Biography

Professor Yong-Hong Kuo is Associate Professor in the Department of Data and Systems Engineering at the University of Hong Kong. He earned his B.Sc. in Mathematics and M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Systems Engineering and Engineering Management from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining HKU, he was Research Assistant Professor at the Stanley Ho Big Data Decision Analytics Research Centre at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has also held visiting positions at institutes, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, and University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

Professor Kuo's current research focus is on the integration of systems modeling, discrete optimization, and data engineering for solving decision-making problems in service systems, particularly in logistics, transportation, and healthcare services. He is interested in modeling problems, devising solution procedures, and using these tools to improve operations, help system design, and derive managerial insights. His research, in his role as Principal Investigator, has been supported by a number of funding agencies, including Hong Kong Research Grants Council, Health and Medical Research Fund, Smart Traffic Fund, Innovation and Technology Fund, MTR Research Fund, Microsoft Research Asia, and Macao Science and Technology Development Fund, with a total amount of funding over HKD 30 million, for theoretical investigation, actual implementation, and policy implications. He has served the Operational Research Society of Hong Kong as President, on the Editorial Boards of Decision Sciences and Transportation Research Part E, and as Managing Guest Editor for several academic journals.

Professor Kuo has actively promoted mathematical modeling and other related STEM subjects through the delivery of lectures and workshops to schools, organizations, and companies in the region. Recently, he has investigated the use of data science tools in virtual environments (such as extended reality and simulation) for educational and occupational training purposes in the industry.

Personal website: https://sites.google.com/site/yonghongkuo/

​Research Interests

• Discrete optimization
• Data-intensive modeling and optimization techniques
• Systems simulation
• Logistics and transportation planning
• Healthcare service delivery
• Data analytics in virtual environments (e.g., XR)

Courses

• IMSE3136 Operations Planning and Control
• IMSE4136 Transportation and Distribution Planning
• CCHU9056 Virtual Worlds, Real Bodies
• ENGG1320 Engineers in the Modern World

Selected Publications

* indicates the corresponding author

Operations Research / Management

• Lin, J., Choi, T.M.*, Kuo, Y.H. “Online Retailing Operations: Is It Wise to Offer Free Sample Trial and Money-Back-Guarantee Together?"  Production and Operations Management, Forthcoming.

• Wang, J., Ma, L., Xue, W.*, and Kuo, Y. H. “Impact of self‐service technology in designing a service delivery system.” Production and Operations Management. Forthcoming.

• Petropoulos, F.*, Laporte, G., Aktas, E., and Alumur, S.A., Archetti, C., Ayhan, H. Battarra, M., Bennell, J.A., Bourjolly, J.-H., Boylan, J.E., Breton, M., Canca, D., Charlin, L., Chen, B., Cicek, C.T., Cox, Jr, L.A. and Currie, C.S.M., Demeulemeester, E., Ding, L., Disney, S.M., Ehrgott, Matthias., Eppler, M.J., Erdoğan G. Fortz, B., Alberto, F.L., Frische, J., Greco, S., Gregory, A.J., Hämäläinen, R.P., Herroelen, W., Hewitt, M., Holmström, J., Hooker, J.N., Işık, T., Johnes, J., Kara, B.Y., Karsu, Ö., Kent, K., Köhler, C., Kunc, M., Kuo, Y.H., Letchford, A.N., Leung, J., Li, D., Li, H., Lienert, J., Ljubić, I., Lodi, A., Lozano, S. Lurkin, V., Martello, S., McHale, I.G., Midgley, G., Morecroft, J.D.W., Mutha, A., Oğuz, C., Petrovic, S., Pferschy, U., Psaraftis, H.N., Rose, S., Saarinen, L., Salhi, S., Song, J-.S., Sotiros, D., Stecke, K.E., Strauss, A.K., Tarhan, I., Thielen, C., Toth, P., Vanden Berghe, G., Vasilakis, C., Vaze, V., Vigo, D., Virtanen, K., Wang, X., Weron, R., White, L., Van Woensel, T., Yearworth, M. Alper Yıldırı, E., Zaccour, G., Zhao, X. “Operational research: Methods and applications.”  Journal of the Operational Research Society (the 75th Anniversary Volume of JORS), 75(3): 423–617, 2024.

• Ma, J., Jiang, Y., Kuo, Y.H., Huang, G.* “RubikCell: Towards Robotic Cellular Warehousing Systems for E-commerce Logistics.” IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 71: 9270 – 9285, 2023.

• Lin, J., Choi, T. M.*, and Kuo, Y. H. "Will Providing Return-Freight-Insurances Do More Good than Harm to Dual-Channel E-Commerce Retailers?" European Journal of Operational Research, 307(3), 1225–1239, 2023.

• Nasir J.A. and Kuo Y.H.* “A Decision Support Framework for Home Health Care Transportation with Simultaneous Multi-Vehicle Routing and Staff Scheduling Synchronization." Decision Support Systems, 138: 113361, 2020. 

• Kuo Y.H. and Kusiak A.*, “From Data to Big Data in Production Research: The Past and Future Trends.", International Journal of Production Research, 57(15-16): 4828–4853, 2019. (Top cited paper published in 2019; Selected Surveys on Cutting-edge Problems in Production Research)

• Cheng C.H. and Kuo Y.H.*, “A Dissimilarities Balance Model for a Multi-skilled Multi-location Food Safety Inspector Scheduling Problem."  IIE Transactions, 48(3): 235–251, 2016. 

• Kuo Y.H.* and Leung J.M.Y., “On the Mixed Set Covering, Packing and Partitioning Polytope." Discrete Optimization, 22(A): 162–182, 2016.

• Kuo Y.H., Leung J.M.Y.* and Yano C.A., “Scheduling of Multi-Skilled Staff Across Multiple Locations." Production and Operations Management, 23(4): 626–644, 2014.

Transportation and Logistics

• Masmoudi, M.A., Baldacci, R., Mancini, S., Kuo, Y.H.* “Multi-Compartment Waste Collection Vehicle Routing Problem with Bin Washer."  Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 189: 103681, 2024.

• Nasir, J., Kuo, Y.H.* “Stochastic Home Care Transportation with Dynamically Prioritized Patients: An Integrated Facility Location, Fleet Sizing, and Routing Approach"  Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 184,  102949, 2024.

• Sun, X., Kuo, Y.H.*, Xue, W.*, Li Y.  “Technology-driven logistics and supply chain management for societal impacts." Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 185: 103523, 2024.

• Yan, Y., Wen, H., Deng, Y., Chow, A.H.F., Wu, Q, Kuo, Y.H.* “A mixed-integer programming-based Q-learning approach for electric bus scheduling with multiple termini and service routes." Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 162: 104570, 2024.

• Kuo, Y.H., Leung, J.M.Y.*, and Yan, Y. “Public Transport for Smart Cities: Recent Innovations and Future Challenges.” European Journal of Operational Research. 306(3): 1001–1026, 2023.

• Yan, Y., Deng, Y., Cui S., Kuo, Y.H.*, Chow, A., Ying, C.  “A Policy Gradient Approach to Solving Dynamic Assignment Problem for On-site Service Delivery.” Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review. 178, 103260, 2023.

• Li, R., Cui, Z.*, Kuo, Y.H., and Zhang, L.*, “Scenario-Based Distributionally Robust Optimization for the Stochastic Inventory Routing Problem." Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 176, 103193, 2023.

• Nasir, J. A., Kuo, Y. H.*, and Cheng, R. “Clustering-based iterative heuristic framework for a non-emergency patients transportation problem.” Journal of Transport & Health, 26, 101411. 2022.

• Masmoudi, M. A., Mancini, S., Baldacci, R., and Kuo, Y. H.*  “Vehicle routing problems with drones equipped with multi-package payload compartments.” Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 164, 102757. 2022.

• Yan, Y., Chow, A.H., Ho, C.P., Kuo, Y.H.*, Wu, Q., Ying, C. “Reinforcement Learning for Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Methodologies, State of the Art, and Future Opportunities.” Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 162: 102712, 2022.

• He, S.Y.*, Kuo, Y.H., Sun, K.K. “The Spatial Planning of Public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in a High-density City using a Contextualised Location-allocation Model.” Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 160: 21–44, 2022.

• Wang, Y., Kuo, Y.H.*, Huang, G.Q., Gu, W., Hu, Y. “Dynamic Demand-driven Bike Station Clustering.” Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Reviews, 160: 102656, 2022.

• Wang X., Kuo Y.H., Shen H., and Zhang L.* “Target-oriented robust location–transportation problem with service-level measure." Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 153: 1–20, 2021.

• Ho S.C., Szeto W.Y.*, Kuo Y.H., Leung J.M.Y., Petering M. and Tou T.W.H., “A Survey of Dial-a-ride Problems: Literature Review and Recent Developments." Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 111: 395–421, 2018. (Most cited paper published since 2018)

• He S.Y.*, Kuo Y.H. and Wu D., “Incorporating Institutional and Spatial Factors in the Selection of the Optimal Locations of Public Electric Vehicle Charging Facilities:  A Case Study of Beijing, China." Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 67: 131–148, 2016.

Healthcare Management and Informatics

• Wu, Q., Chan, S. C. L., Lee, T. T. L., So, K. W. L., Tsui, O. W. K., Kuo, Y. H., Rainer, T.H., & Wai, A. K.C.∗ “Evaluating the Patient Boarding during Omicron Surge in Hong Kong: Time Series Analysis." Journal of Medical Systems, 47(1), 1–10, 2023

• Kuo Y.H.*, Leung J.M.Y., Meng H., So A.M.C., Tsoi K.K.F. and Graham C.A., “Integrated approach of data analytics, simulation, and system optimisation to evaluate emergency department performance in Hong Kong: abridged secondary publication." Hong Kong Medical Journal, 29(1:2): 18–21, 2023.

• de Queiroz, T.A., Iori, M., Kramer, A.* & Kuo, Y.H. “Dynamic Scheduling of Patients in Emergency Departments.” European Journal of Operational Research, 310(1): 100 – 116, 2023

• Kuo Y.H.*, Chan N.B., Leung J.M.Y., Meng H., So A.M.C., Tsoi K.K.F. and Graham C.A., "An Integrated Approach of Machine Learning and Systems Thinking for Waiting Time Prediction in an Emergency Department." International Journal of Medical Informatics, 139: 104143, 2020. 

• Cheng C.H., Kuo Y.H.* and Zhou Z., “Outbreak minimization v.s. influence maximization: an optimization framework." BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. 42:226, 2020. 

• Kuo Y. H., Balasubramanian H. and Chen Y.*, “Medical Appointment Overbooking and Optimal Scheduling: Tradeoffs between Schedule Efficiency and Accessibility to Service." Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, 32(1): 72-101, 2020.

• Cheng C.H., Kuo Y.H.* and Zhou Z., “Tracking Nosocomial Diseases at Individual Level with a Real-Time Indoor Positioning System." Journal of Medical Systems. 42:222, 2018.

• Kuo Y.H.*, Rado O., Lupia B., Leung J.M.Y. and Graham C.A, “Improving the Efficiency of a Hospital Emergency Department: A Simulation Study with Indirectly Imputed Service-time Distributions." Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, 28(1): 120–147, 2016.