Two Optimization Applications that Contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations

In this webinar, Prof. Dick den Hertog will describe two optimization applications that contribute to one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

The first application is an optimization model to optimize the food supply chain for the World Food Programme. This application received the INFORMS Franz Edelman award in 2021.

The second application is an optimization model to optimize health care facility locations in Timor-Leste and stroke center locations in Vietnam. This project is carried out in collaboration with the World Bank. The resulting mixed integer linear optimization problems are solved with Gurobi. If time permits, Dr. den Hertog will shortly describe current and future activities of the recently initiated Analytics for a Better World Institute (analyticsbw.org). Gurobi is sponsor of the ABW Institute.

Dr Dick den Hertog

Dick den Hertog is professor of Operations Research at University of Amsterdam. His research interests cover various fields in prescriptive analytics, in particular linear and nonlinear optimization. In recent years, his main focus has been on robust optimization, and recently he started research on Optimization with Machine Learning. He is also active in applying the theory in real-life applications. In particular, he is interested in applications that contribute to a better society. He received the INFORMS Franz Edelman Award twice: in 2013 for his research on optimal flood protection, and in 2021 for his research on optimizing the food supply chain for the UN World Food Programme. Currently, he is doing research to develop better optimization models and techniques for cancer treatment together with researchers from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston, USA), and he is involved in research to optimize the locations of health care facilities in Timor-Leste and Vietnam together with the World Bank. He has been Visiting Professor at MIT for several years now. He is Science-to-Impact Director of the Analytics for a Better World Institute, that he co-founded in 2022.