Iris Vis appointed Professor of Industrial Engineering at Groningen University

Iris Vis has been appointed Professor of Industrial Engineering at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen as of February 1, 2011. The field of industrial engineering aims at designing and improving processes and systems, such as distribution networks, production facilities, and service operations using various approaches including mathematical modelling. In her research, Vis puts a special emphasis on the design and optimisation of container terminals, vehicle routing, supply chain management and service inventory management.

Harbour operations

Iris Vis is involved in several research projects with regard to harbour operations, container handling and container transport. The containerised trade market continues to grow and ports all around the world must stay attentive to retain their level of competitiveness. As a consequence, container terminals are constantly seeking new ways to increase their transhipment and storage capabilities. Next to that, terminal managers seek innovative ways to cooperate in networks of terminals. The common goal of her research projects is to design new planning and control mechanisms to assist in these decision making processes. Past projects were performed in cooperation with the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam. An endowment from the “Ubbo Emmius Fonds”, sponsored by Groningen Seaports, will provide funding for a post-doctoral researcher and a Ph.D. student to work with Iris Vis in research projects on port and network design. Vis participates as scientist in the Dinalog R&D project Cross Chain Order Fulfillment Coordination for Internet Sales.

Resume

Prof. dr. Iris F.A. Vis holds an M.Sc. in Mathematics (specialisation Operations Research) from the University of Leiden, and a Ph.D. from the Erasmus University Rotterdam. She was an Associate Professor at the VU University Amsterdam and a Visiting Professor at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University before joining the University of Groningen. She has performed numerous projects in cooperation with companies, resulting in a blend of rigorous academic work with practical applicability. Her articles have been published in scientific journals as Operations Research, Transportation Science, European Journal of Operational Research, and IIE Transactions. She serves as area editor for Computers & Industrial Engineering and as an associate editor for OR Spectrum. Several awards have been given for her scientific work, including the INFORMS Transportation Science Section Dissertation Award 2002.