The increasing complexity and competition in the marketplace, as well as the continuous pressure to reduce cost and environmental impact, have driven chemical and manufacturing industries to search for novel coordinated and effective long-term sustainable strategies to reach the full potential of their supply chain and production system. In addition to this, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, climate change effects, and the need to make effective use of natural resources are changing our world and driving major changes in our societies. Chemical and manufacturing systems are not immune and play a critical role in the development of new technologies (or retrofit of existing systems) that can meet customer demands and remain profitable. However, changes at any level in chemical and manufacturing plants require a comprehensive understanding of the underlying principles that govern the process internally (e.g., planning and operations management decisions), and interactions with their environment (e.g., suppliers, customers, governmental policies).
Our group aims to develop novel strategies that can be implemented in practice by industries in key strategic sectors in our society to address specific pressing problems affecting their operation. Relevant to our group, we have developed comprehensive optimization models that can effectively schedule the operations of large-scale plants in the analytical services sector. Also, we have collaborated with national research centers to develop comprehensive mathematical models that can accurately predict the operation of next-generation energy and CO2 capture systems. Similarly, we have closely collaborated with major domestic stakeholders to develop the next-generation of systems that can effectively mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. Furthermore, we have collaborated with major international companies aimed at improving their large-scale operations overseas using advanced optimization-based control strategies.