Yangfang (Helen) Zhou
周阳方
Associate Professor in Operations Management
Lee Kong Chian School of Business,
Singapore Management University
helenzhou@smu.edu.sg
周阳方
Associate Professor in Operations Management
Lee Kong Chian School of Business,
Singapore Management University
helenzhou@smu.edu.sg
ORCID: 0000-0001-6408-3448 (My unique academic identifier, as my name may appear as Y. Zhou, or Y.H. Zhou, or even H. Zhou, or H.Y. Zhou in references due to different conventions)
My official publication name is Yangfang (Helen) Zhou.
In references on a full name basis, I prefer to be referred to as Yangfang (Helen) Zhou, rather than only Helen Zhou. Thank you very much.
My first name in Chinese is 阳方, which means the direction (方) of the sun (阳).
Position:
Jan, 2022-now: Associate Professor of Operations Management, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University
Jan, 2013- Dec, 2021: Assistant Professor of Operations Management, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University (On maternity leave from July 2016 to October 2016)
My profile at school website here.
2008. Instructor of a MBA course, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University
Research Interests
Methodologies: stochastic dynamic programming, financial engineering
Applications: energy, especially renewable energy and energy storage operations; electrical vehicle adoption and operations; agriculture operations
Education
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, U.S.
Ph.D. in Operations Management, 2009-2012
M.S. in Operations Management, 2007-2009
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
M.E. in Industrial Engineering, 2005-2007
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
B.E. in Mechanical Engineering, 2001-2005 (with the highest honor, ranked No. 1 among 280 students)
Research
Yangfang (Helen) Zhou, Alan Scheller-Wolf, Nicola Secomandi, and Stephen Smith. 2016. Electricity Trading and Negative Prices, Storage vs. Disposal Management Science 62: 880-898
Former titles used: “Is It More Valuable to Store or Destroy Electricity Surpluses?” and “Merchant Management of Electricity Surpluses: Storage vs. Disposal”
Best Research Presentation by a Junior Faculty or a Doctoral Student, Workshop on Analytics for Business, Consumer and Social Insights (BCSI), 2015
Media mention: SMU podcast titled “The downside of renewable energy.”
Media mention: Asian Scientist magazine article “When the switch flips on electricity prices.”
Yangfang (Helen) Zhou, Alan Scheller-Wolf, Nicola Secomandi, and Stephen Smith. 2019. Managing Wind-based Electricity Generation in the Presence of Storage and Transmission Capacity Production and Operations Management 28(4): 970-989 (Download also here)
Media mention: SMU video titled “Management of renewable energy”
Media mention: Asian Scientist magazine article “When the switch flips on electricity prices.”
Onur Boyabatli, Javad Nasiry, and Yangfang (Helen) Zhou. 2019. Crop Planning in Sustainable Agriculture: Dynamic Farmland Allocation in the Presence of Crop Rotation Benefits Management Science 65 (5): 1949-2443
Media mention: SMU video titled “Crop Planning in Sustainable Agriculture.”
Owen Wu, Safak Yucel, Yangfang (Helen) Zhou. 2022. Smart Charging of Electric Vehicles: An Innovative Business Model for Utility Firms Manufacturing and Service Operations Management 24(5):2481-2499 Download also here
Media mention: Managing a city of electric vehicles: How can this happen? (28-December 2023)
Media mention: Smart Charging of Electric Vehicles, Sept 2022 (Podcast, ResearchPod)
Media mention: Charging smart for profit and benefit, Research@SMU 2022
Media mention: New Electric Vehicle Charging Business Model Poses Multiple Benefits for Consumers, Utilities and the Environment - INFORMS
Chen Li, He Long, Yangfang (Helen) Zhou. 2023. An Exponential Cone Programming Approach for Managing Electric Vehicle Charging (Published online in Operations Research) (see here) (download also here)
Onur Boyabatli, Lusheng Shao, and Yangfang (Helen) Zhou. Integrated Optimization of Cultivation and Fertilizer Application: Implications for Farm Management and Food Security (Invited for a third-round review in Management Science)
Media mention: SMU news article, From farming to retailing: Here’s how math models can help
Pascale Crama, Yangfang (Helen) Zhou, Manman Wang. Impact of Cosmetic Standards on Food Loss. (Reject-and-resubmit in Management Science )
Unpublished manuscripts:
Yangfang (Helen) Zhou. Is Electricity Storage Green? A Study of the Commercial Sector
Media mention: Technology and the art of the optimum
Yangfang (Helen) Zhou, Jay Apt, Alan Scheller-Wolf, Nicola Secomandi, and Stephen Smith. 2012. Combining Operations Management and Engineering Models to Effectively Manage Electricity Storage.
Research awards:
MPA Research Fellow, Singapore Management University. 2024
Runner-up award for Harvey Greenberg Research Award, INFORMS Computing Society 2023
Best Publication Award in Environment and Sustainability in the INFORMS Section on ENRE (Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment). 2023
Finalist for 2023 Best OM paper award in M&SOM. 2023
Urban Fellow, Singapore Management University 2023
Lee Kong Chian Fellow, Singapore Management University 2022-2023
Best Publication Award in Environment and Sustainability in the INFORMS Section on ENRE (Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment). 2020
Honorable Mention of The 2014 CSAMSE Annual Conference Best Paper Award. 2014
Teaching awards
Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2022 - 2023
Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2021 - 2022
Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2020 - 2021
Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2019 - 2020
Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2018 - 2019
Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2017 - 2018
Nominee for The Most Promising Teacher Award, Singapore Management University, 2016
Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2015 - 2016
Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2014 - 2015
Case study
Rwanda Electric Motors: Carbon Credit Monetisation (new)
With very detailed teaching notes for the instructor!
Media mentions
Managing a city of electric vehicles: How can this happen? (28-December 2023)
OM Prof's paper on charging electric vehicles wins best publication award (8-December 2023)
International Symposium on Electromobility in the UK and Singapore 2023 (see minute 1.50 onward)
Study on Electric Vehicle Charging to be Published (SMU news), 2023
Sustainable strategic planning: 3 ways to become a responsible organisation (SMU city perspectives), 2023
Charging smart for profit and benefit, Research@SMU 2022
Smart Charging of Electric Vehicles, Sept 2022 (Podcast, ResearchPod)
Shedding Light on Solar Challenges (SMU Blog) Jan 2022
Riding The Solar Power Wave | Money Mind | Green Technology (Channel News Asia)
When The Switch Flips On Electricity Prices (Asian Scientist Magazine)
The Downside of Renewable Energy (Podcasts@SMU)
Crop Planning in Sustainable Agriculture (Podcasts@SMU; discussed by one of my co-authors for this paper)
Technology and the art of the optimum (SMU news)
From farming to retailing: Here’s how math models can help (SMU news)