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Nabil Kenan

Postdoctoral Associate Affiliation: NYU Abu Dhabi
Education: BSc American University of Sharjah, MSc Masdar Institute, PhD Masdar Institute

Research Websites: Center for Interacting Urban Networks

Research Areas: Supply Chain, Logistics, Optimization

In 2009, Dr. Kenan received his Bachelor of Science (BSC) in mechanical engineering from the American University of Sharjah (AUS) with honors (Cum Laude). Dr. Kenan then went on to pursue a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from Masdar Institute (currently rebranded to Khalifa University) and successfully defended his thesis in 2011. Later, Dr. Kenan pursued his Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering (with a focus on Engineering Systems and Management) in Masdar Institute (currently renamed to Khalifa University) and successfully defended his thesis in 2017. The topic of his Ph.D. thesis was 'Optimization Modeling in the Airline Industry Under Uncertainty' which was published in three top-tier journals namely, Computers & Operations Research, Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, and Transportation Research Part B: Methodological. 

Upon graduation, Dr. Kenan worked for the technological arm of Abu Dhabi Ports, Maqta Gateway, as a researcher and statistician where he was assigned several important tasks to ensure the successful usage and expansion of their projects. Dr. Kenan then moved to New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) where he currently works as a Post-doctoral Associate and currently works on projects that are of utmost importance to the UAE. The first project deals with the supply chain of blood components and how to deal with shortages of different blood types in the light of high-impact events such as COVID-19. UAE has been very successful in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and such a project ensures that blood shortages are minimized while remaining in line with restrictions and laws imposed by the government to ensure the safety of both donors and patients. The second project deals with maritime logistics in the country where different port processes are optimized under different conditions such as regulatory policies for carbon emissions. The third project optimizes the work of shipping lines in competitive environments. Both maritime projects are essential to the economy of the UAE as maritime trade contributes to around 4% of the UAE’s non-oil GDP. These projects have culminated, thus far, with two publications in Computers & Industrial Engineering and Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review.

Current Research

  1. The supply chain of blood products includes delivering the donated products to the patients, and our work focuses on making these deliveries with minimal waste and shortages. This involves optimal delivery schedules, inventory, and transfusion decisions. By developing and solving models using mathematical programming solution algorithms, optimal performance of these supply chains is guaranteed.
  2. According to the International Maritime Organization, 90% of the world’s trade is carried by sea, and this number is expected to continue rising. This humongous traffic volume directly translates into a vast number of vessels traveling between ports and thus generating fierce competition between shipping lines. To gain a competitive edge over others, a given shipping line should optimize its operations in order to lower its costs and be able to increase its market share. The demand being offered to a shipping line at a given port does not depend only on what this particular shipping line has to offer but on what its competitors offer as well. We model this competition in a duopolistic market using mathematical programming and attempt to solve it using solution algorithms to obtain optimal routing schedules for a pair of competitors.