Gino Lim, R. Larry and Gerlene (Gerri) R. Snider Endowed Chair
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Houston
Abstract:
This talk will present new findings in drone-based routing problems. The first part will start with an
introduction to ongoing drone-related research problems in the vehicle routing problem domain. Then,
several drone applications will be introduced considering the limitation of battery duration and drone-
based delivery optimization. The second part of the talk will focus on a drone-based routing problem via
the collaboration between a truck and multiple drones. A truck follows a predefined path to operate
drones onboard and drones deliver packages to customers. Assuming that a drone can serve multiple
customers in a single flight, we propose a branch-and-price-and-cut approach to find an optimal schedule
for the truck and drones. A column generation approach is used to generate feasible flight paths and
choose optimal flight paths for drones. Strong bound generation methods will be briefly discussed.
Bio:
Gino Lim is a professor and R. Larry and Gerlene (Gerri) R. Snider Endowed Chair of the Department of
Industrial Engineering at the University of Houston (UH). He is a fellow of the Institute of Industrial and
Systems Engineers (IISE) and serves as an editorial board member for several scientific journals. He is
currently a Board Member of the IISE Board of Trustees and the Senior Vice President of International
Operations of IISE. He holds several other positions such as a member of the Council of Industrial
Engineering and Department Heads (CIEADH) and a founding member of the IISE Fellows Council on
International Ambassadors Committee. Previously, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of
INFORMS, Co-Chair of INFORMS Subdivisions Council, Vice President of Chapters/Fora of INFORMS,
Chair of INFORMS Chapters/Fora Committee, the program chair for the 2017 INFORMS annual
conference, and the program chair of 2012 ISERC Conference. His research areas include mathematical
optimization, computational algorithm design, and Operations Research applications in community
resilience, homeland security, power systems, healthcare delivery, and transportation. He has authored over
180 archival papers and delivered numerous invited talks for plenary, colloquia, seminars, and technical
presentations at international conferences and universities. His research projects have been funded by NSF,
DHS, DOT, QNRF, and industry partners.