Industrial and Entrepreneurial Engineering and Engineering Management
Dr. Ilgin Acar with students and drone

Optimization, Data, and Decision Science Lab

The Optimization, Data, and Decision Science (ODDS) Lab, established in late 2023 under the leadership of Dr. Ilgin Acar, represents a dynamic hub for cutting-edge research at the intersection of optimization, data science and decision-making across diverse domains.

Industrial and Entrepreneurial Engineering and Engineering Management
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5336 USA
(269) 276-3554

Ongoing research 

  • Drone Routing Problem (Transportation) 
  • M-Patrolling Problem 
  • Human Resources Analytics (AI/ML in business)
  • Decision Support Systems-based Approach for Stroke Prediction (AI/ML in healthcare)
  • An AI/ML   Application in Healthcare

Research activities

  • Mila Mitovski: Optimizing Drone Routing for Surveillance and Inspection Applications Mitovski received a WMU Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Excellence Award.
  • Aylin Aytemiz: A Machine Learning-based Decision Support System for Predicting and Preventing Stroke. Aytemiz received a WMU Undergraduate Research and Creative Scholarship Excellence Award.
  • Eren Darici and Kira Hamelink: Human Resources Analytics: Determining Possible Turnovers with a Feature Engineering Accepted 9th North American Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Washington DC, organized by the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management. Both students received the Graduate College competitive research and/or travel grant for spring 2024.
  1. Toptanci, Ş., Erginel, N. & Acar, I. (2025)  A Fine-Kinney-based new approach for occupational health and safety risk assessment using interval-valued neutrosophic MCDM and HOQ model integration. Soft Compuing 29, 4583–4612 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-025-10693
  2. Acar, I., Butt,S., Sipahioglu,A. &Altin, I., (2025) The Consideration of Two Scalarization Methods for the Multi-Objective Nurse-to-Patient Assignment Problem Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Simulation with Applications Vol. 5: Iss. 3, Article 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.53391/2791-8564.1000
  3. Acar, I. & Altin, I. (2025). Multi-Depot General Colored Traveling Salesman Problem With Time Windows In Home Healthcare System:A Medication Delivery Example. The International Journal of Industrial Engineering: Theory, Applications and Practice. 32. 493-513. 10.23055/ijietap.2025.32.2.10657.
  4. Sipahioglu, A., Acar, I. & Altin, I. (2024). A Metaheuristic Approach for In-Plant Milk-Run System with Autonomous Vehicles. Netw Spat Econ https://doi.org/10.1007/s11067-024-09650-2
  5. Hassouneh A, Bazuin B, Danna-Dos-Santos A, Acar I, Abdel-Qader I;(2024) Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Feature Importance Analysis and Machine Learning for Alzheimer's Disease Early Detection: Feature Fusion of the Hippocampus, Entorhinal Cortex, and Standardized Uptake Value Ratio. Digit Biomark. 2024 Apr 22;8(1):59-74. doi: 10.1159/000538486. PMID: 38650695; PMCID: PMC11034932.
  1. Karabacak, Nimet & Acar, Ilgin & Kapkın, Engin. (2025). Chess Algorithm-Based Optimization of Carbon Tax Coefficients for Food Consumption and Carbon Footprint Management. 1-5. 10.1109/CIEES66347.2025.11300196.
  2. Altin, I., Acar, I., & Sipahioglu, A. (2025). Drone-Based Surveillance System for Campus Security. Presented at the 5th International Workshop on Arc Routing Problems, Vienna. May, 22-23025
  3. Acar, I and Altin, I., “Multi-Depot General Colored Traveling Salesman Problem in Home Healthcare System”, INFORMS 2024, Seattle, USA, October 20-23.
  4. Altin, I., Sipahioglu, A., and Acar, I., “Multi-Depot Drone Arc Routing Problem and Solution Methods”, INFORMS 2024, Seattle, USA, October 20-23.
  5. Danna-dos-Santos, A., Acar, I., Darici, E., Hamelink, K., “Posturography-Based Decision Support System for mTBI Detection, INFORMS 2024, Seattle, USA, October 20-23
  6. Darici, E., Hamelink K., and Acar I., Human Resources Analytics: Determining Possible Turnovers with Feature Engineering Approach, Proceedings of the 9th North American Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Washington D.C., United States, June 4, 2024, https://doi.org/10.46254/NA09.20240026. (Best Graduate Student Paper Award)
Dr. Ilgin Acar with student researchers

Meet the Team

Led by Dr. Ilgin Acar (right), assistant professor of industrial and entrepreneurial engineering and engineering management, the ODDS research team include post-doctoral researchers as well doctoral, masters and undergraduate students.
Image

Dr. Ilgin Acar

Acar is director of the WMU Optimization, Data, and Decision Science Lab and an assistant professor of industrial and entrepreneurial engineering and engineering management. Her research interests include operations research, healthcare optimization and staff assignment and scheduling.

Follow Acar on LinkedIn
Dr. Islam Altin, post-doctoral researcher

Dr. Islam Altin

Altin is a post-doctoral researcher. His postdoctoral project aims to investigate different types of Drone Arc Routing Problems, perform the applications with surveillance drones, and propose novel solution methods for these problems and is supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). He received the Ph.D. from Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Türkiye.

Follow Altin on LinkedIn
Kira Hamelink graduate student

Kira Hamelink, M.S.'23, B.S.'21

Kira Hamelink ris a doctoral student in industrial engineering. Her research interests include optimization, applied operations research, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data analytics, and engineering education. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from WMU and is a part-time computer science instructor at Kalamazoo Valley Community College.

Follow Hamelink on LinkedIn
Eren Darici, industrial engineering graduate student

Eren Darici

Darici is graduate student in industrial engineering. He has worked as an industrial engineer. After earning his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 2023 from Eskisehir Technical University, Türkiye, he worked as an industrial engineer. His research interests include optimization, scheduling, and applied-machine learning.

Follow Darici on LinkedIn
Aya zahreddine undergraduate student

Aya Zahreddine

Zahreddine is an industrial engineering undergraduate student with a minor in economics. Her research integrates risk mapping, drones, and machine learning to enhance humanitarian logistics and post-disaster optimization. By combining technical expertise in data analysis and system optimization with a strong foundation in economics, she brings an interdisciplinary approach to solving complex challenges. Her passion for continuous improvement drives her commitment to developing innovative solutions that contribute to societal well-being.

Follow Zahreddine on LinkedIn
Lia Cedeno Polanco

Lia Cedeño

Polanco is an industrial and entrepreneurial engineering student with a minor in Supply Chain Management. She is interested in optimization, data analytics, and decision-making for operations systems. She has experience in forecasting, cost modelling, and inventory planning, with hands-on operations exposure from a cosmetics and pharmaceutical manufacturing internship supporting end-to-end process flow, documentation control, and warehouse/production coordination. She is motivated by practical, data-driven solutions that improve efficiency, traceability, and real-world logistics performance.

Follow Cedeño on LinkedIn