Postdoctoral Research Fellow
EME 1212
Niloofar.akbarian@ubc.ca
Biography
I started my engineering career in Iran where I obtained my B.Sc. degree in Industrial engineering. During my undergraduate studies, I enhanced my knowledge in different domains such as Operational Research, Mathematical Modeling, and Optimization. To have a deeper insight into such research areas, I completed my M.Sc. degree in Industrial Engineering with focusing on designing and optimizing the biofuel supply chain considering the economic, environmental, and social aspects, as my Master thesis. I joined the Composites Research Network (CRN) – Okanagan on September 2020 and I completed my PhD in December 2024, by developing a holistic quantitative Sustainable Decision-Making Framework (SDMF) for bio-composite manufacturing under co-supervision of Dr. Abbas Milani and Dr. Taraneh Sowlati . My Ph.D. research, which laid the groundwork for the SDMF, earned first prize in the “Best Student Paper” category at the prestigious Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) annual conference in Montreal. The paper introduces Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for measuring the sustainability performance of the biocomposite supply chain.
Currently, as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, I aim to develop a Sustainability-Driven Framework for Decision Support in Commercialization Using Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN) to develop interactive tools for sustainability-driven decision-making in industries. By facilitating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting and addressing sustainability challenges, the integrated BBN and SDMF aim to empower organizations, particularly SMEs, to adopt transformative strategies aligned with circular economy principles.
Education
- PhD, Mechanical Engineering, UBC, Canada
- MSc, Industrial Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran
- BSc, Industrial Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran
Research Interests
- Supply Chain Management
- Life Cycle Assessment
- Techno-Economic Analysis
- Multi-criteria Decision Making
- Mathematical Modeling and Optimization
- Machine Learning and AI
- Industry 4.0
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