UTFacultiesEEMCSDisciplines & departmentsPSEducationAssignment: logistics and pandemics

Assignment: logistics and pandemics

Pandemics:
How does the logistics sector cope with the outbreak?


photo by chuttersnap on Unsplash

Problem Statement: 

Outbreaks of epidemics and pandemics can impact us all. As a globally operating supply chain, the logistics industry is one of the worst hit during epidemics. In this project, the goal is to design and develop a software tool or simulation model to assess the status quo of such a crisis (e.g., what chaos is emerging out of interactions?). A focus area could be on package deliveries with emphasis on achieving UN sustainability goals. How can the logistics be made resilient against epidemics? A starting point is to design an architecture for a particular use case, which can then be validated by a simulation study.  

Tasks: 

The student will use an open-source software (e.g., OpenAI, GAMA, JADE, or other frameworks of their preference) as modelling and simulation development environment to model the outbreak of pandemics in a logistics situation. Inspiration for a particular use case of interest can be taken from scientific papers or industrial standards such as GS1. The objective is to (1) design an architecture for a particular logistics scenario, and (2) study the impact of mitigation strategies as executed by the logistics entities.


Work: 

40% Theory, 40% Simulations, 20% Writing


Contact:  

Rob Bemthuis (r.h.bemthuis@utwente.nl)