Faculty Profile

Highlights

These highlights are AI-generated using the faculty's CV and Google Scholar profile

Yangfang (Helen) Zhou is an award-winning scholar in sustainable operations management, renowned for her research on renewable energy, electric vehicles, agriculture, and food systems, with a strong methodological foundation in stochastic modeling and mechanism design.

Internationally recognized for bridging theory and practice in sustainable operations; recipient of multiple best paper and teaching awards; research has influenced policy and industry practices in energy, agriculture, and urban sustainability; frequently featured in media and invited to speak at leading global institutions; excels in interdisciplinary collaboration and real-world impact.

Focused research areas include Optimization and management of renewable energy systems (wind, storage, transmission); smart charging and business models for electric vehicles; sustainable agriculture and farmland allocation; food loss and waste reduction; integration of operations management and engineering models for sustainability.

Areas of Expertise

SustainabilityRenewable energyAgricultureFood waste

Latest Publications

Education

2012	Ph.D., Operations Management, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University.
2009	Master in Industrial Administration, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University.
2007	Master in Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University

Current Position(s) Held

2022 - Now	Associate Professor of Operations Management Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University
2013 - 2021	Assistant Professor of Operations Management Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University

Awards, Recognition and Honors

SMU MPA Research Fellow, 2025

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2024 - 2025

SMU MPA Research Fellow, 2024

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2023 - 2024

Best Publication Award in Environment and Sustainability in the INFORMS Section on ENRE (Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment), 2023

Runner-up award for Harvey Greenberg Research Award, INFORMS Computing Society, 2023

Urban Fellow, Singapore Management University, 2024-present

Finalist for 2023 Best OM paper award in M&SOM

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2022 - 2023

Lee Kong Chian Fellowship, 2022

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2021 - 2022

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2020 - 2021

2020 Best Publication Award in Environment-Sustainability in the INFORMS Section of ENRE (Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment)

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2019 - 2020

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2018 - 2019

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2017 - 2018

Nominee for The Most Promising Teacher Award, Singapore Management University, 2016

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2015 - 2016

Lee Kong Chian School of Business Dean's Teaching Honor List, 2014 - 2015

Best Research Presentation by a Junior Faculty or a Doctoral Student, Workshop on Analytics for Business, Consumer and Social Insights (BCSI), 2015

Honourable Mention of The 2014 CSAMSE Annual Conference Best Paper Award, 2014

Research assistantship, Carnegie Mellon University, 2010-2012

Department Nominee to the INFORMS Future Academician Colloquium, Nov 2011

William Larimer Mellon Fellowship, Tepper School of Business, 2007-2010

The second prize of Yellow Roadway Corporation Scholarship, Tsinghua University (Top 3%), Oct 2006

Research assistantship, Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, 2005-2007

The second prize of undergraduate thesis of Hubei Province (Top 0.1%), Jul 2005

The first prize of undergraduate thesis, HUST, Jun 2005

Excellent Graduate Award, HUST, Jun 2005

The Model Student Award, HUST (20 out of 50,000 students) (Top 004%), Oct 2003

The first-class scholarship of HUST (Top 5%), 2002-2004

Excellent league leader, HUST (Top 3%), Dec 2002

The first-class scholarship of PeiXinXing, Department of Mechanical Engineering, HUST, Sept 2002

Research Interests

Domain (sustainability)
- Renewable energy and energy storage operations
- Electrical vehicle adoption and operations
- Agriculture operations
- Food waste and food loss
Methods:
- Stochastic dynamic programming
- Financial engineering price modelling
- Mechanism design
- Exponential cone programming

Selected Journal Articles (Refereed)

"An Exponential Cone Programming Approach for Managing Electric Vehicle Charging", by Chen Li, Long He, Yangfang (Helen) Zhou, 2023 (Accepted in Operations Research)
- Runner-up award for Harvey Greenberg Research Award, INFORMS Computing Society, 2023
- Media mention: Study on Electric Vehicle Charging to be Published (SMU news), 2023
- OM Prof's paper on charging electric vehicles wins best publication award, 2023

"Smart Charging of Electric Vehicles: An Innovative Business Model for Utility Firms". by Owen Wu, Safak Yucel, Yangfang (Helen) Zhou, 2022. Manufacturing and Service Operations Management 24(5):2481-2499
- 2023 Best Publication Award in Environment-Sustainability in the INFORMS Section of ENRE (Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment)
- Finalist for 2023 Best OM paper award in M&SOM
- Media mention: Managing a city of electric vehicles: how can this happen?, Dec 2023 (City Perspective, SMU)
- OM Prof's paper on charging electric vehicles wins best publication award, 2023
- Media mention: Smart Charging of Electric Vehicles, Sept 2022 (Podcast, ResearchPod)
- Media mention: Charging smart for profit and benefit, Research@SMU 2022
- Media mention: New Electric Vehicle Charging Business Model Poses Multiple Benefits for Consumers, Utilities and the Environment - INFORMS

"Managing Wind-based Electricity Generation in the Presence of Storage and Transmission Capacity", by Yangfang ZHOU, Alan SCHELLER-WOLF, Nicola SECOMANDI, and Stephen SMITH, 2019. Production and Operations Management 28(4):970-989
- Media mention: SMU video titled "Management of renewable energy"
- Media mention: Asian Scientist magazine article "When the switch flips on electricity prices"
- 2020 Best Publication Award in Environment-Sustainability in the INFORMS Section of ENRE (Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment)

"Crop Planning in Sustainable Agriculture: Dynamic Farmland Allocation in the Presence of Crop Rotation Benefits", by Onur BOYABATLI, Javad NASIRY, and Yangfang ZHOU, 2019 (Articles in advance in Management Science)
- Media mention: SMU news article, From farming to retailing: Here's how math models help

"Electricity Trading and Negative Prices: Storage vs. Disposal", by Yangfang ZHOU, Alan SCHELLER-WOLF, Nicola SECOMANDI, and Stephen SMITH, 2016. Management Science 62(3):880-898
- Former titles used: "Is it more Valuable to Store or Destroy Electricity Surpluses?" and "Merchant Management of Electricity Surpluses: Storage vs. Disposal"
- Honorable Mention of the 2014 Columbia University China Business Initiative / CSAMSE (Chinese Scholars Association for Management Science and Engineering) Annual Conference Best Paper Award
- Best Research Presentation by a Junior Faculty or a Doctoral Student, Workshop on Analytics for Business, Consumer and Social Insights (BCSI)
- Media mention: SMU podcast titled "The downside of renewable energy"
- Media mention: Asian Scientist magazine article "When the switch flips on electricity prices"