Relief distribution in humanitarian chains with socioeconomic priority: models and solution methods

• Grant number: 16/19987-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: April 20, 2017
• End date: November 01, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Production Engineering - Operational Research
• Principal Investigator: Douglas José Alem Junior
• Grantee: Douglas José Alem Junior
• Host Investigator: Tolga Bektas
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências em Gestão e Tecnologia (CCGT). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Campus de Sorocaba. Sorocaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Southampton, England

Abstract

This Research Project is devoted to study a relief distribution problem in disaster situations under uncertainty. The novelty of this proposal rely on the development of a new optimization model to prioritize the relief assistance of the affected areas according to socioeconomic criteria, such as human development indexes, housing conditions, and so forth. In addition, as unsolicited donations may disrupt the post-disaster relief operations, we will include in the model the so-called material convergence constraints, so as to consider only the flow and distribution of solicited donations. The uncertainties will be represented by random variables within symmetric intervals and optimized from a worst-case robust optimization perspective. To solve practical instances of the proposed model, we will devise solution methods based on decomposition and heuristics. Both model and solution methods will be analyzed based on real instances from recent Brazilian disasters.