ODDS lab staff

Optimization, Data, and Decision Science Lab

The Optimization, Data, and Decision Science (ODDS) Lab, established in late 2023 under the leadership of Dr. Ilgin Acar, represents a dynamic hub for cutting-edge research at the intersection of optimization, data science and decision-making across diverse domains.

Ongoing research 

  • Drone Routing Problem (Transportation) 

  • M-Patrolling Problem 

  • Human Resources Analytics (AI/ML in business) 

  • Decision Support Systems-based Approach for Stroke Prediction (AI/ML in healthcare) 

  • An AI/ML   Application in Healthcare

 

Research activities

  • Mila Mitovski: Optimizing Drone Routing for Surveillance and Inspection Applications Mitovski received a WMU Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Excellence Award.
  • Aylin Aytemiz: A Machine Learning-based Decision Support System for Predicting and Preventing Stroke. Aytemiz received a WMU Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Excellence Award.
  • Eren Darici and Kira Hamelink: Human Resources Analytics: Determining Possible Turnovers with a Feature Engineering Accepted 9th North American Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Washington DC, organized by the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. Both students received the Graduate College competitive research and/or travel grant for spring 2024. 
  • Dr. Islam Altin, postdoctoral research scholar, is funded by Scientific and Technological Research Council of T眉rkiye (Tubitak) for his research about Drone Arc Routing Problems and Applications with Dr. Ilgin Acar supervising. 
  • Recent paper titled as 鈥淢ulti-Depot General Colored Traveling Salesman Problem with Time Windows in Home Healthcare System: A Medication Delivery Example鈥 submitted to a Science Citation Indexed journal. Authors: Ilgin Acar and Islam Altin

Meet the team

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Acar is director of the WMU Optimization, Data, and Decision Science Lab and an assistant professor of industrial and entrepreneurial engineering and engineering management. Her research interests include operations research, healthcare optimization and staff assignment and scheduling.
Islam Altin, post-doc researcher college of engineering and applied sciences

Altin is a post-doctoral researcher. His postdoctoral project aims to investigate different types of Drone Arc Routing Problems, perform the applications with surveillance drones, and propose novel solution methods for these problems and is supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). He received the Ph.D. from Eskisehir Osmangazi University, T眉rkiye.
Kira Hamelink

Kira Hamelink ris a doctoral student in industrial engineering. Her research interests include optimization, applied operations research, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analytics, and engineering education. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from WMU and is a part-time computer science instructor at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.
Eren Darici

Darici is graduate student in industrial engineering. He has worked as an industrial engineer. After earning his bachelor鈥檚 degree in industrial engineering in 2023 from Eskisehir Technical University, T眉rkiye, he worked as an industrial engineer. His research interests include optimization, scheduling, and applied-machine learning.
Aylin

Aytemiz is a senior majoring in computer science and minoring in data science at Western 麻豆传媒应用 University. Her research interests include machine learning and AI applications in healthcare. She is working on a project titled 鈥淎 Machine Learning- based Decision Support System for Predicting and Preventing Stroke," which received a WMU Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Excellence Award.
Mila

Mitovski is an undergraduate student in industrial engineering and data science. She has experience in cold chain logistics, leveraging warehouse management data to enhance throughput and utilization efficiencies. Her interests include routing, logistics and network optimization. Mitovski received a WMU Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Excellence Award for her project 鈥淥ptimizing Drone Routing for Surveillance and Inspection Applications."