CIISE Distinguished Seminar: Minimizing Greenhouse Emissions in Vehicle Routing

Dr. Gilbert Laporte,
HEC Montréal

Date: Nov. 8 (4 pm)
Location: EV3.309

Abstract

The Vehicle Routing Problem holds a central place in distribution management. In the classical version of the problem the aim is to distribute goods to a set of geographically dispersed customers under a cost minimization objective and various side constraints. In recent years a number of researchers have started investigating the joint minimization of cost and greenhouse emissions in vehicle routing, giving rise to the so-called “Pollution-Routing Problem”. Whereas cost depends primarily on distance travelled, emissions are a function of distance, vehicle load, speed and a variety of other factors. The aim of this talk is to describe recent research results in this context.

Biography

Gilbert Laporte obtained his Ph.D. in Operations Research at the London School of Economics in 1975. He is Professor of Operations Research at HEC Montréal, Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management, adjunct Professor at Molde University College, the University of Bilkent, the University of Alberta, and visiting professor at the University of Southampton. He is also a member of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT) and founding member of the Groupe d'études et de recherche en analyse des décisions (GERAD). He has been Editor of Transportation Science, Computers & Operations Research and INFOR. He has authored or coauthored 15 books, as well as more than 400 scientific articles in combinatorial optimization, mostly in the areas of vehicle routing, location and timetabling. He has received many scientific awards including the Pergamon Prize (United Kingdom) in 1987, the 1994 Merit Award of the Canadian Operational Research Society, the CORS Practice Prize on three occasions. In 1999, he obtained the ACFAS Jacques-Rousseau Prize for Interdisciplinarity, and the President's Medal (Operational Research Society, United Kingdom). In 2001, he was awarded the Pedagogy Prize by HEC Montréal. He has been a member of the Royal Society of Canada since 1998, and Fellow of INFORMS since 2005. In 2007 he received the Innis-Gérin medal from the Royal Society of Canada. In 2009 he was awarded the Gérard-Parizeau Prize, he was inducted as the 42nd Honorary Member of the INFORMS International Omega Rho Society, and he received the Robert M. Herman Lifetime Achievement Award in Transportation Science from the Transportation Science and Logistics Society of INFORMS.