Paul Bouman's personal website

This is the professional webpage of Paul Bouman. I am currently employed as an Associate Professor at the Erasmus School of Economics.

From a young age, I have been fascinated by the innovations and possibilities enabled by computers, and I knew early on I wanted to study Computer Science. During my Bachelor’s studies at Utrecht University, I did a minor in Artificial Intelligence and worked on software for AIBO robots. During my Master’s studies on Applied Computing Sciences I wrote a thesis on Recoverable Robust optimization. I did my PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam within the Complexity in Public Transport project funded by NWO and completed my PhD thesis “Passengers, Crowding and Complexity” in 2017.

In my professional work I enjoy working on algorithm design and the implementation of algorithms. During my PhD I learned to appreciate the challenges we face when humans have to make use of algorithms and the impact this has both on a local scale (can users or companies use a system) and on a large scale (does a new system benefit society). I commonly study questions related to this in the context of logistics and the allocation of scarce resources. More details of some of my research can be found on the projects page. I have served as a reviewer to high impact journals, such as Transportation Science, Transportation Research: Part B, Computers and Operations Research, Omega and the European Journal on Operational Research, among others.

I teach two large Bachelor courses involving computer skills, including Java programming. I also supervise Master’s theses to students in the Analytics and Operations Research In Logistics and Business Analytics and Quantitative Marketing programs. I also enjoy applying my skills in combinatorial optimization to make different tools surrounding the logistics of teaching, such as allocation student assistants to scheduled classes.