The Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement and Research (CHOIR) at the University of Twente announces the 34th talk in the ORAHS International Seminar Series.
The ORAHS International Seminars are planned via MS Teams in the late afternoon (Europe), morning (US), or evening (Asia/Pacific) and are part of the EURO Online Seminar Series.
On 24 February 2026, at 16:00 (CEST), Prof. Hein Fleuren (Tilburg University, The Netherlands) will talk about “Fighting Hunger with Analytics: The Zero Hunger Lab Journey”.
Please save the date and register for this seminar here:
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/8d8f9297-4d6e-405d-8fb8-7876c0d8e712@723246a1-c3f5-43c5-acdc-43adb404ac4d
Abstract: Hunger remains one of the world’s most urgent and complex challenges: over 800 million people go to bed hungry, billions cannot afford a healthy diet, and child malnutrition continues to rise. In this talk, Hein Fleuren shares how data science, mathematical modelling, and close collaboration with humanitarian organisations can turn insight into real-world impact. Drawing on his background in large-scale optimisation and applied analytics, he shows how our field of quantitative methods can help make better decisions to solve hunger and malnutrition—where every improvement can translate into lives improved or saved. The presentation highlights concrete projects with the World Food Programme (main focus), Welthungerhilfe, and Red Cross 510, ranging from optimising food assistance and nutritious diets to early detection of child malnutrition using AI, and anticipatory action to respond earlier and more effectively to disasters. Together, these cases demonstrate how analytics can support faster, fairer, and more cost-effective humanitarian responses, but also how we can help from the scientific community to complex worldwide issues like hunger.
Bio: Hein Fleuren is full professor in the application of Business Analytics and Operations Research (BA/OR) at Tilburg University, and he is co-founder and director of the Zero Hunger Lab. His research interest is the application of techniques from data science to make this world a better place, especially in the areas of hunger and poverty. Hein’s main specialization is modeling transport & distribution. Big organizations he has worked for are Philips Electronics, Deutsche Post AG, TNT Express, DPD, and the World Food Programme. In 2012, Hein was part of the winning TNT Express team of the prestigious Franz Edelman award in Los Angeles with Tilburg University. In 2018, Hein, together with his PhD researcher Koen Peters, won the DCHI Award for Humanitarian Innovation. And in 2021, he was again part of the winning team of the Franz Edelman award with the World Food Programme.
More information about our speaker can be found here: https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/nl/medewerkers/fleuren
For more information about our seminar presentations, please follow this link:
https://www.utwente.nl/en/choir/research/ORAHS-International-Seminar-Series/
We look forward to seeing you soon and often in the ORAHS International Seminar Series.
CHOIR Group
University of Twente