IE SEMINAR:Location Analysis under Uncertainty

Guest: Levent Erişkin, Piri Reis University

Title: Location Analysis under Uncertainty

Time: March 6, 2024, 13:40 - 14:30

Room: FENS G032

Abstract: Location Analysis is a fundamental area of study in operations research and decision science, with wide-ranging applications spanning facility location, network design, emergency response, transportation, and defense. One critical aspect of location problems is that uncertainty in problem parameters is inherent in many real-world applications. Uncertainty may stem from various factors such as the unknown demand volume or imprecise locations of points to be covered. In disaster management applications, for instance, uncertainty in the severity of the disaster poses additional challenges. To hedge against the uncertainty within optimization problems, stochastic and robust optimization techniques are used. This seminar talk explores the modeling challenges and solution approaches for location problems in the presence of uncertainty in problem parameters. In particular, robust optimization techniques are explored to tackle the uncertainty. We present mathematical formulations, discuss linear approximation techniques and solution approaches. Furthermore, illustrative research studies are presented that utilize various robust optimization techniques, showcasing the practical application of these concepts. 

Bio: Dr. Levent Erişkin received B.S. (1998) in Industrial Engineering from the Turkish Naval Academy, M.S. (2003) in Operations Research from the United States Naval Postgraduate School, and Ph.D. (2015) in Industrial Engineering from the Middle East Technical University. In his professional career, he held positions such as Senior Operations Research Analyst, Head of the Decision Support Department, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Project Manager in the Turkish Navy. Prior to joining the Piri Reis University, he was the faculty member at the Industrial Engineering Department of National Defense University. He is currently Associate Professor at the Piri Reis University. His research areas include Optimization, Location Theory, Statistical Learning, and Military Operations Research.