerability of the power system to intentional attacks. We explore this question as a network interdiction problem\, a two-player sequential game model where an adversary aims to maximally damage a cost-minimizing system operator by destroying grid components (generators\, transmission lines\, substations\, etc.). While network interdiction has previously been used to assess the vulnerability of power systems\, its application in the context of system-wide decarbonization is novel. We use a clustering procedure on annual load and renewable generation data from a real-world 662-bus regional transmission system to generate representative operating scenarios. We then evaluate how an attacker’s optimal strategies change throughout a typical operating year\, contrasting the vulnerabilities of the current and future (decarbonized) grid configuration\, including the capacity mix and its distribution throughout the regional transmission network. \nBiography: Veronica is a fourth-year doctoral student and researcher in the Operations Research program at North Carolina State University. After experiencing the devastating impacts of Hurricane Maria in her homeland Puerto Rico during September 2017\, Veronica became deeply interested in the field of decision-making under disruptions and emergency management. Under the supervision of her advisor\, Dr. Jordan Kern\, Veronica is exploring the use of bi-level programming to assess and enhance the resilience of bulk power system operations\, particularly with the integration of renewable energy sources. Veronica’s research interests include mathematical modeling and programming\, emergency management\, simulation\, networks\, and energy systems. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-informs-practice-talks-10-07-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-phd-students-informs-featured-image-08-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240930T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240930T174500 DTSTAMP:20260129T142835Z CREATED:20260129T142608Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T142835Z UID:10000051-1727713800-1727718300@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Chao Chen DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Chao Chen\, an assistant professor from NC State’s Mathematics Department\, as he discusses efficient matrix computations. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/93445582296?pwd=FykTWtJLHlZkhaVn6aV4AZrwVmMrF7.1 \nMeeting ID: 934 4558 2296\nPasscode: 051656 \nTitle and Abstract\nEfficient matrix computation for scientific computing and data analytics \nMatrix computations are ubiquitous in scientific computing and data science. However\, many existing methods consume enormous computational resources for solving increasingly large and complex problems. In this talk\, I will describe my work on exploiting mathematical structures and hardware capabilities to accelerate matrix computations. I will focus on a randomized algorithm\, namely RChol\, for computing an incomplete Cholesky factorization of a graph Laplacian\, which arises from data clustering\, semi-supervised learning\, and the solution of partial differential equations. RChol employs a randomized sampling scheme developed by Spielman and Kyng to prevent excessive fill-in introduced by Gaussian elimination. Compared to its deterministic counterparts\, RChol delivers faster convergence\, less running time\, and better parallel scalability. \nBiography\nChao Chen has been an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics since 2023. Before that\, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Oden Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. He received his PhD from the Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering (ICME) at Stanford in 2018.\nHis research generally focuses on developing efficient algorithms for matrix computations with applications to computational tasks ranging from solving partial differential equations to analyzing large high-dimensional datasets. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-chao-chen-09-30-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-chao-chen-featured-image-08-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240923T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240923T174500 DTSTAMP:20260129T142804Z CREATED:20260129T142804Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T142804Z UID:10000052-1727109000-1727113500@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: Edgar Lobaton DESCRIPTION:Join us in welcoming Edgar Lobaton\, a professor from NC State’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department\, as he discusses AI-powered wearables. Alums and friends of the program are always welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/93445582296?pwd=FykTWtJLHlZkhaVn6aV4AZrwVmMrF7.1 \nMeeting ID: 934 4558 2296\nPasscode: 051656 \nTitle and Abstract\nRobust Cough and Speech Detection with AI-Powered Wearables \nCoughs are used for the diagnosis of pulmonary diseases\, and patterns in speech\, including pause distributions\, are used for the diagnosis of speech pathologies\, including mild cognitive impairment. These use cases motivate our development of a wearable system that meets clinical monitoring requirements for detecting cough and speech patterns by fusing multimodal sensor data and ensuring users’ privacy. Our methodology enhances standard deep learning approaches by incorporating Out-Of-Distribution detection for robustness and incorporating Knowledge Distillation techniques to develop embedded deployments. \nBiography\nEdgar J. Lobaton\, professor\, joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at NC State University in 2011. He earned his B.S. in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering from Seattle University in 2004. He completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from the University of California\, Berkeley in 2009. Lobaton was engaged in research at Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs in 2005 and 2009. He was awarded the NSF CAREER Award in 2016. He was also awarded the 2009 Computer Innovation Fellows post-doctoral fellowship and conducted research in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill from 2009 until 2011. In 2023\, he received the William F. Lane Outstanding Teaching and the Winser Alexander Diversity Faculty Awards from the ECE Department. In 2024\, he received the University Faculty Scholars and the Outstanding Teacher Awards from NC State. His research focuses on the integration of AI and physical and probabilistic modeling applied to cyber-physical systems in areas such as wearable health monitoring\, rehabilitation robotics\, agriculture and biological imaging. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-edgar-lobaton-09-23-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-edgar-lobaton-featured-image-08-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240916T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240916T174500 DTSTAMP:20260129T143217Z CREATED:20260129T143129Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260129T143217Z UID:10000053-1726504200-1726508700@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:OR Seminar: ORGSA DESCRIPTION:Come out and meet the officers of the Operations Research Grad Student Association (ORGSA) and find out how to navigate research and well being as a Ph.D. student in Operations Research. OR Alums and friends are welcome. \nJoin Zoom Meeting\nhttps://ncsu.zoom.us/j/93445582296?pwd=FykTWtJLHlZkhaVn6aV4AZrwVmMrF7.1 \nMeeting ID: 934 4558 2296\nPasscode: 051656 \nTitle\nNavigating Research and Well Being as a Ph.D. Student in Operations Research \nPanelists\nJoshua Grassel earned his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 2021. During his undergraduate studies\, he completed three internships—two in manufacturing engineering and one in logistics engineering. Josh began his PhD in Industrial Engineering at Arizona State University in Fall 2021 and transferred to the Operations Research PhD program at NC State in Fall 2023. His research under Dr. Escobedo has spanned topics such as the wisdom of crowds and sustainable solid waste management. Currently\, he is focusing on optimization algorithms with an interest in numerical precision. Outside of academia\, Josh enjoys cooking\, playing board games\, running\, cycling\, and exploring the outdoors with his wife and dog. \nWarren Kay graduated from the United States Military Academy (USMA) in 2016 with a BS in Chemical Engineering. He has served for 8 years in the U.S. Army as an Engineer Officer. He is in his second year of the MS in OR program. After he graduates in Spring 2025\, he will move to West Point\, New York\, where he will teach in the Math Department at USMA. His research involves school bus route assignments and studying the impact of adjusting high school start times in Wake County. He hopes to use his graduate experience to transition into a career as an Operations Research / Systems Analyst for the Army. Warren enjoys coaching and parenting his three kids alongside his wife\, Madison. \nWill Kirschenman has served 14 years in the U.S. Army\, first as an Engineer and now as an FA49 Officer or ORSA (Operations Research / Systems Analyst). He is in his second year of the OR Ph.D. program and will graduate in Spring 2026. His research involves combinatorial optimization in vessel selection and combat load planning in the military\, where multiple levels of priority and group unity must be incorporated. He has a wife and three kids and enjoys fitness\, the outdoors\, and spending time with his family. \nLaura Mora received her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. She is currently in her third year of the Operations Research PhD program. Laura’s area of research is in causal inference. Specifically\, she seeks to investigate potential negative effects of law enforcement drug seizures on public health and safety. Her advisors are Dr. Maria Mayorga and Dr. Osman Ozaltin. Outside of academia\, Laura enjoys watching TV with her cat and dog\, reading romance novels\, and going to the theatre. \nAbout ORGSA\nThe ORGSA at NC State serves operations research graduate students by fostering communication between students and faculty\, establishing and maintaining a sense of identity and community within the OR program\, and promoting events\, interactions\, and programs that enhance the quality of education for students and their outcomes after graduation. URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/or-seminar-orgsa-09-16-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Seminar Series ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2025/08/or-seminar-series-orgsa-panel-11-03-2025-featured-image-08-2025-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20240827T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20240827T200000 DTSTAMP:20260828T154331Z CREATED:20260129T143846Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260828T154331Z UID:10000055-1724781600-1724788800@or.ncsu.edu SUMMARY:Women's Retreat 2024 DESCRIPTION:We are thrilled to announce our Women’s Retreat 2024 for all ISE-affiliated programs (ISE\, OR\, IMSE and MEM). Join us on August 27\, 2024\, from 6 pm to 8 pm. During this women’s retreat\, you will feel empowered and connected with other female graduate students. Moreover\, this event provides a safe and supportive space for women to discuss Title IX issues. You will also build a professional network and boost your career confidence. Expert speakers will lead workshops and give talks to help you grow. Don’t miss this chance to connect and learn! \nTo ensure a successful and enjoyable event\, we have planned the following agenda: \n\nWelcome and introduction\nKeynote address by the Women’s Center\nNetworking session\nWorkshop on professional confidence-building by the Career Center\n\nOR Seminar Series\nThe OR Program offers a unique opportunity every semester through the OR Seminar Series. These sessions let you interact with seasoned professionals from industries like technology\, medicine and education. You gain firsthand knowledge and insight and build long-lasting relationships through networking. This gives you an edge in the competitive job market. \nAs an added benefit\, you are welcome to attend all Industrial and Systems Engineering Departmental Seminars and MEM Program Seminars to expand your industry knowledge and professional network.\nAttend other OR seminars this semester >> \nSociety of Women Engineers\nThe Society of Women Engineers (SWE)\, founded in 1950\, is a not-for-profit educational and service organization. SWE is a driving force that establishes engineering as a highly desirable career aspiration for women. SWE empowers women to succeed and advance in those aspirations and be recognized for their life-changing contributions and achievements as engineers and leaders.\nDiscover what the Society for Women Engineers has for you >> URL:https://or.ncsu.edu/event/womens-retreat-2024-08-27-2024/ LOCATION:4290 Fitts-Woolard Hall\, 915 Partners Way\, Raleigh\, NC\, 27606\, United States CATEGORIES:OR Program Events ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://or.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/354/2026/01/seminar-series-womens-retreat-08-27-2024-featured-image-07-2024-01.jpg ORGANIZER;CN="OR Program":MAILTO:operationsresearch@ncsu.edu END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR