Dr. Edgar Gutierrez-Franco is a Research Affiliate at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL). He engages in active, collaborative efforts with the MIT Food and Retail Operations Lab on applied research projects, with a particular emphasis on optimizing logistics operations, supply chain management for the food and agribusiness, and the implementation of circular supply chain initiatives. Prior to this role, Dr. Edgar served as a postdoctoral associate at the MIT Omnichannel Distribution Strategies Lab (2021-2022), where he actively participated on projects related to sustainable circular supply chains and omnichannel distribution strategies for CTL's corporate partners. Additionally, Dr. Edgar, contributed as an instructor and advisor in the Supply Chain Management Master's program and in the Graduate Certificate in Logistics & Supply Chain Management (GCLOG) program. He has also served as a visiting scholar at MIT CTL (2009-2010), where he developed projects related to Supply Chain Innovation in Emerging Markets and Carbon-Efficient Supply Chains (LATAM and USA). Furthermore, Dr. Edgar has acted as a Research Affiliate at the Center for Latin America Logistics Innovation (CLI) part of the MIT Global SCALE network since 2009.
Dr. Edgar Gutierrez-Franco's research is focused on the design and implementation of advanced data and model-driven digital twins and decision support analytical tools for urban logistics network design and sustainable supply chain management. He also examines the intersection of applied optimization techniques with statistical and machine learning methods to support decision-making processes in logistics and supply chain management.
Dr. Gutierrez-Franco has over fourteen years of experience in analytical solutions to support business operations and strategy. His industry experience includes positions in retail (Falabella), beverage industry (Bavaria - AB InBev) and, in supply chain consulting. In academia (USA and COL since 2005), he has been advising projects and teaching courses related to Systems Engineering, Operations Research, Simulation, Machine Learning and Supply Chain Management in different universities. Prior to joining the CTL, Dr. Edgar was lecturer in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the University of Central Florida (UCF), an entrepreneurial leader with the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps) program (USA), based on his PhD dissertation on urban logistics, with the project: Smart and holistic agent management system for last mile operations and a postdoctoral researcher with the Office of Naval Research (USA) in the project: Identification and prediction of human signature behaviors based on textual unstructured data at the UCF Computational Neuroergonomics Laboratory.
Edgar has publications in scientific journals such as Expert Systems with Applications, International Journal of Project Management, Applied Mathematical Modelling, Production Planning & Control, Sustainability, Applied Ergonomics and, IEEE Access. He has served as editor and author of three books related with supply chain engineering analytics (Taylor & Francis), artificial intelligence (Nova) and supply chain management in emerging markets (Emerald).
His educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from the University of La Sabana, a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering with emphasis on Operations Research and Statistics from the University of Los Andes, and a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from the University of Central Florida sponsored by the Fulbright Program (USA).
