The University of Twente (UT) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM) jointly invite senior researchers (associate professor or experienced assistant professor) with excellent research and teaching record to apply for a joint UT-KLM position on Operations Research and Artificial Intelligence for Airline Operations. Would you like to work at the intersection of research and practice and contribute to scientific breakthroughs for KLM?

Job Description

Both UT and KLM are committed to the Kickstart AI initiative, in which five large Dutch companies (KLM, ING, Philips, Ahold Delhaize and NS) are working together to boost research and education in AI, and applications of AI to business processes (see www.kickstartai.nl). As part of this initiative, KLM and UT are collaborating through joint appointments of academic staff, providing access for the next generation of AI talent to education, training, and leading academics. This position is embedded in both organizations, but also connected to other joint appointments as part of the Kickstart AI initiative, e.g., between UT and ING, and between KLM and Utrecht University.

This joint UT-KLM position is the result of a collaboration between the Operations Decision Support department of KLM and the Industrial Engineering and Business Information Systems (IEBIS) group at the High-Tech Business and Entrepreneurship (HBE) department of UT. This position will contribute towards boosting the Artificial Intelligence ecosystem in the Netherlands: to increase educational capacity, and foster the development of the AI community.

Are you looking for an ambitious environment, performing ground-breaking academic research in collaboration with KLM, and providing teaching in Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research? We challenge conventional scholarly wisdom! Join our team and strive to have a significant and sustainable impact on science and society.

Responsibilities

You contribute to research, teaching, and knowledge valorization. You will be responsible for:

• contributing to the goals of kickstart AI (be part of the national initiative) supporting growth in research and education in AI and business;
• identifying scientifically relevant research areas in the front-line of airline operation innovation;
• performing cutting-edge scientific research, inspired by challenges and problems in airline operations;
• developing expertise in innovative optimization models, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, simulation, and operations research in collaboration with KLM;
• consulting at KLM on its cutting-edge research and development in the digitization of airline operations and logistics;
• contributing towards the supervision of PhD students;
• (co-)teaching and coordinating courses in our Bachelor, Master, and Executive programs, such as in the Industrial Engineering & Management and Business & IT programs;
• supervising students from these programs in their graduation assignment.

• shows vision and entrepreneurial drive (seeing opportunities and possibilities, showing ambition);
• has experience in industrial collaboration, in bridging research and practice, and in linking the academic and corporate world;
• has a high competence of solving complex problems;
• holds a PhD degree in a relevant background with a heavy focus on applied mathematics fields such as operations research, industrial engineering, or computational science;
• has extensive experience with optimization models, operations research (OR) methodologies as well as advanced business analytics (AI, machine learning, big data, etc.), and is able to combine these different approaches;
• has proven teaching experience (both lecturing and tutoring), preferably on AI and OR related topics;
• is a great teammate with good communication and leadership skills, able to inspire partners in industrial and academic settings;
• is able to identify trade-offs and prioritize for impact and innovation, has strong result-orientation and divide and conquer attitude;
• possesses the English proficiency level C2 (European Framework) or equivalents;
• possesses a University Teaching Qualification (UTQ) certificate, or be willing to obtain this, and have a real passion for, and the ambition to become a creative and effective teacher.

Research conditions

• Access to a wealth of historical and real-time data detailing every aspect of KLM operations.
• Ability to test models and algorithms in live operations with real impact.
• Collaboration with and support by an academically active R&D department of KLM Operations (ODS)
• Starting budget for appointing one or two PhD students to collaborate in the research.

We offer 1-year appointments that, when positively evaluated, will lead to a permanent appointment. The starting salary, depending on your experience, ranges between € 3.746 to € 6.317 gross per month (in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities), based on the job profile of Assistant or Associate Professor. In addition, the University of Twente offers additional attractive employment conditions (8% holiday allowance, 8.3% end-of-year bonus, solid pension scheme, sabbatical leave, professional and personal development programs, etc.).

The HBE department is a growing research group that combines different methodologies (computer science, operations research, mathematics, engineering, business & management, other social sciences) to improve high-tech business processes. Within this department, the IEBIS group focusses on decision support systems and inter-organizational systems within logistics, healthcare and the services sector.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

For 100 years, KLM has been a pioneer in the airline industry. KLM is the oldest airline still operating under its original name. The Dutch airline aims to be the most customer-focused, innovative, and efficient airline in Europe, offering reliable service and top-quality products.

In 2019 KLM carried a record 35.1 million passengers, offering its passengers direct flights to 171 destinations with a modern fleet of more than 172 aircraft. The airline employs a workforce of more than 33,000 people worldwide. KLM has been the front-runner in the development of sophisticated optimization tools, simulation models, and machine learning methodologies to resolve issues concerning fleet, crew, ground operations, and network in case of travel disruptions. These tools are not only used within KLM itself but more generally in the industry to improve airline operations. Today, the COVID-19 crisis has a worldwide impact on the airline industry. At KLM, the innovative use of machine learning and optimization algorithms is proving its value by reducing the impact of the crisis and allowing for the optimal use of new opportunities.

Operations Decision Support (ODS)

Optimizing and digitizing airline operations is the key to gaining competitive advantage in the airline industry, as other factors-such as seats, routes, aircraft-that once set airlines apart have now become commodities.

Every day, KLM's Operational Control Center makes tradeoffs that affect flights, passengers, crew, ground staff, on-time performance, and profitability. The many operational processes of KLM strongly interact with each other resulting in vast complexity. Today, these processes produce a vast amount of data and offer increasing opportunities to implement decisions digitally, creating a vast field for research and development, and improvement on old ways of working. Operations Decision Support, a department founded in 2017, together with BCG joined forces in digitalizing airline operations by building a suite of tools that improve the operational performance of the airline. By combining data with today's advanced analytics, AI and machine-learning expertise, complex operational issues are now solved for KLM and for other airline clients across the world.

ODS is located at Schiphol Oost with a view on the platform. The ODS team consists of about 80 people working in an agile manner (machine learning and operations research specialists, software engineers, business analysts, product owners and IT operations). We are known for our can-do-mentality. Our familiar atmosphere often results in Friday drinks and celebrations of all kinds of achievements.