Hein Fleuren, co-founder and director of the Zero Hunger Lab, specializes in applying Business Analytics and Operations Research to complex supply chains, particularly those involving transportation and time-sensitive networks. Over the past decade, he has focused on using Analytics to combat global hunger and malnutrition.

2018-now: Co-founder and director of the Zero Hunger Lab. The Zero Hunger Lab specializes in using Data Science (in the broad sense of statistics, econometrics, operations research, artificial intelligence) for Sustainable Development Goal 2: zero hunger by 2030.

2000 - now: Full professor in applying Business Analytics and Operations Research, Tilburg University, The Netherlands (0.3FTE chair)

2013-2021: Chief Optimization Officer and co-founder of BlueRock TMS. BlueRock is specialized in simplifying supply chains with the aid of business analytics and operational software.

2005 - 2012: Director of my own consultancy company "OR Coach" which supported organizations in translating business questions to proper quantitative models and techniques.

2000 -2005: Director CentER Applied Research and section manager of the Operations Research section at Tilburg University, The Netherlands. CentER Applied Research is the contract research institute of theEconomic Faculty of Tilburg University.

1995 - 1999: Partner and member of the management team of CQM, manager of the Optimisation group (10-15 consultants) 

1988 - 1994: Senior consultant Operations Research at the Centre for Quantitative Methods (CQM B.V.), Eindhoven, The Netherlands

1984 - 1988: PhD Researcher at Twente University of Technology, Enschede, The Netherlands on vehicle routing and scheduling

Focus of my courses:

• create awareness for students in what needs to be done to make Business Analytics and Operations Research/quantitative methods work in practice
• guide Bachelor & Master Thesis
• guide PhD students in practical environments

Current courses:

• Coordinator and core teacher of Professional Business Analytics Skills where we teach students what they might encounter in practice.
• Two classes in the course Global Sustainable Leadership
• In the past twenty years: classes in Production Management, Supply Chain Management Science and in Modeling in Practice

Supervisor (regularly together with others) of the following PhD's:

• Ieke le Blanc on Closing Loops in Supply Chain Management: Designing Reverse Supply Chains for End-of-Life Vehicles (15th March, 2006)
• Maaike le Blanc - van Krieken on Solving Set Partitioning Problems using Lagrangian Relaxation (15th March, 2006)
• Johannes Blomeyer (Lufthansa) on Air Cargo Revenue Management (24th November 2006)
• Frans Cruijssen on Horizontal Cooperation in Transport & Logistics (cum laude) (1st Dec, 2006)
• Ineke Meuffels on The Design of Road and Air Networsk for Express Service Providers (10th June, 2015)
• Valentijn Stienen on Analytics for Humanitarian Networks in uncertain and Data-scarce Environments (15th May, 2024)
• Koen Peters on Operationalizing Analytics to improve Food Security (4th June, 2024)
• Meike Reusken on Optimization under Uncertainty for Food Security (30th August, 2024)
• Melissa Koenen on Balancing multiple Solutions through enhanced Diet Optimization for Food and Nutrition Security (27th September, 2024)

Supervisor of many Master's Theses