MARK FERGUSON

SENIOR RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
MCMASTER INSTITUTE FOR TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS

Title: Leveraging Data and Analytics in Transportation and Logistics: Progress, examples, opportunities, and challenges
Date: Friday, May 21, 2021
Time: 11:50 am to 12:30 pm  

ABSTRACT
Data and analytics have been central to driving progress and efficiencies in transportation and logistics and will continue to do so. This presentation shares some insights about progress and evolutions that have been taking place as it relates to the collection and leveraging of data and also highlights some challenges and opportunities that have emerged. Consideration will be given to both people and goods movement, which are associated with their own unique transportation and logistics considerations. The presentation will be supported by selected examples, findings and lessons from the diverse research of the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics. The pandemic has ushered in a period where people feel more acutely aware about global supply chains, and their importance, than at any time in recent memory. As such, it will also be interesting to evaluate the themes of this presentation through the lens of the past year.

BIOGRAPHY
In a career that has spanned over 25 years, Dr. Mark Ferguson has applied data science in a wide range of contexts for both the academic and private sectors. Since 2009, he is a Senior Research Associate with the McMaster Institute for Transportation and Logistics (MITL). In that time, he has played an integral role in the development of MITL’s portfolio of research projects that examine aspects of efficiently, reliably, safely and cleanly moving goods and people. His academic experience is complemented by over a decade of private sector experience focused on location consulting projects for domestic and international banking and retail clients. Insights about facility network optimization were enabled by advanced data analytics and custom decision support systems. Mark is trained as a Quantitative Human Geographer and has published extensively in the peer-reviewed academic literature.