Dr Trung Hieu Tran

PhD

Pronouns: He/him
  • Reader in AI and Digital Innovation
  • Associate Professor

Prof. Trung Hieu Tran is Reader in AI and Digital Innovation at Loughborough Business School.

Research groups and centres

Publications
ORCiD Researcher ID
Trung-Hieu

Background

Prof. Trung Hieu Tran is Reader in AI and Digital Innovation in Loughborough Business School. He achieved a PhD degree in Operational Research / Management Science from National University of Singapore.

His research interests focus on the theory and application of optimisation methods - including mathematical programming and metaheuristics - within Operational Research, as well as artificial intelligence and agent-based modelling and simulation in Computer Science. These approaches are applied to production planning and scheduling, location analysis, logistics and supply chain management, gas transmission networks, sustainable urban planning, port and airport operations, agricultural waste management, electric vehicle charging network design, and AR/VR applications.

Prof. Tran develops generative AI models for the automated solving of practical decision-making problems. He has served as Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Investigator (Co-I) on national and international research collaboration projects funded by UKRI (EPSRC and ESRC), the British Academy, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), and industry partners including Boeing (USA) and GIRI Ltd (UK).

Awards

  • 2025 and 2026 USA INFORMS Edelman Award (Nobel Prize in OR/MS) (the semi-finalist).
  • 2024 UK Operational Research Society President’s Medal (Top 3 Finalists)
  • 2024 EURO Excellence in Practice Award, Copenhagen, Denmark (Top 3 Finalists)
  • The Best Presentation Award for Research Project titled “Model and Algorithm for Dynamic Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging Network Design” at ICBMOR 2022: XVI. International Conference on Business, Management and Operations Research, New York, USA, 9-10 Dec 2022.
  • IFORS Prize for Operational Research in Development 2021, Seoul, South Korea (Finalist)

Current research interests:

  • Mathematical programming
  • Metaheuristic and math-heuristic algorithms
  • Agent-based modelling and simulation
  • Quantum AI for OR
  • OR applications for SDGs

Grants and funds

Grants:

  1. Enhancing Awareness of Farmers in the Vietnam Mekong Delta to Accelerate the Impact of Sustainable Agricultural Production and Waste Management Model (AWA-MEKONG) (12/2025 – 11/2026)
    PI, UKRI ESRC Impact Acceleration Accounts [ES/X005097/1] (£20,000)
  2. An Integrated Decision Support System for Strategic Flood Mitigation Planning towards Sustainable Agricultural Waste Management at the Mekong Delta (IDSS-MEKONG) (01/2024 – 08/2024)
    PI, UK FCDO's Research and Innovation for Development in ASEAN (£62,256)
  3. Improving Flood-disrupted Road Networks Resilience with Dynamic People-centric Digital Twins (IMPACT) (04/2024 – 10/2024)
    Co-I, UKRI Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI) (£40,000)  
  4. Formulation and Solution Techniques for Integrated Charging Network Design under Risk of Disruption (10/2021 – 12/2022)
    PI, UK EPSRC Mathematical Science [EP/V061607/1] (£63,614)
  5. Optimal Planning Tool for Agricultural Waste Management in Vietnam (03/2021 – 7/2021)
    PI, UKRI GCRF QF 2020/21 (£16,000)
  6. Optimal Investment Strategies to Minimize Flood Impact on Road Infrastructure in Vietnam (2018 –2019)
    Co-I, Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) – British Academy (£291,876)

Industrial Funds:

  1. Augmented Reality and Digital Technology (2020-2023)
    PI, Cranfield Industrial Partnership PhDs – OrangeLV, USA (£152,600)
  2. Clean Cabin – Virtual Queuing (Phase 1: Modelling and Simulation) (02/2021 – 09/2021)
    Co-I, Collaborative Research Project – The Boeing Company, USA (£50,000)
  3. Clean Cabin – Virtual Queuing (Phase 2: User-Centric based App Design) (07/2023 – 09/2024)
    Co-I, Collaborative Research Project – The Boeing Company, USA (£200,000)
  4. Clean Cabin – Virtual Queuing (Phase 3: Behavioural Analysis and Agent-based Modelling) (10/2024 – 09/2025)
    PI, Collaborative Research Project – The Boeing Company, USA (£217,000)
  5. Evaluation of Error Frequency Rate in Construction Industry (02/2023 – 07/2023)
    PI, R&D Project – GIRI Company, UK (£18,000)     

Modules taught:

  • BSA031 Programming Fundamentals (Undergraduate level)
  • BSP413 Applied AI for Business Analytics (Postgraduate level)

Professional services

Advisory board:

GCRF & UK Mathematical Sciences, and E-waste Journal

Editorial board:

Cloud Computing and Data Science

Guest editor:

  • Sustainability (MDPI, ISSN 2071-1050): Special Issue “Decarbonization Investment Towards Environmental Sustainability”.
  • Mathematics (MDPI, ISSN 2227-7390): Special Issue "New Advances of Operations Research and Analysis".
  • Mathematics (MDPI, ISSN 227-7390): Special Issue “Application of Mathematical Programming and Algorithms in Operational Research”.
  • International Scientific Committee: The International Conference on Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Hanoi, Vietnam 20-21 Dec 2024. ICAMCS2024 | (isvnu.vn)

Membership:

  • The Society of Operational Research, UK (2018–present)
  • The Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences, USA (2016– present)