Improving the Human Condition by Solving the Challenges Associated with Humanitarian Aid Supply Chains

The War in Ukraine, the global COVID-19 pandemic, an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, drought conditions in Sudan and Somalia, and civil unrest in Myanmar. These are just a few of the recent global crises where humanitarian aid is needed. When crises like these and others occur, the people in the areas affected require humanitarian aid. While physical donations are often in great supply, the ability to get those critical goods and services to the people who need them is a significant challenge. This interactive panel will focus on a variety of disruptive innovations in humanitarian supply chains that aim to overcome these challenges. Experts will discuss the complexity of stakeholders, partners, and communities to support and manage the supply chain for humanitarian missions. During the panel discussion, we will discuss  the current state of such operations and their challenges, the areas we need more evidence-based research to support best practices and program design, and will hear the viewpoints from the donor (World Food Program), the implementer (Catholic Relief Services), and the private sector (NTELX, Premise).  Through this webinar, new collaborations in problem-solving, between donors, practitioners, the private sector, and academia, are likely to emerge as challenges facing humanitarian supply chains are discussed.

This session is interactive and you may submit your questions for the panel here before the session.

What is LASER PULSE?

What is the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)?

What is Industrial Engineering?

Host: Yuehwern Yih, Ph.D. IISE Fellow

 Academic Director, LASER PULSE

Professor, Industrial Engineering, Purdue University. 

Co-Host: Michael Sherwin, Ph.D. 

President-Elect, IISE Logistics and Supply Chain Division

Assistant Professor, Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh

Expert Panel: 

• Rainatou Baillet, Chief R&D Supply Chain, World Food Program. 
• Rob Rosenberg, President and CEO, NTELX.
• John Service, Senior Technical Advisor for Humanitarian Operations, Catholic Relief Services.
• Chris Watson, Senior Director of International Development, Premise.