1. The Health & Humanitarian Logistics Center changes its name to reflect "Systems" focus.
2. Experts discuss Vaccination Supply Chains and Market Mechanisms for Global Food Security at 2014 Health & Humanitarian Logistics Conference. Materials available online.
3. Registration Now Open: May 2015 Professional Certificate Program in Health & Humanitarian Supply Chain Management.
4. ISyE Undergraduate Senior Design team "WFP Global Supply Chain Optimization" study nominated as finalist for INFORMS "Doing Good with Good OR" paper competition.
5. Mark Your Calendar - October 21, 3PM: FRANCE-ATLANTA and Georgia Tech co-host roundtable on "Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Public Health."
6. HHS Center launches Debris Management website to make operations tools accessible online.
7. Congratulations to the UPS Humanitarian Relief team, winners of 2014 Business in the Community (BITC) International Disaster Relief Award.

The Health & Humanitarian Logistics Center (HHL) has recently changed its name to the Center for Health & Humanitarian Systems (HHS) to better reflect the Center’s focus on systems. Humanitarian logistics is traditionally associated with procurement, transportation and distribution operations for disaster relief or longer-term development activities. The HHS Center incorporates systems transformations for complex, long-term challenges such as food security, poverty reduction, access to education and healthcare, and disease prevention. Current and upcoming projects exemplifying this systems focus include supply chain strategy from program design to distribution and a systems approach to improving healthcare delivery, from prevention of disease to treatment and outcomes. Learn more about HHS Center current projects and research by visiting the HHS website, joining the HHS LinkedIn group, or following us on Facebook or Twitter.

The Health & Humanitarian Logistics Conference was hosted for the first time in Latin America June 4-5, 2014. Highlights included a panel on Vaccination Supply Chains in Global Public Health, with presentations on strategies of GAVI Alliance, the Mexican Ministry of Health, and the Pan American Health Organization. The panel discussion focused on vaccination campaigns in developing countries and challenges related to supply chain management such as forecasting for a limited supply, delivery to populations in remote locations, and education and awareness of disease prevention. To access conference materials (presentations, photos/video, posters, etc.) click here.

Other panels focused on topics such as Market Mechanisms for Food Security (with presentations by OXFAM and UN WFP among others) as well as End-to-End Supply Chain Strategy and Infrastructure Needs for Organizational Coordination and Collaboration, including leaders from organizations such as Aidmatrix, JSI, Red Cross Mexico, and UNICEF, among many others. To read a summary of the conference, click here.

The conference was co-organized by the Georgia Tech Center for Health & Humanitarian Systems (formely Health & Humanitarian Logistics), the MIT Humanitarian Response Lab, and the INSEAD Humanitarian Research Group, and it was hosted by Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico City. Generous support for the conference was provided by Georgia Tech, Ryder Mexico, the UPS Foundation, and Walmart.

Next May 11-16, 2015, the HHS Center will again host the 3-course professional training certificate series in supply chain management for health and humanitarian operations. The program is designed for practitioners working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government, industry, and military, who are active or interested in public health and humanitarian operations (including disaster relief, long term development). Click here to learn more about the courses or to sponsor a scholarship for a practitioner from a developing country or NGO to attend the program, contact us at humlog@isye.gatech.edu.

The 3 courses focus on the following: Pre-Planning Strategy (May 11-12), Tactical Decision Making (May 13-14), and Systems Operations (May 15-16). Participants who complete all three courses receive an official certificate from Georgia Tech in Health & Humanitarian Supply Chain Management. 

The May 2014 class of graduates included participants from the American Red Cross, Partners in Health, Task Force for Global Health and USAID/PEPFAR among other organizations from the private and public sectors around the world. Programs to date have included participants from 11 different countries, who have lived and worked in over 57 different countries. Click here for a summary of the May 2014 certificate course with reviews from past graduates. REGISTER ONLINE NOW BY CLICKING HERE.

A team of undergraduate seniors in the Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering working on a senior design project for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) was awarded first place among 24 teams in the School for the Spring 2014 semester. The group is also nominated for first prize for the INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and Management Science) student paper competition, “Doing Good with Good OR," which will be announced in November. To read more about the winning supply chain optimization study or to propose a project or study to Georgia Tech seniors for your company, please click here or see below.

Students were guided by faculty advisor and HHS Center co-director Dr. Özlem Ergun to carry out the Global Supply Chain Optimization study for WFP, the largest humanitarian organization fighting world hunger.  In order to centralize food basket choice, sourcing, and routing decisions, the team created a customizable optimization tool, based on a multi-period multi-commodity minimum cost network flow model. 

All senior students in ISyE culminate their undergraduate educational experience with the Senior Design course in order to provide firsthand experience at solving real world problems in a team environment. Each group is advised by an ISyE faculty member who manages the overall course. Companies interested in submitting a project for consideration can post a project through the ISyE webpage or email us at humlog@isye.gatech.edu. Senior design teams look for projects before the start of the fall and spring semesters.

On October 21st, the HHS Center will collaborate with the French Consulate in Atlanta for the fourth consecutive year on the month-long campaign for humanitarian awareness. HHS Co-Director and ISyE William W. George Chair and Professor, Dr. Pinar Keskinocak, will moderate the roundtable discussion on “Mobility in healthcare and civic engagement—ICTs and the future of development.” Click here to read more about the event and research on mobile Information and Communication Technologies in effective healthcare and humanitarian work.

This event will take place at the Technology Square Research Building (85 Fifth Street NW) at Georgia Tech from 3:00-4:30PM on Tuesday, October 21st. It is free and open to the public. To learn more about the event and the 2014 FRANCE-ATLANTA humanitarian awareness month, visit the website: http://www.france-atlanta.org/.

The HHS Center recently launched a website that provides an Excel based, user-friendly decision support tool to assist disaster and waste management officials in assessing debris management decisions such as determining processing location sites and capacities and decisions related to debris flow such as collection, transportation, reduction, recycling, and disposal of debris. The tool's objectives are primarily to project financial costs and duration of debris removal operations. The tool supports pre-disaster strategic decisions as well as operational decisions following a disaster.

The HHS Center would like to congratulate UPS on its recognition as the recipient of the 2014 Business in the Community (BITC) International Disaster Relief Award. This award is one of United Kingdom's longest-running and most respected awards championing responsible business, designed for business, by business and rigorously assessed by business peers from all sectors, demonstrating the value of public-private partnerships.

The UPS Foundation has been a long-standing supporter of both of the HHS Center's activities, including the Health & Humanitarian Logistics Conference (each of the 6 years) and the professional certificate program.