ABSTRACT

Amazon's middle mile ground and air transportation network represents one of the fastest growing logistics areas within Amazon. The unprecedented scale of the delivery operation challenges Amazon to design, build and operate a robust transportation network that minimizes the overall operational cost while meeting customer promises and providing a good experience for Amazon employees. This talk will describe some of the innovative algorithms and analytics that enable and optimize the design of the transportation network and the flow of packages within the network to efficiently align network capacity and shipment demand. 

BIOGRAPHY

Tim Jacobs is the Director of Research Science and Middle Mile Planning Research and Optimization Science for Amazon. At Amazon, Tim's teams oversee the research and development of mathematical optimization and machine learning applications and strategic initiatives for middle mile air and ground planning and logistics worldwide. Tim leads strategic development efforts including the modeling and analysis supporting the design and operation of Amazon's air network and innovative initiatives to manage the integrated air, trucking, rail, and maritime transport business. In 2021, Amazon received the INFORMS Prize for longstanding contributions to operations research and analytics based on the innovative work of Tim's middle mile research and tech teams. Previously, Tim held several executive positions at American Airlines, US Airways and Sabre. Tim received his doctorate in Operations Research and Engineering Systems from Purdue University. He continues to pursue new research initiatives, has authored more than 35 refereed publications, holds several U.S. patents within the airline industry and is a licensed Professional Engineer.