Kai Sun, Ph.D.

Kai Sun, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Alvarez College of Business, UTSA | Adjunct Assistant Professor, Long School of Medicine, UT Health San Antonio

Research

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My primary research interests center around optimal and equitable resource planning in service systems leveraging large-scale datasets via the development and application of
(a) Optimization under uncertainty
(b) Multi-objective optimization
(c) Graph-based models and algorithms
(d) Data analytics and machine learning

The examples of the applications includes:
(1) In healthcare: operating rooms and intensive care units management, data-driven patient and clinician scheduling;
(2) In product development and manufacturing: process planning and scheduling, product lifecycle management (PLM) systems, product-service manufacturing systems.

PROJECTS

Optimal Scheduling of Physicians and Certified Registered Nurses, at UTSA and UTHealthSA;

  • Developed data-driven scheduling and analytics framework with novel mixed- integer multi-objective programming formulation and solution methods to support clinical operations and strategic decisions.
  • Embedded in the Department of Anesthesiology, working hand-in-hand with the front-line clinicians and administrators from UTHealthSA.
  • The developed framework has been implemented and deployed for anesthesiology scheduling and operational analysis with more than 200 providers. This improved physician schedule satisfaction from 3.13/5 to 3.47/5, and relieved at least 82% of scheduling burdens on departmental leaders.

Development and Application of Data Analytics for Smart PLM systems, at SU and collaborated with two local companies, i.e., Filtertech, Inc. and UsPLM, Inc.;

  • Developed a novel algorithm framework for the maximum weighted independent set (MWIS) problem, exact and improved estimation algorithms were created using the framework.
  • Developed a novel graph-based formulation approach for process planning and scheduling problems with its solution methods using the concept of MWIS.
  • Built product design libraries (50+ products and 500+ components) for small kitchen appliances and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) [Product Design Repository].
  • Developed visual analytics, product configuration, resource allocation, and process planning and scheduling modules for the Smart PLM system, and deployed these tools for the engineering design department at Filtertech, Inc. [Engineering Analytics Toolset].
  • Developed and deployed digital twin and flight mission configuration services for the drone fleet management solution at UsPLM, Inc., Key contributor to win Genius NY 2018 investment competition, $250,000 (external, NY State and The Tech Garden; Featured in the front page of The Tech Garden) [Demo1] [Demo2] [Demo3] [Demo4];
  • Development of Educational and Training Materials for Unmanned Aerial Systems, wrote the proposal for the Gryphon Sensors grant, $20,000 (external).