About
I am an incoming Assistant Professor in the Decision Sciences area at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. I recently defended my PhD dissertation in Industrial Engineering at the University of South Florida in June 2025, where I conducted my doctoral research under the guidance of Dr. Hadi Gard and Dr. Changhyun Kwon. My dissertation research focused on solving large‑scale vehicle routing problems by developing new methodologies and tackling real‑world issues such as equitable workload allocation.
Prior to my PhD, I served as a Research Associate at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. I hold a BS-MS dual degree in Mathematics from the National Institute of Technology Agartala (2019), where my master’s thesis explored Type-2 Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making.
I am looking for highly motivated candidates with a strong background in Integer Programming or Deep Learning to join my team.
- Current PhD students at IIM Bangalore: Please email me to discuss potential collaboration.
- Prospective Research Associates: Send your CV, unofficial transcripts, and a writing sample to abhay.sobhanan@gmail.com with the subject “Application for Research Associate Position”.
Research Directions
I am interested in applying operations research and machine learning to real-world optimization problems. My current research directions include:
- Optimization of transportation networks
- Exact and heuristic optimization methods
- Deep learning applications
- Warehouse order-picking problems
- Advancements in multi-objective optimization
I welcome opportunities for academic and research engagements, including invited talks, seminars, collaborations, and other scholarly activities. If you are interested in discussing potential opportunities, please feel free to reach out.