TSL Dissertation Abstracts---2006 Transportation Science and Logistics Society Dissertation Prize Competition

The Transportation Science and Logistics (TSL) Society Dissertation Prize Competition is the oldest and most prestigious competition for doctoral dissertations in the field. The 2006 TSL dissertation prize committee consisted of Professor Michel Bierlaire (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Professor Ann Campbell (University of Iowa), Professor Alan Erera (Georgia Institute of Technology), Professor Donald Hearn (University of Florida), and Professor Mark Hickman (University of Arizona).Eligibility was limited to doctoral dissertations completed between June 1, 2005, and May 31, 2006, in the general area of transportation science and logistics. To be considered, a dissertation must have been nominated by the author’s thesis supervisor. This year we received 26 nominations from 24 universities and 10 countries, representing such diverse areas as vehicle routing, vehicle scheduling, traveler behavior, activity analysis, logistics, and supply chain management.This year’s pool of dissertations was exceptional in both its breadth and depth, showing remarkable theoretical and practical insights into many very interesting problems in transportation and logistics. With the large number of submissions and their exceptional quality, it was not easy for the committee to select a first place winner and an honorable mention. I would like to thank the authors, their advisors, and the prize committee for their part in this effort to recognize and honor the field’s outstanding doctoral researchers. Awards were announced at the TSL meeting at the 2006 INFORMS meeting in Pittsburgh.Perhaps without saying, the theses nominated for the TSL Dissertation Prize are distinguished by the fact that they were nominated for the award. Each dissertation makes a unique and valuable contribution to transportation science and logistics, and all entrants and their advisors deserve our sincere congratulations.Abstracts for the 26 dissertations follow; awardees are listed first, and finalists’ abstracts follow in alphabetical order by author.First Place: Christian Liebchen, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany. Advisors: Rolf H. Möhring and Karl Nachtigall. Title: “Periodic Timetable Optimization in Public Transport”.Honorable Mention: Anne Goodchild, University of California, Berkeley. Advisor: Carlos Daganzo. Title: “Crane Double Cycling in Container Ports: Algorithms, Evaluation, and Planning”.