Lavanya Marla
Associate Professor, University of Illinois
My research aims at the development and application of tools from large-scale optimization, data mining, statistics, simulation, applied machine learning and computational techniques to build logistics and transportation systems that are operationally flexible and dynamically adaptable to improve cost, efficiency, robustness and environmental impact – which are crucial for a sustainable system. This vision is challenging because of the sheer size of the system, competition between multiple stakeholders and presence of significant uncertainty. To analyze and address evolving transportation infrastructure, I use tools from large-scale optimization, data mining, statistics, simulation, visualization and computational techniques. My research style involves: (i) analyzing large-scale real-world data from public agencies, operators and users to identify high-impact opportunities, (ii) developing quantitative data-driven models and algorithms to address them, and (iii) evaluating impact by testing on realistic simulation testbeds.