Bissan Ghaddar

Bissan Ghaddar’s research focuses on problems at the intersection of smart cities applications, machine learning, and optimization models. She received her Ph.D. in Operations Research - Management Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada. Her career spans both academia and industry, including work on energy, telecom, water, and transportation network optimization at IBM Research, as well as inventory management projects at the Department of National Defence Canada. She was recently awarded the Western Faculty Scholar Award for her outstanding scholarly achievements.   

Bissan is a fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, engaged in the research cluster on AI, Global Governance, and International Public Policy. She is also a member of the Waterloo Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE) and the Affordable Energy for Humanity (AE4H) network and she serves as the Research Lead at the Ivey Energy Policy and Management Centre. Additionally, she is a committee member of the Energy Modelling Hub Platform, contributing to efforts toward a decarbonized energy system for Canada. She was the guest editor for a special issue on Machine Learning for Optimization in the European Journal on Computational Optimization. 

Her work has been published in leading journals such as Mathematical Programming, INFORMS Journal on Computing, SIAM Journal on Optimization, among others. Her research has been supported by national and international grants including NSERC, OCE, Cisco, H2020, and Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship. Her contributions have been recognized with the Best Survey Paper Award at the EURO Conference in Copenhagen and the title of Distinguished International Associate by the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK.

Academic Experience

• Full Professor, IE University, Spain, 2025 - Present 

• Associate Professor of Management Science and Sustainability, Ivey Business School, Canada, 2017 - 2025 

• Assistant Professor of Management Science, University of Waterloo, 2016 - 2017

Academic Background 

• Ph.D. in Management Science, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2011 

• MASC in Management Science, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2007 

• Bachelor of Engineering in Computer and Communications Engineering, American University of Beirut, Lebanon, 2005

Corporate Experience

• Research Scientist, IBM Research, Smarter Cities Research Center, Ireland, 2013-2016

• Defense Scientist, Department of National Defense, Canada, 2012-2013

 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGs)

7- Affordable and Clean Energy

9- Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure 

11- Sustainable Cities and Communities