Research Group

People

Postdoc Fellow:

Dr. Bo Zhou (2022-present) Web: https://bozlamberth.github.io/ Research interests: Uncertainty analysis, robust optimization, continuous-time optimization with applications in flexibility and resilience of power/energy systems, energy storage, energy bank.

Current PhD Students:

Kevin Smith (co-advised by Brian Denton; 2020-present) Web: https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/kevin-b-smith

Juan Estrada (2022-present) Web: https://ioe.engin.umich.edu/people/estrada-garcia-juan-alberto/

Yanru Guo (2024-present) Web: https://ioe.engin.umich.edu/people/guo-yanru/

Former PhD Students:

Zhihao Chen, PhD (2012-2016) Thesis: “Strategic network planning under uncertainty with two-stage stochastic integer programming.” [link] First position: Amazon.

Yan Deng, PhD (2012-2016) Thesis: “Decomposition algorithms and parallel computing for chance-constrained and stochastic integer programs with applications.” [link] First position: Google.

Yuchen Jiang, PhD (co-advised by Prof. Cong Shi; 2013-2018) Thesis: “Supply chain and revenue management for online retailing.” [link] First position: Uber.

Yiling Zhang, PhD (co-advised by Ruiwei Jiang; 2015-2019) Thesis: Convex nonlinear and integer programming approaches for distributionally robust optimization of complex systems. Web: https://sites.google.com/view/yilingzhang First position: Assistant Professor in ISE at the University of Minnesota.

Miao Yu, PhD (2016-2020) Thesis: “Optimization approaches for mobility and service sharing.” First position: Ford Motor Company. Current Position: Amazon.

Hideaki Nakao, PhD (2016-2021) Topic: Distributionally robust optimization in sequential decision making. Web: https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/hideakinakao First position: Postdoc at the Argonne National Lab.

Xian Yu (2017-2022) Topic: Sequential Optimization Under Uncertainty: Models, Algorithms, and Applications. Web: https://u.osu.edu/xianyu/ First position: Assistant Professor in ISE at The Ohio State University.

Huiwen Jia (co-advised by Cong Shi; 2018-2022) Topic: Adaptive Optimization and Learning for Service Systems. Web: https://sites.google.com/view/huiwenjia/ First position: Amazon. Current position: Assistant Professor in IEOR at UC Berkeley.

Kati Moug (2019-2023) Topic: Sequential Decision Making in Crisis: Mitigating Risk in Marginalized Communities with Stochastic Optimization. Web: https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/kmoug First position: Lecturer in Georgia Tech, ISyE.

Xinyu Fei (2019-2023) Topic: Optimization Methods for Mixed-Integer Control Problems in Complex Systems. Web: https://sites.google.com/umich.edu/xinyuf First position: Amazon.

Supervised Marian Sarah Parker Scholars (Undergraduate) through WISE:

Amanda Hazel (Summer 2012) Topic: “Using Network Optimization Tools for Shelter Relief in Haiti.” Recognition: Finalist of the Undergraduate Technical Paper Competition in 2013 IIE Great Lakes Regional Conference.

Joy Chang (Summer 2015) Topic: “Optimizing Environmental Impacts and Social Welfare of Car Sharing.” Recognition: 2016 INFORMS Undergraduate Operations Research Award, First Place.

Group News

• 01/2025, PhD student, Juan Estrada, has been elected as a 2025 Institute for Energy Solutions (IES) Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellow. (See full IOE news here.) Congratulations, Juan!

• 09/2024, a new PhD student Yanru Guo joins our research group. She was a master student in IOE at UMich from 2022-24. Welcome, Yanru!

• 09/2024, our paper titled “Binary Quantum Control Optimization with Uncertain Hamiltonians,” is accepted to appear in the special issue of INFORMS Journal on Computing on ‘‘Quantum Computing and Operations Research’’ (co-authored with my former PhD student, Xinyu Fei, as well as collaborators Dr. Lucas T. Brady in NASA, and Drs. Jeffrey Larson and Sven Leyffer in ANL).

• 09/2024, our paper titled “On the Value of Risk-Averse Multistage Stochastic Programming in Capacity Planning,” is accepted by and will appear in INFORMS Journal on Computing (co-authored with my former PhD student, Dr. Xian Yu, who is currently an Assistant Professor at Ohio State University.)

• 09/2024, Dr. Shen receives NSF Director’s Award for Superior Accomplishment (group award) for ‘‘extraordinary vision and creativity in designing and implementing the IMPRESS-U initiative, a model for innovative cross-sector partnerships, enhancing NSF's reputation for international science leadership" while serving as a program director at NSF.

• 08/2024, our paper “Sequential Charging Station Location Optimization under Uncertain Charging Behavior and User Growth” is accepted to the the 63rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC 2024) to be held in Milan, Italy in December 2024. It is a joint work with Wenjia Shen, Dr. Bo Zhou, and Dr. Ruiwei Jiang.

• 08/2024, our paper “Distributionally robust resource allocation with trust-aided parametric information fusion” is accepted to the the 63rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC 2024) to be held in Milan, Italy in December 2024. It is a joint work with Yanru Guo, Dr. Bo Zhou, Dr. Xi Jessie Yang, and Dr. Ruiwei Jiang.

• 08/2024, former PhD student, Dr. Huiwen Jia, starts as an assistant professor in IEOR at UC Berkeley. Congratulations, Huiwen!

• 08/2024, our paper titled “Supply Chain Design Optimization with Heterogeneous Risk-aware Agents,” is conditionally accepted by and will appear in IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (co-authored with my PhD student, Juan-Alberto Estrada-Garcia, as well as collaborators Dr. Dawn Tilbury and Dr. Kira Barton from the Department of Robotics at U of Michigan). The research is supported by an NSF grant (CMMI-2034974).

• 05/2024, our paper titled “Switching Time Optimization for Binary Quantum Optimal Control,” is accepted by and will appear in ACM Transactions on Quantum Computing (co-authored with my PhD student, Xinyu Fei, as well as collaborators Dr. Lucas T. Brady in NASA, and Drs. Jeffrey Larson and Sven Leyffer in ANL).

• 01/2024, our paper titled “Learning to Solve Bilevel Programs with Binary Tender,” is accepted to the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR 2024) (acceptance rate: 31%). This is a joint work with Postdoc research fellow, Dr. Bo Zhou and Prof. Ruiwei Jiang.

• 11/2023, our paper titled “Frequency Stability-Constrained Unit Commitment: Tight Approximation using Bernstein Polynomials,” is accepted and will appear in the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. Congratulations to the postdoc, Dr. Bo Zhou, who is the first author of the paper!

• 11/2023, our paper titled “A Distributed Approach for Agile Supply Chain Decision Making Based on Network Attributes,” is accepted and will appear in the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering. This is a joint work with Drs. Mingjie Bi, Kira Barton, Dawn Tilbury from the Department of Robotics. The research is supported by an NSF grant (CMMI-2034974).

• 11/2023, PhD student Xinyu Fei passed her doctoral thesis defense, with her thesis titled “Optimization Methods for Mixed-Integer Control Problems in Complex Systems.” Congrats, Dr. Fei!

• 09/2023, PhD student Juan-Alberto Estrada-Garcia receives the 2023-2024 Michigan Institute for Computational Discovery and Engineering (MICDE) student fellowship. Congratulations, Juan!

• 8/2023, our paper titled “A multi-objective mixed-integer programming approach for supply chain disruption response with lead-time awareness,” is among the finalists of the 2023 IEEE CASE 2023 Best Conference Paper Award. The award winner will be announced at the conference, held on Aug 26-29, 2023 in Auckland, NZ.

• 5/2023, our recent PhD graduate, Dr. Xian Yu, who is currently an assistant professor at Ohio State University, won the 1st Place of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) Pritsker Doctoral Dissertation Award. Congrats, Xian!

• 5/2023, Dr. Shen receives promotion to full professor in IOE at Umich. (News link)