Seminari: The future of drone and innovative last mile deliveries: innovations, opportunities, and challenges ahead - Thursday 30/05/2024, 12:00h, IOC seminar

E-Commerce and package deliveries have been growing at a fast pace. In this context, the adoption of Autonomous or semi-autonomous delivery drones and robots has a growing appeal because these vehicles can deliver items to customers or a delivery box without the direct intervention of a driver or delivery person and substantially improve delivery times or reduce costs. This presentation will review results regarding potential cost and environmental benefits of these new technologies but also tradeoffs in terms of productivity and negative externalities. The impact of technological improvements on drone performance will also be discussed as well as innovative ways to design hybrid systems. The presentation will also discuss the scope of existing commercial drone delivery operations and market potential using real-world e-commerce delivery data. 

Dr. Miguel Andres Figliozzi is a Professor in the Civil and Environmental Department at Portland State University. He is a member of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Urban Freight Committee and has published extensively in the area of freight, e-commerce, new technologies, sustainability, equity, logistics, and optimization. Prof. Figliozzi directs the multidisciplinary Transportation Technology and People lab at Portland State. Dr. Figliozzi has received several best paper awards for his work related to vehicle routing, life-cycle emission analysis, equity, fleet sizing, and fleet operations. He has authored or co-authored over 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals and received over 7800 citations. Dr. Figliozzi works frequently in partnership with local, regional, state, and federal transportation agencies, organizations, and private companies.