Carnegie Mellon University’s Peter Zhang Receives National Science Foundation Award to Strengthen Supply Chain Resilience
Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy today announced that assistant professor Peter Zhang has received an award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop tools that help supply chains anticipate, withstand, and recover from disruption.
The three-year project, “Collaborative Research: Enhancing Stochastic Supply Chains via Cascading Simulation and Adjustable Optimization,” is funded through NSF’s Division of Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation and runs through September 2029.
Zhang, who holds the Alfred Blumstein Career Development Chair at Heinz College, is co-leading the project with Ningji Wei, assistant professor of industrial, manufacturing, and systems engineering at Texas Tech University. Their work addresses a persistent challenge: modern supply chains link many organizations, yet each one typically sees only its direct suppliers and customers. When a supplier falls short, demand shifts, a shipping route breaks down, or a natural disaster strikes, the effects can impact the network in ways no single organization in the network can see or control.
The research aligns with three of the grand challenge areas identified for CMU Miami. By strengthening supply chains that deliver critical goods and materials, the project supports work in “National Security and Strategic Capabilities.” It also contributes to “Energy and Climate Resilience” by examining how supply networks can withstand extreme weather and other disruptions, and to “Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Transformation” by developing tools to make industrial supply chains more reliable and adaptable.
“This recognition from the National Science Foundation acknowledges the importance of Peter’s work and its potential to keep essential goods moving when the unexpected happens,” said Kirsten Martin, Dean of Heinz College.
The team will first map supply networks, using graph theory and network optimization, to infer missing connections and estimate how likely different interactions are, giving decision-makers a measure of confidence even when information is incomplete. Zhang and Wei will then use simulation and stochastic optimization to test how disruptions ripple through the system and which adjustments keep supply flowing.
The goal of the project is to develop a tool that lets supply chain managers look beyond the next single decision and launch adaptive responses in real time as new information arrives.
“I’m grateful and honored to receive this award along with my colleague Ningji Wei,” said Zhang. “Through this project, we hope to provide decision-makers with a clearer picture of the entire network of a supply chain so they can act quickly and decisively in the event of a supply chain break down.”
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The Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy is home to two internationally recognized schools: the School of Information Systems and Management and the School of Public Policy and Management. Heinz College leads at the intersection of people, policy, and technology, with expertise in analytics, artificial intelligence, arts & entertainment, cybersecurity, healthcare, and public policy. The college offers top-ranked undergraduate, graduate, and executive education certificates in these areas. Our programs are ranked #1 in Information Systems, #1 in Information and Technology Management, #7 in Public Policy Analysis, and #1 in Cybersecurity by U.S. News & World Report. For more information, please visit www.heinz.cmu.edu.