Centre for Operations Research and Decision Sciences (CORDS)

Our Research

The Centre for Operations Research and Decision Sciences (CORDS) is located at Simon Fraser University. With faculty members from Business, Computing Science, Mathematics, SIAT and Statistics, the Centre focuses on operations research: the science of optimal decision-making. Members undertake both basic and applied research, and collaborate with industry by consulting and facilitating student internships.

Contact Information

Sandy Rutherford, Scientific Director
Department of Mathematics
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Dr.    
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
Canada

Tamon Stephen, Director
Department of Mathematics
Simon Fraser University Surrey
250-13450 102 Ave.
Surrey, BC V3T 0A3
Canada

Members

Gohram Baloch
Beedie School of Business

Dr. Baloch’s main research focuses on the integration of data-driven optimization approaches and machine learning with applications in healthcare operations, retail businesses, e-commerce, warehouse and transportation logistics. He has worked on several analytics and optimization projects with industrial partners in US/Canada including Mass General Hospital, Unilever, Dematic, and MedAvail Technologies Inc.

Cedric Chauve
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Chauve's research focuses on the design of mathematical models and efficient algorithms for computational biology.

Caroline Colijn
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Colijn works at the interface of mathematics, evolution, infection and public health. She joined SFU's Mathematics Department in 2018 as a Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematics for Infection, Evolution and Public Health. She has broad interests in applications of mathematics to questions in evolution and public health, and was a founding member of Imperial's Centre for the Mathematics of Precision Healthcare.

Mona Imanpoor Yourdshahy
Beedie School of Business

The unifying aim of Dr. Imanpoor's research is to develop models and solution techniques for operational problems mainly in the area of service operations, retail management and healthcare decision making. She enjoys working on both theoretical and data-driven research projects with the focus on solving multi-period decision-making problems using dynamic programming techniques. In particular, she is interested in dynamic information asymmetry and incentive problems in operations management to provide firms and policy makers with insights into how they can improve their efficiency.

Thomas Loughin
Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science

Dr. Loughin is a professional Statistician and researcher with extensive experience in both statistical applications and methodological development. He has worked with researchers in a wide array of disciplines, including agricultural, engineering, medical, education, and other areas. He runs the SFU-Surrey Statistical Consulting Centre, where he focuses on communication with subject-matter experts, re-expressing complex statistical concepts into language that is easy to understand.

Snezana Mitrovic Minic
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Minic's research includes application of combinatorial optimization, integer programming, and graph theory to solving problems in vehicle routing, logistics, transportation, satellite mission planning, healthcare operations, and natural resource management. Snezana is especially interested in large-scale discrete optimization problems and dynamic time-constrained problems.

Bojan Mohar
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Mohar is a Canada Research Chair in Graph Theory, where he is developing algorithmic and computational tools.

Abraham Punnen
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Punnen's applied research and consulting activities include applications of optimization in industry and government. In particular he is interested in transportation and logistics, network design, routing and scheduling, timetabling, optimization applications in medicine including radiation therapy treatment planning and management of organ transplant, healthcare management, and optimization applications in forestry.

Randall Pyke
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Pyke earned his PhD from the University of Toronto studying nonlinear wave equations that arise in applications such as optics. His research interests also include fractals, dynamics, and simulating stochastic systems. Randall has been working to promote operations research in the math curriculum since its inception and has worked on consulting projects.

Alexander (Sandy) Rutherford
Complex Systems Modelling Group

Dr. Rutherford is the Scientific Director for the Complex Systems Modelling Group (CSMG). Among his research areas is health care, where he has worked on the design and evaluation of protocols for electronic health records and applications of queuing theory to surgical waitlists and the acute care system. He has also worked on application of dynamical systems methods to health care modelling, criminal justice system modelling, and epidemiology.

Feyza Sahinyazan
Beedie School of Business

Feyza G. Sahinyazan is an assistant professor in the Technology and Operations Management and Business and Society departments at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University. Her main research focus is humanitarian aid supply chains, particularly in long-term food and energy access problems. She is also interested in socially responsible operations management practices. She has served as SFU’s Inaugural Sustainability Advisory Council member and was an SFU delegate to the UN Convention on Climate Change (COP 28). Throughout her research projects, she has worked on data-driven operations management problems in collaboration with public sector actors and NGOs such as the UN's World Food Programme, UNHCR Turkey, Montreal Children's Hospital, and Turkish Red Crescent. She has worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO), the data science hub of HEC Montreal, after receiving her Ph.D. in Operations Management from the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University

Tamon Stephen
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Stephen's research interests include optimization, algorithms and discrete mathematics. Externally he has worked with local clients in manufacturing, health care and municipal services.

Jessica Stockdale
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Stockdale's research interests include modelling for applications in infectious disease, genomic epidemiology, and health. She employs data-driven mathematical and statistical methods to improve understanding of disease transmission and its population effects. She has worked with external government and industrial partners in healthcare, pandemic preparedness, and public health.

Zhe George Zhang
Beedie School of Business

Dr. Zhang's research interests include the quantitative and economic analysis of the congestion problems in urban/mass transportation networks, health/medical care systems, and public service systems with both customer service quality and security concerns.

Associate Members