Fall 2009 - H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial & Systems ...

From the Chair
The logistics industry, the industry that moves and warehouses
freight, generates more than 8 percent of our nation’s gross
domestic product and, from a country perspective, is one
of the world’s most efficient systems for getting goods to the right
place at the right time safely and inexpensively. Roughly two-thirds
of the logistics cost are due to freight transportation. Additionally,
safe, fast, and reliable logistics increase the efficiency of supply
chains, particularly just-in-time supply chains. The logistics
industry is the focus of the H. Milton Stewart School’s Supply
Chain & Logistics Institute, and many of the articles in this issue of
Industrial & Systems Engineering describe some of the research
and development contributions that the Stewart School is making to
improve the productivity of this key industry.
Our feature article in this issue summarizes our faculty and
student work in the transportation sector. Our alumni interview
is with Chris Lofgren, president and CEO of Schneider National,
Inc., who discusses current challenges and recent innovations in
the trucking industry. In keeping with the theme, you will read a
feature story on the work of a Senior Design team that redesigned
the infrastructure of UPS’s Direct Ship service and the efforts of
undergraduates from Professor John Bartholdi’s class to track major
package carriers against one another in a race across the globe.
We also include several articles featuring the work of our faculty
that describe the impact of their research in different areas of the
transportation sector. These articles address the optimization of
linehaul networks among less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers, the
application of operations research to air transportation networks,
and our work in optimizing transportation for containerized ocean
cargo. In this issue, you will meet PhD candidate Ashlea Bennett,
who has created an automated scheduling system for home health
nurses, and read about alumna Ann Campbell, who has worked on
designing a delivery network for UPS capable of satisfying customers’
needs for expedited shipments.
In addition to hearing about our work in the transportation sector,
you will learn about some of the Stewart School’s emerging research
directions and professional programs. We highlight several of our
projects rooted in public service that range from humanitarian
logistics to sustainability. We also update you on the Supply Chain &
Logistics Institute’s (SCL) online course offerings that lead toward
a Supply Chain & Logistics Certificate and about the grand opening
of SCL’s new Trade, Innovation, & Productivity Center in Costa
Rica. You will also be introduced to Theresa Foran, an alumna of
the eighteen-month Executive Masters in International Logistics &
Supply Chain Strategy (EMIL-SCS) program, as she describes her
experiences abroad in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Finally,
don’t miss an interview with alumnus Shane Kimbrough for a unique
perspective on his mission to the International Space Station.
As you may have heard, the Stewart School was recently named
the nation’s top graduate program in industrial engineering for the
nineteenth consecutive year by U.S. News & World Report. With the
strong support of our alumni and friends, we will continue to provide
innovation in the applications of industrial and systems engineering.
Thank you again for your investment in our efforts to expand the
frontiers of human knowledge by creating an educational base for
the next generation of scholars. As an alumni or friend of the School,
you provide a valuable connection to us. Please stay in touch.
H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair and
Schneider National Chair of Transportation and Logistics,
H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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