dr. D.R.J. Prak (Dennis)

Dennis Prak is an assistant professor in the section Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems at the University of Twente. Dennis' main research interests are in inventory management, demand forecasting, data-driven optimization, aviation, and logistics on a broad definition. Currently, he leads the joint project "Operations Research and AI for Airline Operations" with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines within the Kickstart AI initiative, focusing on research and education within the fields of AI and Airline Operations.

Dennis coordinates the Minor Aerospace Management & Operations, intended for third-year BSc students and part of the HTHT Minor package Aeronautical Engineering & Management. He teaches various components of that Minor, as well as part of the Minor Aircraft Engineering, which is part of the same package. 

Furthermore, Dennis teaches Advanced Inventory Management in the M-IEM, tutors the serious business game "Fresh Connection" for B-IBA and B-IEM, and supervises BSc and MSc graduation projects on inventory management, demand forecasting, aviation, and logistics.

He holds an MSc in Operations Research (2014), a Research MSc in Economics & Business (2014), and a PhD (2019) from the University of Groningen. Until 2021 he was a visiting researcher at the Technical University of Munich in Germany.

Organisations

Dennis leads the research project "Operations Research and AI for Airline Operations" in collaboration with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines as part of the Kickstart AI initiative. The overarching goal of this research is to support airlines in making better strategic and tactical decisions using data-driven methods. The project revolves around the PhD topics of Antonio Montaruli and Mahekha Dahanayaka:

• Antonio closely collaborates with KLM's Integrated Planning and Control platform to tackle the challenge of strategic network planning. Figuring out the best mix of destinations to offer for comprehensive network airlines involves analyzing potential demand across different connecting routes, considering competition, and coordinating with other airlines. Antonio seeks integrated solutions to this complex problem by combining novel prediction and large-scale decision-making techniques. He also looks into how these solutions can improve the resilience of airline networks and alliances.
• Mahekha's work centers around the resilient planning of ground operations, working closely with KLM's Ground platform. This begins with staffing decisions that are made well in advance and extends to the final work schedules that are created shortly before the operation. A key aspect of her study is addressing the various challenges that arise during execution, such as aircraft delays, process disruptions, and staff availability issues. Mahekha aims to account for these complexities while maintaining computational tractability. Her approach combines mathematical scheduling algorithms with simulation-based optimization methods.

Moreover, several UT students have spent their thesis internships at KLM, studying topics such as hand luggage demand prediction and mitigating measures to prevent gate delays, and estimating duration and volatilities of platform handling tasks.

Until 2021 Dennis was a guest researcher at TU Munich, performing an NWO-Rubicon funded project that focused on data-driven inventory management in dynamic supply chains. There he was also leader of the project team "Integrated Learning and Optimization for Mobility and Transportation Services".

Dennis' PhD research was funded by an NWO Research Talent grant and focused on the interface between demand forecasting and inventory management. Dennis has furthermore published on different topics in inventory management, econometrics, and applied statistics.

Dennis' further research interests are in inventory management, demand forecasting, data-driven optimization, aviation, and logistics on a broad definition.

Publications

Research profiles

Dennis coordinates the Minor Aerospace Management & Operations, intended for third-year BSc students and part of the HTHT Minor package Aeronautical Engineering & Management. He teaches various components of that Minor, as well as part of the Minor Aircraft Engineering, which is part of the same package. 

Furthermore, Dennis teaches Advanced Inventory Management in the M-IEM, tutors a serious business game for B-IBA and B-IEM, and supervises BSc and MSc graduation projects on inventory management, demand forecasting, aviation, and logistics.

Affiliated study programs

Courses academic year 2024/2025

Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.

Courses academic year 2023/2024

Address

University of Twente

Ravelijn (building no. 10), room 3410
Hallenweg 17
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands

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Organisations