Ozlem Ergun

COE Distinguished Professor and Associate Chair for Graduate Affairs,  Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Affiliated Faculty,  Civil and Environmental Engineering
Affiliated Faculty,  Electrical and Computer Engineering
Affiliated Faculty,  Global Resilience Institute

Contact

Social Media

Office

  • 334H SN
  • 617.373.6254

Research Focus

Design and management of large-scale networks, supply chain design and resilience, collaboration and crowdsourcing in logistics, humanitarian logistics

About

Dr. Özlem Ergun’s research focuses on the design and management of large-scale and decentralized networks. She has applied her work on network design, management, and resilience to problems arising in many critical systems including transportation, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare. She has worked with organizations that respond to emergencies and humanitarian crises around the world, including USAID, UNWFP, UNHCR, IFRC, OXFAM America, CARE USA, FEMA, USACE, CDC, AFCEMA, and MedShare International. Dr. Ergun contributes regularly to Auribus Consulting, a Boston-based management consulting firm, as a logistics and analytics expert. Dr. Ergun has also been a leader in establishing a strong community of OR/MS professionals with an interest in public programs. She was the President of INFORMS Section on Public Programs, Service and Needs in 2013. She currently serves as the Area Editor at the Operations Research journal for Policy Modeling and the Public Sector Area. Dr. Ergun is also a founding co-chair of the annual Health and Humanitarian Logistics Conference, held annually since 2009.

Education

  • Ph. D., Operations Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, June 2001
  • B. S., Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, January 1996

Honors & Awards

  • 2023 INFORMS Fellow
  • 2021 Franz Edelman Laureate
  • Winner, EURO/INFORMS 2007 Management Science Strategic Innovation Prize given on the subject of Logistics with “Designing mechanisms for the management of carrier alliances”, 2007.
  • Most Cited Paper Award, Signal Processing: Image Communication given to the most cited paper published between the years 2005-2007 with A multi-path selection for multiple description video streaming over overlay networks.”
  • NSF CAREER award, 2003

Professional Affiliations

  • INFORMS
  • Mathematical Programming Society

Research Overview

Design and management of large-scale networks, supply chain design and resilience, collaboration and crowdsourcing in logistics, humanitarian logistics

Selected Research Projects

  • Platforms for Exchange and Allocation of Resources (PEAR)
    • – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • Designing an Improved Information Infrastructure for Better Decision Making in Pharmaceutical Supply Chains
    • – co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • Food Aid Quality Review Phase III Program
    • – Principal Investigator, subcontract from Tufts University’s USAID grant
  • Future of Work: Understanding the Algorithmic Workplace: A Multi-Method Study for Comprehensive Optimization of Platforms
    • – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
  • Optimizing Routing for Same Day Delivery Operations with Crowdsourced Drivers
    • – Principal Investigator, Deliv.com
  • RAPID: Rapid Monitoring and Assessment of Critical Pharmaceutical Supply Chains
    • – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation

Selected Publications

  • R. Doroudi, P. Sequeira, S. Marsella, Ö. Ergun, R. Azghandi, D. Kaeli, et al., Effects 0f Trust-Based Decision Making in Disrupted Supply Chains, PLoS ONE 15(2), 2020, e0224761
  • J. Featherstone, Ö. Ergun, K. Fulton, W. Hopp, P. Keskinocak, B. Koon, A. Lippert, C. Philip, K. Smith, S. Mannan, Strengthening Post-Hurricane Supply Chain Resilience: Observations from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, The National Academies Press, 2020
  • L. Gui, A. Atasu, Ö. Ergun, B. Toktay, Design Incentives under Collective Extended Producer Responsibility: A Network Perspective, Management Science, 64(11), 2018, 4967-5460
  • A. Ulusan, Ö. Ergun, Restoration of Services in Disrupted Infrastructure Systems: A Network Science Approach, PLOS ONE, 13(2), 2018, e0192272

Faculty

Mar 18, 2024

Advancing Wire-Arc Direct Energy Deposition for Large-Format Metal Additive Manufacturing

The Cold Spray Research Group was awarded a $4.38 million grant by the Army Research Laboratory to advance wire-arc direct energy deposition (WA-DED) for large-format metal additive manufacturing. The work will be led by MIE Professor Sinan Müftü and Assistant Professor Ozan Özdemir. The team will include collaboration from Professors Ozlem Ergün, Mohammad Taslim, and […]

Ozlem Ergun

Faculty

Oct 04, 2023

Ergun Elected INFORMS Fellow

Ozlem Ergun, COE distinguished professor, MIE, was elected a Fellow of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) for her applications of O.R. methods to humanitarian and health systems, emergency response, and transportation and logistics problems; and establishing a community of O.R. professionals with interest in public programs.

Faculty

Aug 23, 2023

Northeastern and Partner Universities Awarded Prestigious NSF Research Traineeship to Study Impacts of Technology Platforms

MIE Distinguished Professor Ozlem Ergun was awarded a $3M NSF grant to develop a “national research traineeship” (NRT) program called “Platforms for Exchange and Allocation of Resources (PEAR),” which will study the impact of digital platforms on society.

Faculty

Aug 02, 2023

Understanding Human Decision-Making During Supply Chains Shortages

Research conducted by MIE Associate Professor Jacqueline Griffin, MIE Professor Ozlem Ergun, and affiliate faculty member Stacy Marsella on “Agent-Based Modeling of Human Decision-makers Under Uncertain Information During Supply Chain Shortages” was published in the proceedings from the 2023 International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems.

Ozlem Ergun

In the Media

Apr 19, 2023

Why the Adderall Shortage Has Lasted So Long

MIE Professor Ozlem Ergun was featured in the Time article “Why the Adderall Shortage Has Lasted So Long,” for her expertise in pharmaceutical supply chains.

Faculty

Apr 13, 2023

Northeastern University to have Strong Presence at ACM CHI 2023

The most prestigious human–computer interaction conference in the world is taking place in Hamburg, Germany this month, and researchers from Khoury College, the College of Engineering, and the College of Arts, Media and Design are ready. Their work, which touches on everything from parrot socialization to deceptive dark patterns to social media misinformation, has made […]

Faculty

Dec 22, 2022

Matching Healthcare Workers with Open Positions

During the pandemic, MIE Professor Ozlem Ergun and her students created a centralized process to match healthcare workers with open positions at long-term health facilities.

Ozlem Ergun

In the Media

Dec 06, 2022

Rethinking Supply Chain Management in the Wake of Major Disasters

MIE Professor Özlem Ergun’s research on “Rethinking supply chain management in the wake of major disasters *” was highlighted in the December 2022 issue of ISE magazine.

Ozlem Ergun

In the Media

Nov 23, 2022

Adderall and Amoxicillin Shortages Raise Questions about Transparency and Accountability in Big Pharma

But when makers of generics compete mainly on price and aren’t forced to consider reliability, the marketplace can break down when demand surges or supply chains are disrupted, according to Ozlem Ergun, a distinguished professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern University, who served with Fox on the committee. (featured in NBC News)

Jacqueline Griffin, David Kaeli, Ozlem Ergun, Stacy Marsella & Casper Harteveld

Faculty

Aug 25, 2022

Addressing Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Issues

MIE Associate Professor Jacqueline Griffin, ECE Professor David Kaeli, MIE Professor Ozlem Ergun, and affiliate faculty members Stacy Marsella and Casper Harteveld were awarded a $750k NSF grant for “Designing an Improved Information Infrastructure for Better Decision Making in Pharmaceutical Supply Chains.”

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