Title: Bridging the Cyber–Physical Gaps in Health and Humanitarian Assistance

Abstract:

Technological advances in digital platforms, automation, and sensor systems are rapidly expanding capabilities in healthcare delivery and humanitarian assistance. However, in complex operating environments, the integration of these technologies often reveals a critical gap between cyber systems and the physical realities of human action, environmental variability, and contextual constraints. This misalignment can undermine decision quality and service reliability, and in some cases, lead to unintended or suboptimal outcomes.

This talk examines these challenges in last-mile delivery for healthcare and humanitarian assistance, where decision-making is shaped by the dynamic interplay of human judgment, technological capabilities, and on-the-ground realities. Drawing on case studies, it will discuss how discrepancies between data collected for one operational purpose and its subsequent use for modeling or strategic decision-making can propagate through the system—amplifying risks and degrading performance. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of context-aware design, stakeholder engagement, and research translation to deliver high-quality, sustainable solutions.

Bio:

Dr. Yuehwern Yih is the Tompkins Professor of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University. She previously served as the Director of LASER PULSE ($70 million USAID funded program) and the Associate Director of Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering. She is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), an Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Fellow, and an Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science (ELATE) Fellow.

Dr. Yih’s core research focuses on understanding dynamics of system behaviors to improve the performance of complex systems under volatile environments including manufacturing systems, supply chains, humanitarian assistance, health care delivery, and global development. Dr. Yih received the IISE David F Baker Distinguished Research Award, the Melinda and Bill Gates Grand Challenge Award, the inaugural Faculty Engagement Fellow (highest honor for engagement at Purdue), and multiple Pritsker Undergraduate Teaching Awards and the Most Impactful Faculty Inventors at Purdue. She has vast experience in interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration to address global development challenges, e.g. integrated nutrition system for HIV patients in Kenya, medical supply chains for maternal health in Uganda, humanitarian supply chains in South Sudan and Ukraine, impacting over a million people in need. Dr. Yih received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan, and her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.