Staff

Meet the current members of our OR&S Research Group.

NEW: Download the vacancy to become member of our research group.

Mario Vanhoucke

Mario Vanhoucke is a Professor of Business Management and Operations Research at Ghent University (Belgium), Vlerick Business School (Belgium, Russia, China) and UCL School of Management at University College London (UK). He has a PhD in Operations Management from the University of Leuven (Belgium) and a Master's degree in Business Engineering from the University of Leuven (Belgium). He teaches Project Management, Business Statistics, Decision Sciences for Business and Applied Operations Research.

His main research interest lies in the integration of project scheduling, risk management and project control using algorithmic modelling and optimization. He is an advisor for several PhD projects, has published +60 papers in various international publications and is the author of 4 project management books published by Springer, 1 business novel and 4 online books.

Mario Vanhoucke has been the founding member and Director of the EVM Europe Association (2009 - 2017). He also has - in collaboration with the company OR-AS - released a commercial project management software tool ProTrack 3.0 as well as a research PM software engine P2 Engine. One of his online learning tools is available at PM Knowledge Center. 

Short bio: Full Professor, OR&S member since 2001, PhD at KULeuven (2001, advisor: Erik Demeulemeester)

Broos Maenhout

Broos Maenhout is a Professor of Business Management and Operations Research at Ghent University (Belgium). He has a PhD in Operations Management, a Master's degree in Commercial Engineering and a Master's degree in Operations and Technology Management from Ghent University (Belgium). He teaches Operations Research and gives guest lectures in the course Applied Operations Research.

His main research interest lies in workforce staffing and planning and in the integration of personnel rostering and project scheduling using combinatorial optimization models. He has published several papers on the well-known nurse scheduling problem in international journals and is an active speaker at conferences. He is currently working on a research project focusing on the integration of ward budgeting, shift scheduling, patient scheduling and personnel rostering in the health care sector.

Short bio: Assistant Professor, OR&S member since 2003, PhD at UGent (2007, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

José Coelho

José Coelho is a Professor of Operations Research and Management Science at Universidade Aberta (Lisbon, Portugal) and INESC Technology and Science (INESC TEC, Porto, Portugal) and has collaborations with Mario Vanhoucke that date back to 2001. They have created a network generator RanGen 2 and have solved various resource-constrained project scheduling problems using the integration of a metaheuritic search and a Boolean satisfiability problem solver.

Short bio: Professor, OR&S member since 2001, PhD at University of Lisbon (advisor: Luis Valadares Tavares)

Tom Servranckx

Tom Servranckx is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). He obtained a Master's degree in Business Engineering at UGent and has joined the OR&S group in 2015. He has obtained his PhD in 2020 and now works as a postdoctoral researcher in our team.

His research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules, and more precisely, the incorporation of alternative technologies, which has led to an extended scheduling problem known as the resource-constrained project scheduling problem with alternative subgraphs.

Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2015, Obtained his PhD at UGent in 2020 (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke), currently thinking about next steps.

Louis-Philippe Kerkhove

Louis-Philippe Kerkhove has obtained his PhD at the OR&S group in 2016 with the title “Improving decision making for incentivised and weather-sensitive projects” and then left us to found his company “Crunch Analytics”. In 2023, he came back as a guest professor working together with Mario Vanhoucke and Tom Servranckx on our joined “Data-Driven Retailing” workshop. 

Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2012, Obtained his PhD at UGent in 2016 (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke). Guest professor at OR&S on data-driven retailing and supply chain management.

Weikang Guo

Weikang GUO is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Software Engineering at Chongqing University (China) and has joined the OR&S group in 2017. Her research interest lies in the use of machine learning methodologies for project scheduling using priority rules and branch-and-bound procedures. 
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2017, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)
 

Izel Unsal

İzel Ünsal is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Building Science/Construction Management in METU (Turkey) and has joined the OR&S group in 2017. Her research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules, schedule simulations and project control in construction projects.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2017, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)
 

Jingyu Luo

Jingyu Luo is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). He obtained a Master's degree in Systems Engineering at Shenyang Jianzhu University (China) and has joined the OR&S group in 2017. His research interest lies in the optimization of the project schedule with priority rules.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2017, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)
 

Jie Song

Jie Song is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Western Economics at Northwestern Polytechnical University (China) and has joined the OR&S group in 2017.
 
Her research interest lies in the development of analytical project control methods within the presence of limited budget constraints.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2017, Obtained her PhD at UGent in 2021 (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke), currently in China as OR&S member
 

Xin Guan

Xin Guan is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Management Science and Engineering at Northeastern University (China) in 2014 and has joined the OR&S group in 2018. Her research interest lies in decision models on project risk response.

Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2018, Obtained her PhD at UGent in 2021 (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke), currently in China as OR&S member

Dries Bredael

Dries Bredael is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). He obtained a Master's degree in Business Engineering at UGent and has joined the OR&S group in 2019. 
 
His research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules for multiple project settings.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2019, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Rojin Nekoueian

Rojin Nekoueian is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology (Iran) and has joined the OR&S group in 2020. 
 
Her research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules for the well-known resource-constrained project scheduling problem with alternative subgraphs.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2020, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Forough Vaseghi

Forough Vaseghi is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Reservoir Engineering at Amirkabir University of Technology (Iran) and has joined the OR&S group in 2020. 
 
Her research interest lies in the analysis of project risk and corrective actions in project control using statistical methodologies. 
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2020, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Wanjun Liu

Wanjun Liu is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Management Science and Engineering at the Northwestern Polytechnical University (Xi'an, China) and has joined the OR&S group in 2021. 
 
Her research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules, and the integration with risk analysis and project control.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2021, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Fangfang Cao

Fangfang Cao is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Management Science and Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University (Xi'an, China) and has joined the OR&S group in 2021. 
 
Her research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules, and the integration with risk analysis and project control.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2021, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Nathan Steyaert

Nathan Steyaert is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). He obtained a Master's degree in Mathematics at Ghent University (Belgium) and has joined the OR&S group in 2022. 
 
His research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules with secrecy options.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2022, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Yuxuan Song

Yuxuan Song is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a Master's degree in Management Science and Engineering at Shandong University (Jinan, China) and has joined the OR&S group in 2022.
 
Her research interest lies in the integration of project risk analysis with risk interaction networks.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2022, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Ziyang Tang

Ziyang Tang is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). He obtained a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, and enrolled in successive master-doctor programme in Management Science and Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University (Xi'an, China) and has joined the OR&S group in 2022. 
 
His research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules, project risk control and the integration of reactive scheduling policies and learning techniques.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2021, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Guillaume Vermeire

Guillaume Vermeire is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). He obtained two Master's degrees. One in Biochemical Engineering Technology and one in Business Economics, both obtained at Ghent University (Belgium). Guillaume joined the OR&S group in 2022. 
 
His research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules with incorporation of skills of resources.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2022, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Yaodong Wang

Yaodong Wang is a research assistant at the Operations Management group of the faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Ghent University (Belgium). She obtained a master's degree in the field of Global Management (China-Europe) in Antwerp (Belgium) and has 2 years of working experience in data operations. Yaodong joined the OR&S group in 2023. 

Her research interest lies in the optimization of project baseline schedules, and the integration with risk analysis and project control.
 
Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2023, Working on a PhD at UGent (advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

PhD graduations:

Weikang Guo

  • PhD title: Automatic detection of appropriate solution methods for the resource-constrained project scheduling problem via
    machine learning
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2017, PhD at UGent (2023, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Jakob Snauwaert

  • PhD title: Data and solutions for project scheduling with multi-skilled resources
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2017 and 2022, PhD at UGent (2022, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Rob Van Eynde

  • PhD title: Algorithms and datasets for project scheduling problems
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2017 and 2022, PhD at UGent (2022, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Xin Guan

  • PhD title: Budget allocation models for project risk response
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2018 (now member in China), PhD at UGent (2021, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Jie Song

  • PhD title: Project control with resource and budget constraints
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2017 (now member in China), PhD at UGent (2021, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Jeroen Burgelman 

  • PhD title: Scheduling and evaluating multiple execution alternatives in project planning
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2014 and 2020, PhD at UGent (2020, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Tom Servranckx

  • PhD title: Flexible network structures for resource-constrained project scheduling
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member since 2015, PhD at UGent (2020, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke), now postdoctoral researcher

Mick Van den Eeckhout

  • PhD title: The impact of project and personnel scheduling flexibility on the staffing budget
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2015 and 2019, PhD at UGent (2019, advisor: Broos Maenhout. Co-advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Annelies Martens

  • PhD title: Buffer management methods for project control
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2014 and 2023 (from 2018 as PostDoc), PhD at UGent (2018, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Pieter Leyman

  • PhD title: Heuristic algorithms for payment models in project scheduling
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2012 and 2016, PhD at UGent (2016, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Louis-Philippe Kerkhove

  • PhD title: Improving decision making for incentivised and weather-sensitive projects
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2012 and 2016, PhD at UGent (2016, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)
Jordy Batselier
  • PhD title: Empirical evaluation of existing and novel approaches for project forecasting and control
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2012 and 2018, PhD at UGent (2016, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Mathieu Wauters

  • PhD title: Time/cost optimization and forecasting in project scheduling and control
  • Short bio: Researcher, OR&S member between 2010 and 2015, PhD at UGent (2015, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)

Jeroen Colin

  • PhD title: Single and multi-variate methods for statistical project control using earned value management.
  • Short bio: OR&S member between 2009 and 2015, PhD at UGent (2015, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)
Veronique Sels
  • PhD title: Hybrid (meta-)heuristic optimization for single machine, parallel machine and job shop scheduling problems.
  • Short bio: OR&S member between 2007 and 2011, PhD at UGent (2011, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)
Vincent Van Peteghem
  • PhD title: Meta-heuristic procedures for the multi-mode project scheduling problem.
  • Short bio: OR&S member between 2005 and 2011, PhD at UGent (2010, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)
Broos Maenhout
  • PhD title: Exact and meta-heuristic algorithms for nurse shift scheduling problems
  • Short bio: OR&S member from 2003, PhD at UGent (2007, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)
Dieter Debels
  • PhD title: Exact and heuristic optimisation for various resource-constrained project scheduling problems.
  • Short bio: OR&S member between 2002 and 2006, PhD at UGent (2006, advisor: Mario Vanhoucke)