CREATE Director Randolph Hall, along with Viterbi professor Bhaskar Krishnamachari and Price professor Genevieve Giuliano, have received a $352,809 grant from USC’s Research and Innovation Office. The grant will be used for research toward creating an interdisciplinary center for integrated, resilient and trusted supply chains. The center will draw from industrial and systems engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, public policy, economics and business. It will also seek additional funds from the federal government and private sources. “Supply chains are the backbone of the global economy,” stated Dr. Hall. “Our aim is to create systems under which global supply chains can thrive, for prosperity, security, sustainability, equity and trust.” The grant will support five PhD students for one year as well as several undergraduates. They will focus on sustainability issues in supply chains, including waste disposal and recycling, policies that incorporate environmental costs in supply chain decisions, and responses to extreme weather precipitated by climate change.
The work will emphasize applications in two supply chains: electric vehicle batteries and food. Food and batteries exemplify the need to respond to disasters and the need for sustainability in farming, mining and processing. They also exemplify the importance of trusted supply chains, as both foreign and domestic processors can fail to meet environmental and worker safety standards in material sourcing and manufacturing.
The grant will extend the work of CREATE on risk and economics of disruptive and catastrophic events that affect human well-being and the environment.
“USC’s funding is a catalyst,” said Dr. Hall. “We have the opportunity to be a leader in meeting the global need for resilient and sustainable supply chains.”
Randolph Hall is Dean’s Professor in the Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, as well as CREATE Director. He will be principal investigator on the new grant.
Posted May 25, 2023