Professor Susan Howick

Management Science

Personal statement

Susan Howick is a Professor of Management Science and Vice-Dean (Academic) for Strathclyde Business School. She gained a BSc in Mathematics from Dundee University and a MSc in Operational Research and a PhD in Management Science from Strathclyde. Her main research interest lies in taking a systems perspective when using models to support decision-makers. She has developed approaches to systemic risk evaluation and modelled highly disrupted projects to understand the causes of project failure. She is also interested in exploring approaches to integrating models that promote client value from the modelling process.

Susan was Vice-President of the Operational Research Society in 2019-2021 and President of the Policy Council for the UK Chapter of the System Dynamics Society in 2007-08.  She won the Operational Research Society Goodeve medal for her joint paper with Colin Eden "The Impact of Disruption and Delay when Compressing Large Projects: Going for Incentives?" 2001.  Susan is on the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Operational Research and is an Associate Editor of the System Dynamics Review.  Her consultancy experience includes projects for Bombardier, Strathclyde Police, Reed Elsevier, PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Scottish and Southern Energy.

Expertise

Has expertise in:

    Susan’s research interests are in system dynamics modelling, the integration of modelling methods, disruption and delay analysis on complex projects, applying systems methods to project risk management

Prizes and awards

EURO Prize for OR for the Common Good 2022 - Finalists
Recipient
6/7/2022
European Journal of Operational Research Editor's Choice Award
Recipient
2021
Elected to General Council of the Operational Research Society
Recipient
2018
Best Paper Award at the 17th International Conference on Group Decision and Negotiation
Recipient
2017
Elected to Publications Committee for International System Dynamics Society
Recipient
2011
Elected member of the Policy Council of the International System Dynamics Society
Recipient
2009

More prizes and awards

Publications

Health systems simulation modelling to support decision-making in Covid-19 prevention and control in care homes
Nguyen Le Khanh Ngan, Howick Susan, Megiddo Itamar
The Operational Research Society Simulation Workshop 2023, pp. 182-183 (2023)
https://doi.org/10.36819/SW23.021
Interfaces between SD and ABM modules in a hybrid model
Nguyen Le Khanh Ngan, Howick Susan, Megiddo Itamar
Proceedings of the 2022 Winter Simulation Conference 2022 Winter Simulation Conference, pp. 1188-1198 (2022)
Implementation barriers and remedial strategies for community-based health insurance in Bangladesh : insights from national stakeholders
Sheikh Nurnabi, Tagoe Eunice Twumwaa, Akram Raisul, Ali Nausad, Howick Susan, Morton Alec
BMC Health Services Research Vol 22 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08561-7
Disease-specific distress healthcare financing and catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure for hospitalization in Bangladesh
Sheikh Nurnabi, Sarkar Abdur Razzaque, Sultana Marufa, Mahumud Rashidul Alam, Ahamed Sayem, Islam Mohammad Touhidul, Howick Susan, Morton Alec
International Journal for Equity in Health (2022)
Hybrid simulation modelling of networks of heterogeneous care homes and the inter-facility spread of Covid-19 by sharing staff
Nguyen Le Khanh Ngan, Megiddo Itamar, Howick Susan
PLoS Computational Biology Vol 18 (2022)
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009780
Impact of visitation and cohorting policies to shield residents from covid-19 spread in care homes : an agent-based model
Nguyen Le Khanh Ngan, Howick Susan, McLafferty Dennis, Anderson Gillian Hopkins, Pravinkumar Sahaya Josephine, Van Der Meer Robert, Megiddo Itamar
American Journal of Infection Control Vol 49, pp. 1105-1112 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajic.2021.07.001

More publications

Teaching

Susan has 25 years of experience in teaching to undergraduate, postgraduate and post experience students. Programmes on which she regularly teaches are MBA, MSc Business Analysis & Consulting and MSc Operational Research. Her teaching includes general Management Science classes in additon to specialised classes in system dynamics and project risk management that reflect her key research interests. Susan has delivered training courses for organisations such as Bombardier Inc., Babcock, Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Government. She has also taught extensively via distance learning and was involved in developing two unique online MSc's.

Research interests

My research interests include how multiple modelling methods can be integrated effectively to create robust, client-orientated decision support tools. I have been involved in creating such tools for clients in healthcare, engineering, construction and the energy sector. In addition, I have an interest in understanding what causes complex projects to overrun and in developing new risk assessment and management tools, which enable risk systemicity to be considered. 

Professional activities

The Operational Research Society Simulation Workshop 2023
Keynote/plenary speaker
29/3/2023
External Examiner for PhD Thesis at University of Gothenburg
Examiner
2022
European Journal of Operational Research (Journal)
Editorial board member
2022
Women in Operational Research and Analytics Network (External organisation)
Advisor
2022
EPSRC Peer Review Panel: Mathematical Sciences (Event)
Advisor
6/10/2021
External Examiner for PhD Thesis at University of Bergen, Norway
Examiner
2020

More professional activities

Projects

Nunavut Search and Rescue (NSAR) Project: Supporting Inuit Health and Well-Being, Food Security, Economic Development, and Community Resilience
Quigley, John (Principal Investigator) Howick, Susan (Co-investigator) Walls, Lesley (Co-investigator) Wright, George (Co-investigator)
06-Jan-2022 - 05-Jan-2025
TIC LCPE Repowering Hydro Plants - a Decision Support Tool
Walls, Lesley (Principal Investigator) Howick, Susan (Co-investigator) Quigley, John (Co-investigator) Revie, Matthew (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2017 - 31-Jan-2018
EPSRC Institutional Sponsorship: Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) / R160677-104
Morton, Alec (Principal Investigator) Howick, Susan (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2016 - 31-Jan-2017
Smart Mature Resilience (SMR) H2020 (SC7)
Howick, Susan (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2015 - 30-Jan-2018
Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) Studentship
van der Meer, Robert (Principal Investigator) Howick, Susan (Co-investigator)
Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) Studentship in relation to Amanda Stewart (PhD student)
01-Jan-2014 - 30-Jan-2019

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