From Insights to Action: How Industrial Engineering Can Aid Anti-Human Trafficking Efforts
Kayse Maass
Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University
Past Talk
Tuesday
Mar 22, 2022
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11:30 am
Virtual
177 Huntington Ave.
11th floor
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This talk is hosted by the Social Design Lab.

Human trafficking is a prevalent and malicious global human rights issue, with an estimated 24 million victims exploited worldwide. A major challenge to its disruption is the fact that human trafficking is a complex system interwoven with other illegal and legal networks, both cyber and physical. Efforts to disrupt human trafficking must understand these complexities and the ways in which a disruption to one portion of the network affects other network components. As such, industrial engineering models are uniquely positioned to address the challenges facing anti-human trafficking efforts. This presentation will discuss ongoing interdisciplinary anti-human trafficking efforts focused on prevention, network disruption, and survivor empowerment related to effectively allocating limited resources to disrupt human trafficking networks, increasing survivors’ access to services, and assessing the efficacy of coordination among anti-human trafficking stakeholders. We will discuss how a variety of industrial engineering methodologies can be used in such contexts and how a transdisciplinary community-based participatory approach can move the anti-trafficking field forward.

About the speaker
About the speaker
Dr. Kayse Lee Maass is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering and leads the Operations Research and Social Justice Lab at Northeastern University. Prior to joining Northeastern, she earned a PhD in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and completed her postdoctoral studies in the Department of Health Sciences Research at the Mayo Clinic where she continues to hold a research appointment. Dr. Maass’s research focuses on operations research methodology to address access and equity issues within human trafficking, mental health, housing, and food justice contexts. This includes determining how to most effectively allocate limited resources to disrupt human trafficking networks, increase access to services for survivors, and assess the efficacy of coordination among anti-human trafficking stakeholders. Dr. Maass’s research is supported by multiple federal grants, centers interdisciplinary survivor-informed expertise, and has informed local, national, and international policy and operational decisions.
Dr. Kayse Lee Maass is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering and leads the Operations Research and Social Justice Lab at Northeastern University. Prior to joining Northeastern, she earned a PhD in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan and completed her postdoctoral studies in the Department of Health Sciences Research at the Mayo Clinic where she continues to hold a research appointment. Dr. Maass’s research focuses on operations research methodology to address access and equity issues within human trafficking, mental health, housing, and food justice contexts. This includes determining how to most effectively allocate limited resources to disrupt human trafficking networks, increase access to services for survivors, and assess the efficacy of coordination among anti-human trafficking stakeholders. Dr. Maass’s research is supported by multiple federal grants, centers interdisciplinary survivor-informed expertise, and has informed local, national, and international policy and operational decisions.