Sarasadat Alavi

The University of Texas at Arlington
Doctor of Philosophy, PhD, IMSE
Dissertation: Strategic Competition in Critical Mineral Supply Chains: A Game-Theoretic Framework for Multi-player Global Lithium Supply Chain 

Bio

I am a PhD candidate in Industrial Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington’s IMSE department, specializing in mathematical modeling and optimization of complex supply chains. My research focuses on critical mineral supply chain, particularly lithium, where I analyze strategic and operational interactions within and between multiple decision-makers using advanced game theory frameworks. 

With substantial practical experience in supply chain optimization across different sectors (critical minerals, biofuels, and closed-loop supply chain), I combine theoretical knowledge with applied implementation skills. My current research expands lithium supply chain models by integrating different game theory approaches, such as Stackelberg and Cournot game dynamics, to better represent real-world competitive behaviors between major global players. I solve these complex multi-level programming challenges using exact solution methods based on Benders decomposition and column-and-constraint generation algorithms. 

Projects
  • Lithium Supply Chain Modeling: Developed and solved a Gurobi-based optimization model for lithium supply chains, incorporating recovery decisions and sustainability. Extended the model to a multi-decision-player framework considering US-China interactions. 
  • City of Dallas sidewalk replacement project: Modeled and simulated the pavement process using AnyLogic to analyze queue lengths and identify improvement scenarios .
  • IISE PG&D Data Competition: Built machine learning models (LSTM and XGBoost) for day-ahead electricity price prediction across multiple US states. 
  • GLIMPSE Energy Modeling: Integrated electricity capacity expansion results into a multi-sector framework to analyze power mix impacts on sectoral energy demand. 
  • Facility Location & Supply Chain Optimization: Developed multi-objective and multi-level models for Biofuel supply chain, closed loop supply chain, and interdiction models. 
Publications