Academic Staff

Biography

Dr. Yong-Hong Kuo is Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering, the University of Hong Kong. He earned his B.Sc. in Mathematics, with a minor in Risk Management Science, and M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. During the period, he also worked at the University of California at Berkeley as Visiting Researcher and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as Visiting Student. Prior to joining HKU, he was Research Assistant Professor at Stanley Ho Big Data Decision Analytics Research Centre, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Kuo's current research focus is on the integration of systems modelling, discrete optimization, and data analytics for solving decision-making problems in service systems, where most of his applications are in the domains of logistics and transportation services and healthcare service delivery. He is interested in modelling problems, devising solution procedures, and using these tools to improve operations, help system design, and derive managerial insights. His research, with 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 Funding, Microsoft Research Asia, and Macao Science and Technology Development Fund, with a total amount of funding over HKD 20 million. His solution methodologies and applications have been published in top journals in various fields, including industrial engineering, operations management, transportation, and healthcare informatics. He has served the Operational Research Society of Hong Kong as President, on the Editorial Advisory/Review Boards of Decision Sciences Journal and Transportation Research Part E, and as Managing Guest Editor for several academic journals.

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

Courses

• IMSE3136 Operations Planning and Control
• IMSE4136 Transportation and Distribution Planning

Selected Publications

* indicates the corresponding author

• 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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.*, 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. 

• 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.

• 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)

• 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)

• 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. (Computational instances)

• 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.*, 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.

• 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.

• 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.