Acknowledgments

A PhD is, on paper, an individual undertaking. Mine would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. This page is dedicated to them.

I begin with my main advisor, Prof. Alan Erera. Thank you, sincerely, for the opportunities you have given me, starting from the very first one, when you replied to my PhD application. That first door opened every one that followed. Working with and being advised by you over these years has shaped the way I think and do research: through our discussions and your feedback, you taught me how to identify a problem, how to question a solution, and how to choose a practical approach to solving it. I learned to think critically about any problem I take on and to aim for what works in practice. You have also inspired me with the care you put into delivering knowledge to your students, from lectures in class to site visits where they see how supply chain systems actually run. I am grateful for your directness and honesty, and for your patience and support: as long as I kept improving on your feedback, you kept guiding me and finding ways to help me. Thank you for everything.

To Prof. Alejandro Toriello: my first years in the program, co-advised by you and Alan, made me the researcher I am today, and the first two studies in this thesis grew out of that time. Whenever I was confused or mistaken in a technical discussion, you saw it at once and guided me toward something better. I was also your student in the logistics engineering class; its material is a foundation I still return to again and again, and it carried me into my internship at Amazon. Thank you for your patience with me while I was still adjusting to the program, and for the time you willingly take in guiding your students.

To Prof. Benoit Montreuil: I first came to know you when I was a student in your warehouse engineering class. You may be one of the busiest professors in ISyE, yet in class you taught with visible joy, and you kept pushing us to think toward the future, to think outside the box, and to dare to challenge today's systems in order to make them better. I later understood that this is also how you do research: proposing and carrying an idea as unorthodox as the Physical Internet takes real dedication, and its growing adoption in recent years shows what that dedication has built. Working with you and the Physical Internet lab on our joint project, I saw that same dedication up close, along with the kindness and patience you show everyone you work with. I admire both, and I thank you for them.

To Prof. Mathieu Dahan: I was your student in the Resilient Networks class, and I admire and respect the effort and care you put into teaching. You prepared two versions of your slides for every lecture, one for before class and one for after; you encouraged everyone to ask and take part, and you gave your time to any question until it was answered. Your class is the example I would reach for when I ever stand in front of a classroom myself. I have also attended several of your research talks, and the high standard of your work and your attention to detail left the same impression on me. Thank you for agreeing to serve on my thesis committee; it is an honor to have you on it.

To Dr. Akhilesh Soni: thank you for your mentoring during my internship. It was my first internship in the United States, and you were my first mentor ever. You set the bar for what mentorship should look like. Thank you as well for agreeing to serve on my thesis committee.

The good friendships I have found here, during my first time living abroad, have been a blessing. I am grateful to everyone I have come to know, more than these pages can name.

To Ali: a friend and a brother, with whom I went through the hardest first two years of this program. There was a point when we both doubted whether we were good enough to be here; somehow, struggling together is what pushed us past it, and now we are both graduating. If I counted every meal and coffee you treated me to during the time we studied together, I suspect you have spent more on me than on your own son. And you are kind like that to everyone, even in times when you were struggling yourself or had less to offer. Thank you for your kindness and generosity; I wish you and your family all the best.

To the Poke group, Tian, Caleb, Yuming, Ryan, and Rosie, named after the poke lunches where our group chat began: I am not much of an initiator, so finding myself part of a group of friends like you was unlikely, and fortunate. You have been in most of my joyful times in the United States. Tian, my first international friend here, I will always take credit for bringing you and Caleb to each other, and I wish that your love for each other keeps growing through the years. Watching the two of you as students and researchers, I have no doubt about your academic paths, and I can see you both becoming great professors in the near future. Yuming, thank you for that first email asking to study together in the middle of COVID, and for being the self-proclaimed "reliable" friend ever since; knowing we will join the same team after graduation makes me feel at ease about what comes next. Ryan, thank you for the good times we shared, and I wish you the best in everything ahead. Rosie, our youngest member, thank you for the happiness and energy you bring to us all; I will be cheering for you in whatever you choose next. And to Myungeun & Jimmy, Olena, Julien, Abel, Karina, Simon, and the many friends I cannot name one by one: thank you for all the good memories we made together --- my time here would not have been the same without you.

To all my Thai fellows: P'Nut, P'Pong, and P'Bonus, thank you for your kindness and generosity. P'Maprang, thank you for being such a good roommate and for being there for me during a hard time. P'Issara, P'Fern, P'Jan & P'Jeff, P'Blue & P'Forrest, Moey & Ouu, P'Junior & P'Bung, P'Japan, P'Pat, P'Prae, and Poom, I will always cherish our memories of having fun together, from trips to board games. And to my younger friends, Mark, Boss, Shoke, Mew, Peems, Pow, Gus, Chat, Tonpalm, Elmo, Nano, Pinto, Brin, Plern, Topto, T Bone, Ern, Panus, Phet, Yuka and many more: I have enjoyed every bit of our time together, and I hope for the best in everything ahead of you. I am sure I have not managed to name everyone; to all who have been part of these years, I keep my good wishes, and I would be very happy if our paths cross again someday.

To my family: I am incalculably lucky to have been born and raised by a family who values education and willingly gave their time, effort, and resources to make sure their son received a good one. I understand now how much it takes to raise one person, especially where a good education is not a given. That dedication is the unconditional love I have received all my life, and I count it among the greatest gifts I have.

Finally, to Gain, my partner: we have known each other for almost ten years. We were young and naive at the start; we have shared many happy moments since, and I am sorry for the moments when I could not be there for you. Now I am grateful for, and cherish, every day we still have each other. You have been the person I could always fall back on, and without you I would not have come this far. Thank you for letting me experience, and learn, how to love someone properly. I wish you all the good things, and I look forward to everything ahead of us. I thank the world for having you.