Personal statement
Kerem Akartunali is a Reader in the Department of Management Science at Strathclyde Business School, where he joined as John Anderson Research Lecturer (JARL) in Optimization in 2010, and also a Visiting Professor at Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science (ICMC-USP) of University of São Paulo since 2017. After completing his Ph.D. in 2007 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a specialization in optimization, he worked on airline planning and scheduling problems as a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with Constraint Technologies International, an Australian software company. Kerem’s research expertise lies primarily in integer programming, robust and network optimization, and their applications, in particular in lot-sizing/production planning, transportation scheduling/planning, health applications such as radiation treatment planning and nurse rostering, and energy applications such as offshore windfarm installation.
Kerem's research has been funded by various bodies/organizations including Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Scottish Funding Council (SFC), Capita and US Air Force Office of Scientific Research. He has been an active member of Mathematical Optimization Society and INFORMS since 2003. He was the elected chair of the OR Group of Scotland (the regional branch of OR Society) betwen 2012-2016. He is currently a Full Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College, and also a member of the OR Society Research Panel, and EURO Working Group in Lotsizing Board. Kerem regularly reviews articles for many prestigious journals such as European Journal of Operational Research, IIE Transactions, INFORMS Journal on Computing, Naval Research Logistics and Operations Research.
Kerem has worked with many organizations, including First Milk, Glasgow City Council, NHS, Scottish Power, Scottish Southern Energy and Technip, in a variety of projects ranging from short-term consultancy/knowledge exchange to long-term research partnerships.
In his current role as Faculty Digital Education Director, Kerem is overseeing and strategically planning various online and blended learning activities in the Strathclyde Business School.
In his spare time, Kerem likes to play ultimate frisbee and go hiking.
You can also visit his personal website or check his Google Scholar profile.
Teaching
I have been extensively involved with teaching activities in various levels from undergraduate to Masters since I was a PhD student. I was exposed to course development as early as the last year of my PhD studies, and I have received extensive teaching training during my PhD studies as well as during my employments. I have used my research in a number of teaching activities, and have employed a range of state-of-the-art technologies (such as access grid and virtual workspace) in various courses.
I like to teach classes in the broad area of operational research/management science, in particular in optimization techniques and software, OR modelling and applying these theories to real world problems.
In light of my current role as SBS Faculty Digital Education Director, I have a passion to strategically plan, design and develop the next generation of online learning, including MOOCs, distance learning degrees and blended learning courses.
Research interests
My broad research area is operations research, with a focus in integer and combinatorial optimization, and their applications in practice. Since my PhD thesis, I have been working on production planning and lot-sizing problems, as well as a number of integer optimization applications, in particular large-scale transportation problems (such as airline scheduling and vessel crew scheduling), and health applications (such as radiation treatment planning and nurse rostering).
Professional activities
- International Workshop on Lot-Sizing (IWLS) 2019
- Participant
- 21/8/2019
- Pesquisa Operacional (Journal)
- Guest editor
- 8/2019
- 30th European Conference on Operational Research
- Participant
- 23/6/2019
- EPSRC Mathematical Sciences Prioritisation Panel (External organisation)
- Advisor
- 28/11/2018
- Production Planning: A Review and Robustness
- Speaker
- 8/11/2018
- École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne, Gardanne
- Visiting researcher
- 5/11/2018
more professional activities
Projects
- Initial studies towards an innovative Floating Wind-Hydrokinetic Power Station (FWHPS) for Upper Egypt Villages
- Tezdogan, Tahsin (Principal Investigator) Yuan, Zhiming (Co-investigator) Demirel, Yigit Kemal (Co-investigator) Akartunali, Kerem (Co-investigator) Arslan, Volkan (Researcher)
- The majority of Egyptians live either in the Nile delta, which is located north of Cairo and is known as Lower Egypt, or in the narrow strip of agricultural land south of Cairo on either side of the River Nile, known as Upper Egypt (UE). A report by the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics states that the poorest region in Egypt is the rural upper region (poverty rate of 49.4%). The number of villages in Egypt is 4655; around 22% of them suffer a continuous interruption of electricity. In its 2030 vision, Egypt is aiming to boost its renewable energy generation from 8% to 20%, specifically in UE. According to the Egyptian wind and current atlas, the wind and current have a high potential around the Nile which can be utilised for sustainable energy.
This project aims to investigate the concept of a floating hybrid system which will combine wind and hydropower generation for river applications, from technical feasibility, economic viability and environmental perspectives. The platform will offer a mobile, low emission and economically viable means of power generation for the poor population in UG villages. The ultimate aim is to establish partnerships for future GCRF calls. - 01-Jan-2018 - 30-Jan-2019
- Multi-Level Robust Optimization: Theory, Algorithms and Practice
- Akartunali, Kerem (Principal Investigator) Barlow, Euan (Co-investigator)
- 20-Jan-2018 - 19-Jan-2020
- Uncertainty Treatment and OPtimisation in Aerospace Engineering (UTOPIAE) (H2020 MCSA ETN)
- Vasile, Massimiliano (Principal Investigator) Akartunali, Kerem (Co-investigator) Maddock, Christie (Co-investigator) Minisci, Edmondo (Co-investigator) Revie, Matthew (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2020
- INDUSTRIAL DOCTORATE CENTRE IN ADVANCED FORMING AND MANUFACTURE | Rasheed, Aamir
- Rentizelas, Athanasios (Principal Investigator) van der Meer, Robert (Principal Investigator) Akartunali, Kerem (Co-investigator) Ion, William (Co-investigator) Ion, William (Co-investigator) Rasheed, Aamir (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2014 - 01-Jan-2018
- Multi-Item Production Planning: Theory, Computation and Practice
- Akartunali, Kerem (Principal Investigator)
- "Production planning problems arise naturally in the context of the manufacturing companies, where decisions are to be made regarding when to produce and what to produce while considering interactions between different time periods (for example through inventories) and between different items (for example through shared machine/labor capacities). Due to its high savings potential and being such a key component of the manufacturing decision making process, production planning has been an active area of research for more than 50 years. Moreover, in the current economic climate and global competitive environment, UK manufacturing industries face the crucial choice of turning these challenges into opportunities. Although a wide body of academic and practical research is devoted to the topic, realistic industrial problems remain very challenging even with the tremendous advancements in the computer technologies, and therefore novel approaches are needed to maximize the potential benefits attainable.
Mathematical models are instrumental to study production planning problems, where decisions and limitations of the real system can be represented by a mathematical system of variables and equations. Although a significant proportion of the previous research was devoted to mathematical studies and attained important results, almost all of these previous studies are focused on non-realistic and simplistic problems. The first part of this project aims to address this gap, developing novel mathematical theory for subproblems present in realistic problems.
Recent computational technologies such as highly parallel computer infrastructures and GPU computing present immense opportunities for tackling problems that could not be attempted before. Moreover, such technologies are becoming available to the general public including small companies much faster and cheaper than in the past. Therefore, the second part of this project aims to develop computational models (based on the theoretical results of the previous part) appropriate for such infrastructures and test these extensively for various production planning problems, including some obtained from the industry.
Finally, the project will address specific production planning issues of the food and drink industry, which is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK with over 500,000 people employed. Identified as a key growth sector in Scotland by the Government Economic Strategy, food and drink industry has been able to maintain the growth of exports even in the challenging economic climate, and has significant growth potential due to emerging markets. Production planning in this important industry has been neglected in the past, and this project will address this by working with an industrial partner in this area, developing customized tools for their challenges with the help of the theoretical and computational results of the previous parts." - 01-Jan-2014 - 31-Jan-2015
- Doctoral Training Centre In Continuous Manufacturing And Crystallisation | Todorova-Aleksieva, Leda
- Duffy, Alex (Principal Investigator) Akartunali, Kerem (Co-investigator) Todorova-Aleksieva, Leda (Research Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2013 - 01-Jan-2017
more projects
Address
Management Science
Duncan Wing
Duncan Wing
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