• Mathematical programming
• Metaheuristic and math-heuristic algorithms
• Agent-based modelling and simulation
• Quantum AI for OR
• OR applications for SDGs

Dr Trung Hieu Tran is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Business Analytics at Aston Business School, Aston University, UK. Before joining in Aston Business School, he was Lecturer (Assitant Professor) in Data Analytics at Centre for Design Engineering (C4DE), Cranfield University. In addition, he held Postdoctoral Research Fellow positions at several UK universities, and National University of Singapore in which his PhD degree in Operational Research / Management Science was also awarded. His research interests focus on the theory and application development of optimisation methods (both mathematical programming and metaheuristics) in Operational Research, as well as artificial intelligence and agent-based modelling and simulation in Computer Science, to production planning and scheduling problems, location analysis, logistics and supply chain management, gas transmission network, sustainable urban planning, port operations, airport operations, agricultural waste management, electric vehicles charging network design and AR/VR applications.

PH.D. IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH / MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, 2011, National University of Singapore, Singapore

B.ENG. (HONOURS, SILVER MEDAL) IN INDUSTRIAL & SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, 2005, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam

FELLOWSHIP (FHEA) IN TEACHING AND LEARNING SUPPORT, 11/2023, Cranfield University, UK

ASSOCIATE FELLOWSHIP (AFHEA) IN TEACHING AND LEARNING SUPPORT, 02/2021, Cranfield University, UK

Dr Tran has secured aproximately £1.1 million.

Grants:

[1] An Integrated Decision Support System for Strategic Flood Mitigation Planning towards Sustainable Agricultural Waste Management at the Mekong Delta (IDSS-MEKONG) (01/2024 – 08/2024), PI, UK FCDO's Research and Innovation for Development in ASEAN (£62,256)

[2] Improving Flood-disrupted Road Networks Resilience with Dynamic People-centric Digital Twins (IMPACT) (04/2024 – 10/2024), Co-I, UKRI Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI) (£40,000)  

[3] Formulation and Solution Techniques for Integrated Charging Network Design under Risk of Disruption (10/2021 – 12/2022), PI, UK EPSRC Mathematical Science [EP/V061607/1] (£63,614)

[4] Optimal Planning Tool for Agricultural Waste Management in Vietnam (03/2021 – 7/2021), PI, UKRI GCRF QF 2020/21 (£16,000)

[5] Optimal Investment Strategies to Minimize Flood Impact on Road Infrastructure in Vietnam (2018 –2019), Co-I, Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) – British Academy (£291,876)

Industrial Funds:

[6] Augmented Reality and Digital Technology (2020-2023), PI, Cranfield Industrial Partnership PhDs – OrangeLV, USA (£152,600)

[7] Clean Cabin – Virtual Queuing (Phase 1: Modelling and Simulation) (02/2021 – 09/2021), Co-I, Collaborative Research Project – The Boeing Company, USA (£50,000)

[8] Clean Cabin – Virtual Queuing (Phase 2: User-Centric based App Design) (07/2023 – 09/2024), Co-I, Collaborative Research Project – The Boeing Company, USA (£200,000)

[9] Clean Cabin – Virtual Queuing (Phase 3: Behavioural Analysis and Agent-based Modelling) (10/2024 – 09/2025), PI, Collaborative Research Project – The Boeing Company, USA (£217,000)

[10] Evaluation of Error Frequency Rate in Construction Industry (02/2023 – 07/2023), PI, R&D Project – GIRI Company, UK (£18,000)     

• 2025 USA INFORMS the Franz Edelman Award (Nobel Prize in OR/MS) (the semi-finalist).
• 2024 UK Operational Research Society President’s Medal (Top 3 Finalists)
• 2024 EURO Excellence in Practice Award, Copenhagen, Denmark (Top 3 Finalists)
• The Best Presentation Award for Research Project titled “Model and Algorithm for Dynamic Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Network Design” at ICBMOR 2022: XVI. International Conference on Business, Management and Operations Research, New York, USA, 9-10 Dec 2022.
• IFORS Prize for Operational Research in Development 2021, Seoul, South Korea (Finalist)
• Young Persons Paper Competition 2016, Institute of Gas Engineers & Managers (Finalist)
• Australian Research Council Fellowship 2012 – Grant Application (Final Round)
• AIMMS – MOPTA Optimization Modelling Competition Award 2011 (Top 3) by Lehigh University, United States
• National University of Singapore Research Scholarship 2006 - 2010, Singapore
• Silver Medal, Excellent Graduation Award 2005 by HCM City University of Technology, Vietnam
• Academic Award 2004 by ST. John’s and ST. Mary’s Institute of Technology, Taiwan
• Academic Awards 2002 - 2005 by Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam

[1] Jiang Yirui (May 2020 – Aug 2023), Thesis: “Development of Efficient Data Management and Analytics Tools for Sustainable Reinvented Toilet Network Design”. [1st Supervisor] – completed.

[2] Ji Yijing (Feb 2019 – Aug 2023), Thesis: “Human Sensory Interaction Experience within the Museum Exhibition Space”. [1st Supervisor] – completed.

ADVISORY BOARD: GCRF & UK Mathematical Sciences, and E-waste Journal

EDITORIAL BOARD: Cloud Computing and Data Science

GUEST EDITOR:

• Sustainability (MDPI, ISSN 2071-1050): Special Issue “Decarbonization Investment Towards Environmental Sustainability”.
• Mathematics (MDPI, ISSN 2227-7390): Special Issue "New Advances of Operations Research and Analysis".

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE: The International Conference on Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Hanoi, Vietnam 20-21 Dec 2024. ICAMCS2024 | (isvnu.vn)

BOOK CHAPTERS

[1] Jiang, Y., Tran, T.H., Williams, L. (2024), Potential AI-Metaverse Solutions for Sustainable Leapfrogging in Emerging Markets (in press, IntechOpen, London).

[2] Tjahjono, M., Tjahjono, B., Ünal, E., Tran, T.H. (2024). Towards an Improvement of Airport Retail Waste Management Using the Double Diamond Design Process. In: Silva, F.J.G., Ferreira, L.P., Sá, J.C., Pereira, M.T., Pinto, C.M.A. (eds) Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing: Establishing Bridges for More Sustainable Manufacturing Systems. FAIM 2023. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-38165-2_109.

[3] Tran, T.H., Jiang, Y., Williams, L. (2022), Applications of Mixed Reality for Smart Aviation Industry: Opportunities and Challenges, in D. Rath, V. Varadarajan (eds.), Advances in Virtual Reality, IntechOpen, London. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.108798.

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES

[1] Jiang, Y., Tran, T.H., Collins, M., Williams, L. (2025), Development of Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence for intelligent sanitation systems: A literature review, Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 8(12), 7889. DOI: 10.24294/jipd.v8i12.7889.

[2] Ezeanaka, C., Tran, T.H. (2025), Reducing Food Loss and Waste in the Hospitality and Food Service Sector: A Design Thinking Approach, Highlights of Sustainability, 3(4), 374–393. DOI: 10.54175/hsustain3040021.

[3] Phouratsamay, S.L., Scaparra, M.P., Tran, T.H., Laporte, G. (2024), Strategic flood impact mitigation in developing countries’ urban road networks: Application to Hanoi, European Journal of Operational Research (in press). DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2024.06.035.

[4] Tran, T.H., Nguyen, T.T.B, Le, T.H.S, Phung, D.C. (2024), Formulation and Solution Technique for Agricultural Waste Collection and Transport Network Design, European Journal of Operational Research, 313, 1152– 169. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2023.08.052.

[5] Jiang, Y., Tran, T.H., Williams, L. (2023), A Surveillance-and-Blockchain-based Tracking System for Mitigation of Baggage Mishandling at Smart Airports. Journal of Airline Operations and Aviation Management, 2(2), 33–51. DOI: 10.56801/jaoam.v2i2.4.

[6] Jiang, Y., Tran, T.H., Williams, L. (2023), Machine Learning and Mixed Reality for Smart Aviation: Applications and Challenges, Journal of Air Transport Management, 111, 102437. DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2023.102437.

[7] Tran, T.H., Nguyen, T.T.B., Jiang, Y. (2023), A Hybrid Algorithm for Large-scale Non-separable Nonlinear Multicommodity Flow Problems, Journal of Algorithms and Computational Technology (in press). DOI: 10.1177/17483026231157214.

[8] Tjahjono, M., Ünal, E., Tran, T.H. (2023), The Circular Economy Transformation of Airports: An Alternative Model for Retail Waste Management. Sustainability, 15(4), 3860.

[9] Yu, J., Tran, T.H., Gray, S., Encinas-Oropesa, A. (2023), A Bi-objective Decision Support Tool Based on System Dynamics and Discrete Event Modelling for Sustainable Supply Chain. Journal of Circular Economy, 1(3). DOI: 10.55845/SDDH3833

[10] Tran, T.H., Nguyen, T.T.B. (2022), Minimizing Total Cost of Home Energy Consumption under Uncertainties, Electric Power Components and Systems, 50, 19-20.

[11] Jiang, Y., Tran, T.H., Williams, L. (2022), Importance of UV Disinfection Robots for Airports During and After Covid-19: A Short Review. COJ Robotics & Artificial Intelligence, 2(4). DOI: 10.31031/COJRA.2022.02.000544

[12] Jiang, Y., Tran, T.H., Williams, L. (2022), Advanced Visual SLAM and Image Segmentation Techniques for Augmented Reality. International Journal of Virtual and Augmented Reality, 6(1), 1-28.

[13] Barton, N.A., Hallett, S.H., Jude, S.R., Tran, T.H. (2022), Predicting the Risk of Pipe Failure Using Gradient Boosted Decision Trees and Weighted Risk Analysis. NPJ Clean Water 5, 22.

[14] Barton, N.A., Hallett, S.H., Jude, S.R., Tran, T.H. (2022), An Evolution of Statistical Pipe Failure Models for Drinking Water Networks: A Targeted Review, Water Supply, 22 (4), 3784-3813.

[15] Mead, M.I., Bevilacqua, M., Loiseaux, C., Hallett, S.H., Jude, S.R., Emmanouilidis, C., Harris, J., Leinster, P., Mutnuri, S., Tran, T.H., Williams, L. (2022), Generalised Network Architectures for Environmental Sensing: Case Studies for a Digitally Enabled Environment, Array, 14 (July).

[16] Jiang, Y., Yang, R., Zang, C., Wei, Z., Thompson, J., Tran, T.H., Encinas-Oropesa, A., Williams, L., (2022), Toward Baggage-free Airport Terminals: A Case Study of London City Airport, Sustainability, 14 (1), 212.

[17] Tran, T.H., Mao, Y. and Siebers, P. (2019), Optimising Decarbonisation Investment for Firms towards Environmental Sustainability, Sustainability, 11(20), 5718.

[18] Scaparra, M.P., Ngo, C.C., Dang, T.P., Tran, T.H., (2019), Community Perceptions of Social, Economic and Environmental Impacts of Flooding in Central Districts of Hanoi, Vietnam, Journal of the British Academy, 7(s2), 137–154.

[19] Tran, T.H., Mao, Y., Nathanail, P. and Siebers, P., Darren, R. (2019), Integrating Slacks-based Measure of Efficiency and Super-efficiency in Data Envelopment Analysis, Omega, 85, 156–165.

[20] Tran, T.H. and Nguyen, T.T.B. (2019) Alternative Fuel Station Network Design under Impact of Station Failures, Annals of Operations Research, 279(1-2), 151–186.

[21] Ng, K.M and Tran, T.H. (2019), A Parallel Water Flow Algorithm with Local Search for Solving the Quadratic Assignment Problem, Journal of Industrial and Management Optimization, 15(1), 235–259.

[22] Tran, T.H., Nagy, G., Nguyen, T.T.B. and Wassan N.A. (2018), An Efficient Heuristic Algorithm for the Alternative-fuel Station Location Problem, European Journal of Operational Research (Special Issue on OR for Sustainability), 269(1), 159–170.

[23] Tran, T.H., French, S., Rhys, A. and Kent, E. (2018), Linepack Planning Models for Gas Transmission Network under Uncertainty, European Journal of Operational Research, 268(2), 688–702.

[24] Tran, T.H., French, S., Rhys, A. and Kent, E. (2018), Impact of Compressor Failures on Gas Transmission Network Capability, Applied Mathematical Modelling, 55, 741–757.

[25] Tran, T.H., Scaparra, M.P. and O'Hanley, J.R. (2017), A Hypergraph Multi-Exchange Heuristic for the Single-Source Capacitated Facility Location Problem, European Journal of Operational Research, 263(1), 173–187.

[26] Tran, T.H., O'Hanley, J.R. and Scaparra, M.P. (2017), Reliable Hub Network Design: Formulation and Solution Techniques, Transportation Science, 51(1), 358–375.

[27] Tran, T.H. and Ng, K.M. (2012), A Hybrid Water Flow Algorithm for Multi-objective Flexible Flow Shop Scheduling Problem, Engineering Optimization, 45(4), 483–502.

[28] Tran, T.H. and Ng, K.M. (2011), A Water Flow Algorithm for Flexible Flow Shop Scheduling with Intermediate Buffers, Journal of Scheduling, 14(5), 483–500.