Jangwon Park Joins Pitt Industrial Engineering Faculty
Jangwon (Jang) Park has joined the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Industrial Engineering as an assistant professor, bringing expertise in healthcare system optimization and resilience. His research uses industrial engineering methods to help healthcare organizations operate more efficiently, respond to disruptions, and improve patient care.
“Jang is a terrific addition to our department, the Swanson School of Engineering, and the Pitt community,” said Lisa Maillart, Leighton E. and Mary N. Orr Professor and chair of the industrial engineering. “As healthcare systems increasingly face constraints and unknowns, his work has real-world implications for the care people receive. I look forward to watching his research develop and seeing the impact he has on our students.”
Park earned his bachelor's degree in engineering science and his PhD in operations research at the University of Toronto, with a master's in business analytics from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland.
As a PhD student, Park was supported by a Canada Graduate Research Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to study optimization of inter-facility patient transfers from computational, theoretical, and empirical perspectives. He uses stochastic modeling, applied causal inference, and algorithm design while working with large clinical datasets to find ways to strengthen healthcare operations facing demand uncertainty and resource scarcity.
“Pitt’s industrial engineering department has a strong legacy in healthcare engineering. It is unusually well connected and situated through its collaborative ties with the school of medicine, public health, and nursing, to name a few. This is a resourceful environment with so much potential for multidisciplinary research,” said Park. “I’m excited to work across disciplines, collaborate with clinicians and practitioners, and apply engineering principles to develop models, theories, and algorithms for improved healthcare operations and medical decision-making.”