Kayse Lee Maass
Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Office
- 321 SN
- 617.373.3629
Research Focus
Stochastic optimization, network theory, facility location modeling, and supply chain design for applications regarding equity, access, human trafficking, mental health, and humanitarian logistics
About
Dr. Maass’s research focuses on advancing operations research methodology to improve applicability to social justice, access, and equity issues within human trafficking, mental health, housing, and food justice contexts. Her recent research includes determining how to most effectively allocate limited resources to disrupt human trafficking networks, increase access to services for human trafficking survivors, and assess the efficacy of coordination among anti-human trafficking stakeholders. Dr. Maass’s research is supported by multiple federal grants, centers interdisciplinary survivor-informed expertise, and has been used to inform policy and operational decisions at the local, national, and international levels, including being featured in the 2019 United Nations Report of the Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.
In addition to her role as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, she leads the Operations Research and Social Justice lab at Northeastern University and holds a research appointment with the Information and Decision Engineering Program at Mayo Clinic. She is a recipient of multiple awards, including: the INFORMS Judith Liebman Award, Industrial Engineering Professor of the Year at Northeastern University, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Award, the INFORMS Section on Location Analysis Dissertation Award, and was named a ‘Rising Star’ among INFORMS’ Powerful, Pragmatic Pioneers. Dr. Maass currently serves on the INFORMS Subdivision Council, as INFORMS Section on Location Analysis Secretary, and as an INFORMS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Ambassador. She is also a member of the H.E.A.L. Trafficking Research Committee and the U.N. University Delta 8.7 Markets Working Group on Human Trafficking.
Education
- PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Industrial and Operations Engineering, 2017
- BA, Bethel University, Mathematics, 2012
- BA, Bethel University, Physics, 2012
Honors & Awards
- Industrial Engineering Professor of the Year, Northeastern University, 2020
- Global Conference on Human Trafficking and Trauma Best Research Abstract, 2019
- “Rising Star” among INFORMS’ Powerful, Pragmatic Pioneers
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- INFORMS Judith Liebman Award
Professional Affiliations
- Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS)
- Production and Operations Management Society (POMS)
- Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)
- Health, Education, Advocacy, Linkage (HEAL) Trafficking
Research Overview
Stochastic optimization, network theory, facility location modeling, and supply chain design for applications regarding equity, access, human trafficking, mental health, and humanitarian logistics
Selected Research Projects
- D-ISN: Modeling Effective Network Disruptions for Human Trafficking
- – co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Identification of Effective Strategies to Disrupt Recruitment of Victims in Human Trafficking: Qualitative Data, Systems Modeling, Survivors and Law Enforcement
- -co-Principal Investigator, National Institute of Justice
- Creating an Accessible ORMS Community for Disabled People
- -Principal Investigator, The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
- ISN2: Coordinated Interdiction for Disruption of Labor Trafficking in the Agricultural Sector
- – Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- ISN2: Disrupting Human Trafficking via Needs Matching and Capacity Expansion
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- EAGER: Modeling Operations of Human Trafficking Networks for Effective Interdiction
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- EAGER: A Data Analytic Approach to Understanding Human Trafficking Networks
- – Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation
- Optimizing Criminal Justice Responses to the Business of Labor Trafficking
- -Co-Principal Investigator, Northeastern University
Department Research Areas
Selected Publications
- D. Kosmas, T. Sharkey, J.E. Mitchell, K.L. Maass, L. Martin Interdicting Reconfiguring Networks with Applications in Human Trafficking. Preprint: arXiv:2011.07093 [math.OC]
- A. Bender, M. El Khalkhali, G. Dimas, R. Konrad, A. Trapp, K.L. Maass, Estimating Effectiveness of Identifying Human Trafficking via Data Envelopment Analysis. Preprint: arXiv:2012.07746 [cs.CY]
- R. Konrad, K.L. Maass, A. Trapp Perspectives on How to Conduct Responsible Anti-Human Trafficking Research in Operations and Analytics. Preprint: arXiv:2006.16445 [cs.CY]
- B. Tezcan, K.L. Maass Human Trafficking Interdiction with Decision Dependent Success. Preprint: DOI: 10.31224/osf.io/dt8fs
- K.L. Maass, A. Trapp, R. Konrad, (2020) Optimizing Placement Of Residential Shelters For Human Trafficking Survivors. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 70,
- J.P. Caulkins, M. Kammer-Kerwick, R. Konrad, K.L. Maass, L. Martin, T. Sharkey, (2019) A Call to the Engineering Community to Address Human Trafficking. The Bridge, 49(3)
- K.L. Maass, A.R. Smith, E.L. Tucker, H. Schapiro, S.M. Cottrell, E. Gendron, P. Hill-Callahan, S.J. Gill, M.S. Daskin, R.M Merion, A.B. Leichtman, (2019) Comparison of Patient and Provider Goals, Expectations, and Experiences Following Kidney Transplantation, Patient Education and Counseling. 102(5), 990-1016
Dec 22, 2022
Inaugural AJC Merit Research Scholars
Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of the inaugural AJC Merit Research Scholars.
Nov 07, 2022
Outstanding Paper Award at ACM Conference on Equity and Access
MIE PhD Candidate Yaren Bilge Kaya and Assistant Professor Kayse Lee Maass received an Outstanding Paper Award at the 2022 ACM Conference on Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization.
Feb 04, 2022
Announcing Spring 2022 PEAK Experiences Awardees
Several engineering students and science students mentored by COE faculty are recipients of Northeastern’s Spring 2022 PEAK Experiences Awards.
Oct 28, 2021
Two Northeastern Presentations Selected as “Committee’s Choice” at INFORMS 2021
The 2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting organizing committee has chosen two Northeastern University presentations as “Committee Choice” from more than 5,500 abstracts submitted.
Apr 26, 2021
Congratulations RISE: 2021 Winners
Congratulations to our engineering students who won awards at the RISE:2021 Research, Innovation and Scholarship Expo!
Jan 29, 2021
Modeling Effective Network Disruptions for Human Trafficking
MIE Assistant Professor Kayse Lee Maass is a co-principal investigator on a five-year collaborative $1M NSF grant titled “Modeling Effective Network Disruptions for Human Trafficking.”
Nov 18, 2020
Alex Bender Finalist for INFORMS Undergraduate Operations Research Prize
Industrial engineering student Alex Bender, E’20, was named as a finalist of the 2020 INFORMS Undergraduate Operations Research Prize for his paper titled “Estimating Effectiveness of Identifying Human Trafficking Victims: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis on the Nepal–India Border.”
Nov 02, 2020
Effective Strategies to Disrupt Recruitment of Human Trafficking Victims
MIE Assistant Professor Kayse Lee Maass and CSSH Professor Amy Farrell are co-principal investigators of a $759K National Institute of Justice grant titled “Identification of Effective Strategies to Disrupt Recruitment of Victims in Human Trafficking: Qualitative Data, Systems Modeling, Survivors and Law Enforcement.”
Apr 11, 2020
FY21 TIER 1 Award Recipients
Congratulations to the 19 COE faculty and affiliates who were recipients of FY21 TIER 1 Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grants for 13 different projects.
Jan 27, 2020
Spring 2020 PEAK Experiences Awardees
Congratulations to the COE student recipients of the Spring 2020 PEAK Experiences Awards. The PEAK Experiences Awards are a progressively structured sequence of opportunities designed to support learners as they continue climbing to new heights of achievement in undergraduate research and creative endeavor throughout their Northeastern journeys. BASE CAMP AWARDS Developing HPLC Methods for Characterizing […]