A year into a new role as an assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, Guiping Hu enjoys the added opportunities to help students pursue their own studies, not to mention exploring an unexpected realm of interdisciplinary collaboration.
By training, Hu is an industrial engineer with a focus on operations research, supply chain management, and systems optimization. Working on the “theoretical side” of industrial engineering, she gathers data about the production processes of a business, ranging from transportation efficiency to crop yield fluctuations, and creates a comprehensive strategic and operational planning model that maximizes output and minimizes expense and negative environmental consequences.
Climate change concerns, high petroleum prices, and government support for renewable energy initiatives, along with Iowa State’s commitment to green initiatives, have encouraged Hu to apply her mathematical and supply chain management research in the field of sustainability practices and bioenergy production systems in particular.
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