Research

Research Interests

• • Theories: Stochastic and Discrete Optimization, Robust and Data-Driven Optimization, Dynamic Programming, Game Theory

  • Applications: Energy Market, Smart City, Supply Chain, Shared Mobility, Marketing, Transportation

Journal Publications

1. "Vehicle Rebalancing in A Shared Micromobility System with Rider Crowdsourcing," with Ziliang Jin, Yulan Wang, Yun Fong Lim, and Zuo-Jun Max Shen. Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 25(4): 1394-1415, 2023. [Preprint, SSRN, DOI]

2. "Robust Sourcing under Multi-level Supply Risks: Analysis of Random Yield and Capacity," with Ming Zhao and Nickolas Freeman. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 35(1): 178-195, 2023. [Data instances download, Preprint, DOI]

3. "An Exact Algorithm for the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Crowdsourced Bids and Transshipment," with E Su, Jiliu Li, and Hu Qin. Transportation Research Part B, forthcoming, 2023. [SSRN, DOI]

4. "Data-Driven Chance-Constrained Planning for Distributed Generation: A Partial Sampling Approach," with Shiyi Jiang, Jianqiang Cheng, Feng Qiu, and Boshi Yang. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, forthcoming, 2023. (IF: 6.6)

5. "Linearization Method for Large-scale Hydro-thermal Security-Constrained Unit Commitment," with Ming Qu, Tao Ding, Chenggang Mu, Xiaosheng Zhang, and Mohammad Shahidehpour. IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, forthcoming, 2023. (IF: 5.6)

6. "Convex Hull Model for a Single-Unit Commitment Problem with Pumped Hydro Storage Unit," with Ming Qu, Tao Ding, Chenggang Mu, Yuge Sun, and Mohammad Shahidehpour. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 38(5): 4867-4880, 2023.

7. "Identification of Key Components after Unintentional Failures for Cascading Failure Protection," with Xiang Li and Tianyi Pan. IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, 10(2): 1003-1014, 2023. (IF: 6.6)

8. "Asymptotically Tight Conic Approximations for Chance-Constrained AC Optimal Power Flow," with Abolhassan Mohammadi Fathabad, Jianqiang Cheng, and Boshi Yang. European Journal of Operational Research, 305(2): 738-753, 2023. [Preprint, DOI]

9. "A Polyhedral Study on Fuel-Constrained Unit Commitment," with Ming Zhao, Chung-Lun Li, and Feng Qiu. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 34(6):3309-3324, 2022. [Data instances download, Preprint, DOI]

10. "The Techno-economic Flexibility Investigation and Enhancement for the Hybrid Ocean-energy Supported Zero-energy Building and Seawater-transportation System," with Xinman Guo, Haojie Luo, Sunliang Cao, and Yixing Lisa Gao. Energy Reports, vol. 8: 13438-13462, 2022. (IF: 5.2)

11. "Integrated Stochastic Optimal Self-Scheduling for Two-Settlement Electricity Markets," with Yongpei Guan. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 34(3): 1819–1840, 2022. [Data instances download, DOI]

12. "Computationally Efficient Approximations for Distributionally Robust Optimization under Moment and Wasserstein Ambiguity," with Meysam Cheramin, Jianqiang Cheng, and Ruiwei Jiang. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 34(3): 1768-1794, 2022. [Data and code, DOI, Preprint]

13. "Managing Stochastic Bucket Brigades on Discrete Work Stations," with Peng Wang, Zhenzhen Yan, and Yun Fong Lim. Production and Operations Management, 31(1): 358-373, 2022.

14. "Integrated Ad Delivery Planning for Targeted Display Advertising," with Huaxiao Shen, Yanzhi Li, and Youhua (Frank) Chen. Operations Research, 69(5): 1349-1650, 2021.

15. "Multistage Stochastic Power Generation Scheduling Co-Optimizing Energy and Ancillary Services," with Jianqiu Huang and Yongpei Guan. INFORMS Journal on Computing, 33(1): 352-369, 2021. [Data instances download]

16. "Cutting Planes for Security-Constrained Unit Commitment with Regulation Reserve," with Jianqiu Huang and Yongpei Guan. IISE Transactions, 53(4): 437-452, 2021.

17. "Data-driven Planning for Renewable Distributed Generation Integration," with Abolhassan Mohammadi Fathabad, Jianqiang Cheng, and Feng Qiu. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 35(6): 4357-4368, 2020.

18. "Single-path Service Network Design Problem with Resource Constraints,'' with Xiangyong Li, Yi Ding, Dapei Jiang, and Yash P. Aneja. Transportation Research Part E, 140: 101945, 2020. (IF: 10.6)

19. "Data-Driven Look-Ahead Unit Commitment Considering Forbidden Zones and Dynamic Ramping Rates," with Ziliang Jin, Lei Fan, and Tao Ding. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 15(6): 3267-3276, 2019. (IF: 12.3)

20. "A Strengthened Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Formulation for Combined-Cycle Units," with Lei Fan and Yongpei Guan. European Journal of Operational Research, 275(3): 865-881, 2019.

21. "Bulk Ship Scheduling in Industrial Shipping with Stochastic Backhaul Canvassing Demand," with Lingxiao Wu, Shuaian Wang, and Dong Yang. Transportation Research Part B, 117: 117-136, 2018.

22. "Polynomial Time Algorithms and Extended Formulations for Unit Commitment Problems," with Yongpei Guan and Kezhuo Zhou. IISE Transactions, 50(8): 735-751, 2018. (download) (ISE Magazine feature article)

23. "On Service Network Improvement for Shipping Lines under the One Belt One Road Initiative of China," with Dong Yang and Shuaian Wang. Transportation Research Part E, 117: 82-95, 2018.

24. "Capacity Investment in Supply Chain with Risk Averse Supplier under Risk Diversification Contract," with Juan He and Chao Ma. Transportation Research Part E, 106: 255-275, 2017.

25. "Data-­Driven Risk-Averse Stochastic Self-­Scheduling for the Combined-­Cycle Units," with Yongpei Guan. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 13(4): 3058-3069, 2017.

26. "Strong Formulations for Multistage Stochastic Self-Scheduling Unit Commitment," with Yongpei Guan. Operations Research, 64(6): 1482-1498, 2016.

27. "Strengthened MILP Formulation for Certain Gas Turbine Unit Commitment Problems," with Yongpei Guan, Jean-Paul Watson, and Jianhui Wang. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 31(2): 1440-1448, 2016.

28. "A Polyhedral Study of the Integrated Minimum-Up/-Down Time and Ramping Polytope," with Yongpei Guan.

29. "Convex Hulls for the Unit Commitment Polytope," with Yongpei Guan.

30. "Integrated Vehicle Allocation and Relocation for Shared Micromobility under Competition and Demand Uncertainty," with Ziliang Jin, Zuo-Jun Max Shen, and Wenxin Xu. Submitted.

31. "Optimized Dimensionality Reduction for Moment-based Distributionally Robust Optimization," with Shiyi Jiang, Jianqiang Cheng, and Zuo-Jun Max Shen. Submitted. [Optimization-Online, arXiv]

    • This paper won the INFORMS Computing Society Best Student Paper Award in 2023.

32. "Robust Grid-Vehicle Integration: A Machine Learning-Driven Optimization Approach," with Ziliang Jin, Jianqiang Cheng, Zuo-Jun Max Shen, and Yulan Wang. Submitted. [SSRN]

(9 papers in the UTD top-24 business journals, 8 papers in the IEEE Transactions journals, 4 papers in the IISE Trans./EJOR, 5 papers in the Transportation Research journals, and 1 paper in other specialty journals)

Conference Proceedings

• 1. "Adaptive Crawling with Cautious Users," with Xiang Li, Tianyi Pan, and Guangmo Tong. In 2019 IEEE International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS 2019) (Acceptance rate: 19.6%)

  2. "Stochastic Optimization Formulations for Reliability Unit Commitment Runs," with Yang Lu, Yongpei Guan, and Jean-Paul Watson. In 2014 IEEE PES General Meeting Conference. (Acceptance rate: N.A.)

Invited Book Chapters

1. "Integrated Power Transmission and Distribution Systems," with Abolhassan Mohammadi Fathabad and Jianqiang Cheng. In Renewable-Energy-Driven Future, pp. 169-199, 2020. ISBN: 978-0-12-820539-6. Academic Press.

External Research Grants

• 1. Hong Kong RGC General Research Fund (GRF), Principle Investigator. Project title: Data-Driven Domain-Aware Planning for Hydrogen-Driven Grid and Mobility Integration. Project period: 2025 - 2027.

  2. Hong Kong RGC General Research Fund (GRF), Principle Investigator. Project title: Data-Driven Risk-Averse Operations for Autonomous Electrified Mobility Systems. Project period: 2024 - 2026.

  3. Hong Kong RGC General Research Fund (GRF), Principle Investigator. Project title: Data-Driven Resilience Design for Integrated Grid and Mobility Systems. Project period: 2022 - 2024.

  4. Hong Kong RGC General Research Fund (GRF), Principle Investigator. Project title: Data-Driven Planning for Smart Vehicle-Grid Integration Systems. Project period: 2021 - 2023.

  5. National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Principle Investigator. Project title: Optimizing Electrical Power System Operations Considering Limited Supply and Uncertain Net Demand. Project period: 2021 - 2023.

  6. Hong Kong RGC General Research Fund (GRF), Principle Investigator. Project title: Capacity Design for Electrified Shared-Mobility Systems. Project period: 2020 - 2022.

  7. Hong Kong RGC General Research Fund (GRF), Principle Investigator. Project title: Strategic Operations Management in Bicycle-sharing Industry. Project period: 2019 - 2021.

  8. Hong Kong RGC Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), Chief Supervisor, 2020 - 2023. (PhD student: Ziliang Jin)

  9. Smart Traffic Fund of Hong Kong Transport Department, Co-Investigator. Project title: The smart charging development of zero-emission autonomous electric vehicles by the X2V and V2X technologies with respect to the dynamic traffic, grid and energy. Grant No.: PSRI/22/2111/PR. Funding Amount: HKD 2,205,792. PI: Sunliang Cao.

Recruitment

I am always looking for Ph.D. students who are interested in doing research on decision-making under uncertainty with potential applications in smart city operations, energy market, supply chain management, and transportation. Prospective students with solid backgrounds are welcome to email me with your CV.

Research Assistant / Research Associate / Postdoctoral Fellow applications are also welcome.