IEOR E4418
Fall 2007: Logistics and Transportation Management


Course Schedule: Tuesdays 10:35pm-1:05pm
Location: Mudd 834

Instructor Information:
Soulaymane Kachani
Office Address: Mudd Building Room 334
Telephone Number: 854-1804
E-mail: kachani@ieor.columbia.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2pm-3:30pm

Teaching Assistant:
Masoud Talebian
Office Address: Mudd Building Room 325
Telephone Number: 212 854-5256
E-mail: mt2251@columbia.edu

Course Texts:
The course will use a compilation of papers and books on a variety of areas pertaining to logistics and transportation management.

Course Description:
This course introduces quantitative techniques and state-of-the-art practice of operations research relevant to the strategic and tactical design and management of logistical and transportation systems.

We discuss a wide variety of passenger and freight systems, including air, urban and highway traffic, rail, and maritime networks. For airlines, we introduce fleet assignment and crew scheduling models, which have extensive application in various logistical systems. We also cover the growing field of revenue management and dynamic pricing under competition. Through case studies, we study successes and failures in third-party logistics, postal, truck and rail pickup and delivery systems. We explore how large-scale integrated logistics and transportation systems interact directly with the social, political, and economic agents of society, and study the underlying principles governing transportation planning, investment, operations, and maintenance.

We also focus some of our attention on urban and highway traffic networks, where we investigate the role of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) and Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) in alleviating traffic congestion. We cover models and algorithms for static traffic equilibrium, and recent developments in dynamic traffic assignment and anticipatory route guidance.

Method of Evaluation:
Class participation (10%), Two homeworks in groups (20%), Take-home midterm (30%) and Final group project (40%).
 

Course Schedule:
Homework 1 is due by October 2, 2007. Homework 2 is due by October 23, 2007.

The take-home midterm will be assigned on October 25 and is to be handed by November 1, 2007.

The Final Project is due by December 4, 2007. On December 4th, each group will make a 15 minute presentation in class.

Who should take this course?
This course covers an area of research and practice that is very important but not addressed by other courses in the IEOR department and the University. In recent years, the role of quantitative and qualitative OR techniques in this area has rapidly grown.

This course should appeal to Masters (EMS, IE, OR and FE) and undergraduate students (EMS, IE and OR) in the IEOR department, and students with some quantitative background from the Civil Engineering & Engineering Mechanics department and the Architecture, Planning and Preservation department.

 

Final Project: the Final will consist of a project, in groups of 1, 2, 3 or 4 students.
- The deliverable will be a 10 to 20 page report (Emphasis should be on content instead of length), and a 10 to 15 minute presentation in class on December 4, 2007. 
- The report and the presentation will be due by December 4, 2007.
- The topic of the project can be anything related to the course content. The work you do can range from a literature survey to an innovative approach. It is also up to you to emphasize the qualitative or the quantitative aspect of the problem you select.
- You are expected to email an abstract (i.e. a 10 to 20 line description of your project) to me between October 16 and November 6 (the sooner the more time you will have for the project). I will then let you know whether the topic is indeed relevant and will let you know if I believe that your project description seems too optimistic or too conservative.