Sarah G. Nurre Pinkley
Assistant Professor
Department of Industrial Engineering
University of Arkansas
Phone: 479-575-3940
Email: snurre at uark DOT edu
Curriculum Vitae
Sarah Nurre Pinkley received her PhD from the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Prior to this, she earned a Masters in Industrial and Management Engineering and a Bachelor’s in Mathematics, both from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Prior to joining the University of Arkansas in August 2015, she was an Assistant Professor in the Operational Sciences Department at Air Force Institute of Technology. Her research interests include using network optimization, scheduling, and optimization algorithms for restoring interdependent infrastructure systems, operating Electric Vehicle and drone battery swap stations, and understanding last-mile delivery. She has taught undergraduate courses in Operations Research, Master’s courses in Optimization Theory, Multicriteria Optimization, Stochastic Modeling and Analysis, and Heuristics, and PhD courses in Scheduling Theory and Linear Programming. Sarah is actively involved in many INFORMS organizations including Women in Operations Research and the Management Sciences (WORMS), Subdivisions Council, and the Professional Recognition Committee. At the University of Arkansas, she serves as the faculty advisor for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers student chapter.
Postdoctoral Scholars
Marjan Asadinia, Ph.D.
Background: Marjan Asadinia received her Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Sharif University of Technology. She then acquired a research associate position in the Department of Computer Science at Oregon State University. In November 2017, she joined the Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering at the University of Arkansas as a Postdoctoral Fellow.
Research: Based on her expertise in memory technology, she is currently working on a multidisciplinary project in the Civil and Industrial Engineering Departments at the University of Arkansas. Her tasks include studying truck parking locations, routing, and scheduling. She is utilizing her expertise in the areas of algorithm development and coding, optimization modeling and method development.
Graduate Research Assistants
Amin Asadi
Background: Amin is a Ph.D. candidate in Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. He received his master degree in Industrial Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology in 2013. He is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) since 2017. Amin also worked as a teaching assistant for Introduction to Operation Research in Spring 2018 and Fall 2018. He was the instructor for Applied Probability and Statistics in Summer 2018, which was a fantastic class with 55 students.
Research: Amin main research interests are in applied operations research, decision making under uncertainty, and statistics and data analysis. Amin currently is working on two research projects. First, in his dissertation, he aims to determine the optimal/near-optimal policies for managing operations in electric vehicle and drone swap stations facing uncertainty in demand and varying costs. In this research, Amin utilized his expertise in mathematical modeling, proving theoretical properties, developing algorithms, and coding. This research has resulted in two papers. The first one is submitted to “Transportation Research: Part E” and the second one has a target submission for “Transportation Science” in Fall 2019. Second, he is working on a funded project examining truck parking. Collectively on a team, he is working on an agent-based simulation model that looks to examine the links between hours of service regulations and truck parking. The team expects to publish the results and deliverable tool in late 2019/early 2020.
Hieu Bui
Background: Hieu Bui completed his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering in 2015. He then received his Master’s degree in Operation Management in 2017 and in Industrial Engineering in 2019 from the University of Arkansas. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, with the area of focus in Additive Manufacturing and Transportation Logistics.
Research: He is currently working on an intermodal network optimization project for J.B. Hunt.
Aniela Garay Sianca
Background: Aniela Garay-Sianca graduated as a Mechanical Industrial Engineering from the University Technology of Panama. She holds a master degree in Industrial Engineering and a master degree in International Trade and Logistics. Aniela is pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering with a focus on network optimization. Her research is mainly applied to problems based on extreme event response.
Research: Aniela is currently working on developing mathematical models and strategies using network optimization and scheduling theory to solve the problem of restoring services provided by an interdependent set of infrastructures after they were disrupted from an extreme event. She is specifically examining how the disruptions and restoration to the transportation network impact the movement of work crews conducting restoration on other, interdependent networks, e.g., Power.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Alyssa Bobalik
Brandon Satterwhite
Madeline Suellentrop
Former Research Assistants
Olivier Kwizera
John Doerpinghaus
Melissa Quinton
Morgan Hartsell
Alexis Gaddy
Jacob Forbes
Christopher Hergenreter
Rebecca Widrick
Tanya Kannon