PhD Defence: Bart van Riessen
In his dissertation ‘Optimal Transportation Plans and Portfolios for Synchromodal Container Networks', Bart van Riessen proposes an integrated approach for optimising synchromodal container transportation.
Bart van Riessen defended his dissertation in the Senate Hall at Erasmus University Rotterdam on Thursday, March 22 at 13:30. His supervisors were Prof. Rommert Dekker and Prof. Rudy Negenborn. Other members of the Doctoral Committee are Prof. Albert Veenstra (TUe), Prof. Rob Zuidwijk (RSM), Prof. Iris Vis (RUG), Prof. Bert de Groot (ESE), Prof. Loreant Tavasszy (TU Delft).
About Bart van Riessen
Bart van Riessen was born in Rotterdam on April 21, 1987. Growing up in the neighbourhood of the Rotterdam ports created a lasting connection. In 2003, for a history practicum, he chose to study the company Europe Container Terminals (ECT). In 2008 he obtained his Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). From 2008 to 2010 he was a fulltime team member of the Delft solar car team, first as a mechanical engineer for the Nuna5 car, later as a race strategist for this car in the World Solar Challenge (WSC) 2009 in Australia (second place) and a Technical Manager for the Suzuka Dream Cup 2010 in Japan (third place). After this he was one of the initiators behind the team’s supervisory board. Until 2016 he was a member of this board, with the goal to bring the team back to winning results and to improve quality by connecting university research to the technical developments. Since, the team won the (biannual) WSC in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and the (biannual) South African Solar Challenge in 2014 and 2016.
In 2012, Bart returned his attention to the port of Rotterdam: he went to ECT for a Master’s thesis internship. With the thesis, he received his Master degree in Mechanical Engineering, track Transportation Engineering and Logistics (TU Delft) and his Master degree in Econometrics, track Quantitative Logistics & Operational Research from Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) in 2013, both cum laude.
Afterwards, Bart started in a part-time position at ECT on hinterland developments and in a separate position at the Econometric Institute (Erasmus University Rotterdam) for his Ph.D. research under the supervision of Prof.dr.ir. Rommert Dekker (Econometric Institute) and Prof. dr. Rudy R. Negenborn (Dept. of Maritime and Transport Technology, TU Delft.
Aiming to bridge the gap between academia and industry, on behalf of ECT he participated in 4 research projects. The last part of his PhD research took place in one of these, ISOLA. From 2013-2017, he initiated and supervised 9 Master thesis interns at ECT, with students from EUR, TU Delft, Rotterdam Shipping and Transport College, Eindhoven University of Technology and University of Groningen. During the same period, at EUR he supervised student theses on Bachelor and Master level, and lectured courses on hinterland transportation and management science. He presented his scientific work in several academic conferences, such as LOGMS, IFSPA, IAME, ICCL and ODYSSEUS. With his background in academic research and industry practice in maritime hinterland transportation, he was invited as a speaker at research seminars in Groningen, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Savannah and Bergen. In 2016, he was one of the founders of 2Trees, a company for strategic logistics advice. This company aims to bring a scientific approach with optimisation and simulation techniques to small and medium enterprises. The approach is related to Chapter 4 of this dissertation.
In 2017, Bart started in a new position at ECT as a Product Manager for digital and supply chain services. In this capacity, he aims to create a state-of-the-art information platform for supply chain visibility, and he hopes to continue connecting logistics researchers to the maritime industry.
Thesis Abstract
The dissertation proposes an integrated approach for optimising synchromodal container transportation, motivated by two separate trends in the container transportation practice in North-West Europe. On the one hand, competition in hinterland transportation and a societal need for a modal shift towards sustainable modes require more integrated network optimisation of container transports. On the other hand, hinterland users increasingly require a cost-effective, but flexible and reliable delivery service. The concept of synchromodality was developed as an answer to these developments, combining network planning with a business model based on customer-oriented transportation services. This dissertation contributes to this concept by bringing together optimal transport planning in intermodal networks and the design of an optimal fare class mix of customer-oriented services. It includes 5 new models for operating such a synchromodal transportation network: service network design, disturbance analysis, real-time decision support and two variants of the cargo fare class mix design. All models are developed with the perspective of a centralised operator in an intermodal container network, with scheduled services between a deep-sea terminal and multiple inland ports. These scheduled services can be trains or barges, but not necessarily both have to be available. All 5 models have been applied to case studies based on the intermodal container network of European Gateway Services (EGS), a subsidiary of Hutchison Ports ECT Rotterdam (ECT). The results show that both an integrated planning of container networks and a differentiated service portfolio are crucial for successful synchromodal network operation.
Photos: Chris Gorzeman / Capital Images
