Dennis Huisman appointed endowed professor Public Transport Optimization

Using quantitative methods to enhance public transport: Dennis Huisman will focus his research on improving cost efficiency, reliability, and better connections between different transport companies and modes of transport to allow for faster and more reliable door-to-door transport of travellers.

The Operations Research field continues to develop further due to the on-going expansion of computing power and access to a growing volume of data (e.g. the Dutch public transport smart card). As a result, it is becoming steadily easier to also support real-time decisions via optimization measures, whereas in the past, this support was limited to the planning phase.

The intended purpose of this new endowed chair (equivalent to 0.4 fte) is to expand Erasmus School of Economics’ existing activities and strengthen the reputation of Erasmus School of Economics in the field of optimization in public transport.

Huisman combines his appointment as endowed professor with his work for Netherlands Railways (NS). At NS, Huisman serves in a part-time position as Expertise Manager Logistics Processes within the company’s Process quality & Innovation department.

About Dennis Huisman

Dennis Huisman studied Econometrics & Management Science at Erasmus School of Economics. After successfully rounding off his studies in 1999, a doctoral thesis followed up, dealing with vehicle and crew scheduling. In 2004, he received a PhD for this research – once again by Erasmus University Rotterdam. Since that time, he works in two part-time positions at Erasmus School of Economics and NS. Within NS, Huisman focuses on a variety of logistics subjects, from strategic to operational. In 2008, Huisman was one of the members of the NS team presented with the prestigious Franz Edelman Award. The Franz Edelman Award has also been referred to as the ‘Super Bowl of Operations Research’.