Fatima Ezzahra Achamrah

Dr Fatima Ezzahra Achamrah serves as a Lecturer in Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Sheffield University Management School, University of Sheffield, where she contributes to advancing research at the intersection of operations research and artificial intelligence. Her work focuses on developing innovative methodologies to solve complex logistical challenges in modern supply chains.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Paris Saclay University, CentraleSupelec, France
• Engineering degree (MEng/CEng) in Process Engineering from the National School of Applied Sciences, Morocco

Research Interests: Dr Achamrah's research centers on Combinatorial Optimization in Logistics and Production Systems, Resilience in Cyber-Physical and Collaborative Networks, and Machine Learning/AI in OR. She pioneers interdisciplinary approaches that integrate reinforcement learning with exact and meta-heuristic methods to address vehicle routing, inventory management, and 3D bin packing problems. Her groundbreaking work on flow management within cyber-physical networks, particularly the 'Physical Internet' concept, aims to revolutionize supply chain resilience and efficiency through AI-driven solutions.

Publication Trends: Her recent publications (2022-2025) reveal a dominant focus on deep reinforcement learning applications for combinatorial optimization under uncertainty, with significant contributions to sustainable cargo-bike delivery systems, selective maintenance in cyber-physical manufacturing, and Physical Internet protocols. These works consistently address stochastic demands and dynamic environments, demonstrating how AI-enhanced optimization can transform logistics operations while enhancing environmental sustainability.

Grants and Supervision:

• Principal Investigator for The Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures (GCSF) GO Fund (2024, £10,000)
• Co-Investigator for APR&D programme (2021-2023, £420,000)

She actively supervises PhD research in operations and supply chain efficiency, resilience, sustainability, and cyber-physical network management, guiding next-generation researchers in developing intelligent logistics solutions.

Research Group: Dr Achamrah is a core member of the Operations Management and Decision Sciences (OMDS) research group, driving collaborative projects that bridge theoretical innovation with practical industry applications.