Dr Vedat Bayram

Dr Vedat Bayram is a Senior Lecturer in Business Analytics at Kent Business School, University of Kent. His research lies at the intersection of Operations Research, Artificial Intelligence, and data-driven decision analytics, with a particular focus on large-scale optimisation under uncertainty.

He develops advanced analytical models and scalable solution methodologies to support decision-making in complex systems, especially in disaster resilience, emergency evacuation planning, humanitarian logistics, transportation networks, and supply chain operations. His recent work integrates machine learning with mathematical optimisation to enable near-real-time decision support for dynamic and high-stakes environments.

Dr Bayram has published in leading international journals including Transportation Science, European Journal of Operational Research, Transportation Research Part B, INFORMS Journal on Optimization, and IISE Transactions. He has led and contributed to multiple externally funded research projects involving universities, government institutions, industry partners, municipalities, and public-sector organisations in the UK and internationally.

Before joining Kent in 2023, he held academic appointments at TED University and the University of Waterloo, and previously served in senior analytical roles within the Turkish General Staff Headquarters. He holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Bilkent University, an MSc in Operations Research from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and a BSc in Systems Engineering from Turkish Army Academy.

He is an active member of leading international professional societies in Operations Research and analytics, including INFORMS and EURO networks, and serves on the Editorial Board of the Sustainability Analytics and Modelling Journal (Elsevier/IFORS).

Dr Bayram’s research addresses high-impact complex decision problems where scale, uncertainty, and time pressure require advanced analytical methods. His work combines optimisation, machine learning, and simulation to design efficient, adaptive, and data-informed solutions for large-scale systems.

A major strand of his research focuses on disaster resilience and emergency management, particularly evacuation planning and real-time evacuation operations for natural hazards and other large-scale disruptions. His work in this area examines multi-modal evacuation systems, vulnerable populations, behavioural response, network design, and dynamic resource allocation under rapidly changing conditions. Recent projects include tsunami evacuation planning for Istanbul in collaboration with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, as well as AI-enabled adaptive and risk-aware solutions for large-scale evacuation management.

He also works on transportation systems, sustainable mobility, humanitarian logistics, supply chain optimisation, and public-sector analytics. His recent projects include the optimisation of electrified ferry operations, system performance, and business cases for short strait crossings in collaboration with industry partners including DFDS and AVL, as well as equitable social aid distribution networks developed with Ankara Metropolitan Municipality.

Methodologically, his interests include large-scale optimisation, stochastic and robust optimisation, learning-based and AI-driven optimisation, and sequential decision making. He is particularly interested in integrating artificial intelligence with mathematical optimisation to improve real-time operational decision-making in high-impact environments.

Past Projects:

• Electrified International Ferries (EIF): optimal operational and business case for short straits e-ferries, Co-Lead, 2025 – 2026, UKRI, Innovate UK, Innovation Funding Service: Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition 6: Smart Shipping, Co-Lead, Total funding £313k.
• Evacuation Planning and Management for Istanbul City Marmara Sea Shores Against Tsunami Threat, Lead, 2021–2024, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), 1001 – The Support Programme for Scientific and Technological Research Projects Grant, Total funding: 1.590,000 TL. Related news in national newspaper: https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/beklenen-istanbul-depremi-tsunami-riskine-karsi-onlemler-artiyor-1875915
• Network Design and Management Problems for Social Aid Distribution Operations, Researcher, 2022–2025. The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), 1001 – The Support Programme for Scientific and Technological Research Projects Grant, Total funding: 388,289 TL.
• Hub Location under Congestion and Capacity Considerations, Lead, 2019–2021. The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), 3501 – Career Development Program (CAREER), Total funding: 231,106 TL.
• Nonlinear Mixed Integer Programming Models for Evacuation Planning, Researcher, 2014–2016. The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), 1001 – The Support Programme for Scientific and Technological Research Projects Grant. Total funding: 87,500 TL.

Dr Bayram’s dedication to research and innovation is further evidenced by two Seal of Excellence Awards from the European Commission, recognizing his project applications focused on real-time evacuation management.

Vedat has teaching experience in Operations Management/Operations Research related courses both at undergraduate and graduate levels such as Mathematical Modelling and Optimisation, Discrete Optimisation, and Humanitarian Logistics. He has coordinated and advised Senior Design (Capstone) projects.   

Dr Bayram welcomes applications from prospective PhD candidates. He is particularly interested in supervising projects related to disaster management, humanitarian logistics, evacuation planning, transportation systems, maritime decarbonisation, transportation network design and management, intelligent transportation systems, behavioural modelling, autonomous vehicles, warehouse management, and the application of optimisation, simulation, and machine learning to complex real-world decision problems with societal impact.

Prospective candidates are encouraged to contact him with a CV and a well-developed research proposal. Applicants with experience in programming, GIS, traffic simulation, behavioural modelling, or data-driven decision-making are particularly encouraged to apply.

Supervision Topics:

Disaster management and evacuation planning; humanitarian logistics; transportation analytics; transportation network design; sustainable mobility; maritime logistics and decarbonisation; intelligent transportation systems; public-sector Operations Research; logistics and supply chain management; warehouse management; large-scale optimisation; robust and stochastic optimisation; learning-based / AI-driven optimisation; machine learning for decision-making; simulation-optimisation; agent-based simulation; digital twins.

Current Supervisees:

• Susan Kouroshniya (PhD, University of Kent): Assessing and Optimising Multi-Modal Transport Resilience to Flood Disruptions in Southeast England.
• Kasra Mousighichi (PhD, University of Kent): Hub Location and Fleet Deployment in Liner Shipping Networks during Transition to Carbon-Neutral Fuels.
• Shiva Moslemi (PhD, Koç University): Large-Scale Urban Evacuation Planning and Management under Evacuee Behaviour Considerations.
• Damla Benli (PhD, Koç University): Social Aid Network Design and Management Optimisation.
• Ada Arıkanoğlu (MSc): Learning-based Simulation-Optimisation Methodologies for Effective Evacuation Management.

Past Supervisees:

• Truong Xuan Dinh (Research Fellow): Sustainable transport infrastructure investment using data-driven analytics for mobility, logistics, and climate resilience in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
• Onkar Kulkarni (PhD, Georgia Institute of Technology): Network Design Optimisation for Mixed Pedestrian and Vehicle-Based Evacuation.
• Ming Luo (MSc, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology): Evacuation Zoning and Evacuation Management under Evacuee Behaviour Considerations.
• M. Saleh Farham (PhD, Middle East Technical University): Path-based hub location models under congestion, capacity, and demand uncertainty.
• Ciya Aydoğan (MSc, Middle East Technical University): Multi-period hub location under congestion, capacity, and uncertain demand.

Dr Bayram has extensive engagement with government, industry, and international academic partners through research, innovation, and knowledge-exchange activities. His work focuses on translating advanced analytics, optimisation, and artificial intelligence into practical solutions for complex public- and private-sector challenges.

He has led and contributed to externally funded projects in collaboration with organisations in the UK and internationally. Recent partnerships include Innovate UK-supported work on clean maritime transport and ferry electrification with DFDS and AVL, as well as collaborations with municipalities and emergency management bodies on disaster resilience, evacuation planning, and public-sector decision support.

His wider professional engagement includes links with organisations such as the Department for Transport, Transport for London, London Resilience Unit, Kent and Medway Resilience Forum, Transport for the South East, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Disaster Affairs Department Disaster Coordination Center (AKOM), Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Directorate of Earthquake and Ground Investigation (DEZIM), Istanbul Buyukcekmece Municipality, ESRI UK, the EU Copernicus Emergency Management Service, UK Earth Observation Network for Sustainability, Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA), Basarsoft Turkiye, and leading universities and research centres in the UK, Europe, and North America such as University College London (UCL) Department of Risk & Disaster Reduction, University of Leeds Institute for Transport Studies & School of Civil Engineering, King’s College London UKRI CDT Safe and Trusted AI, University of Southampton UKRI CDT AI for Sustainability, Georgia Institute of Technology AI4OPT, Georgia Institute of Technology Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems, Louisiana State University Gulf Coast Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency, Cornell University, Clemson University South Carolina Institute for Sustainability and Resilience.

Before entering academia, Dr Bayram held senior analytical and planning roles within the Turkish General Staff Headquarters, where he worked on strategic decision support, large-scale modelling, and operational analysis. He has also contributed to international defence and resilience-related analytical activities through NATO working groups.

Through these engagements, Dr Bayram brings practical insight, policy awareness, and real-world relevance into both his research and teaching.