Sustainable Operations and Analytics Research (SOAR) Lab

1. Circular Economy for Small Medical Devices (ReMed): Solving the challenge of small medical device waste in the health sector

ReMed (www.remed.uk, EPSRC £1.5m) is a multi-disciplinary research collaboration focused on applying circular economy principles to small medical devices through re-engineering, reuse, refurbishment, and recycling.

NBS led the development of simulation-based decision support tools to assess feasibility of circular practices. Helpful actionable insights to support implementation of circular economy practices within healthcare service delivery.

Key Insights:

Waste Reduction: Adopting re-usable devices can reduce waste by up to 50%.

Cost Efficiency: While initial investments in redesign and infrastructure are needed, long-term savings are achievable through multi-use cycles.

Resilient supply chains: Circular approaches reduce reliance on international suppliers, enhancing system resilience.

2. Digital Transformation for Rise and Recline Ltd (2025 -  2027): Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Rise and Recline Ltd (Lead Academic: Aquila Yeong; Co-Supervised by Prof. Zara Whysall (Nottingham Business School) and Prof. Amin Al-Habaibeh (School of Architecture Design and the Built Environment), ~ £205k

This KTP project aims to enable business growth, increased profitability and greater resource efficiency in a mature manufacturing firm. The project will employ bespoke algorithms to support human decision-making, effectively upskilling and empowering the existing workforce.

Previous/current projects:

• EPSRC-funded project “Circular Economy for small medical devices” (ReMed) - £1.5M
• NIHR-funded project “Kenya-UK development award to support the design of a whole system approach to facilitate the functioning of the baby friendly community initiative within the Kenyan health system” - £100K
• Health Foundation/Wales NHS Modelling Collaborative, “Exploring implementation barriers of analytics and simulation projects in healthcare” £50K
• Simulation for Greater Care (SIMTEGR8) project,  £128K.
• "Newton Fund": Innovating the Turkish supply chain for services in humanitarian aid" (~£150K)
• "British Council: Vaccines4All: efficient, fair and timely distribution of vaccines and pandemic test resources" (~£150K)
• 5 Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) projects by Innovate UK since 2017 (~£950k),
• Regional funds such as Productivity Through Innovation (by European Regional Development Fund), and Enterprising Ashfield (~£100k)
• Gender bias in the OR profession: analysing enablers and barriers (unfunded project)

2025

• Tako, A. A. (2025). A methodological framework combining a facilitated and expert mode to extend the simulation model lifetime: a case study of an ambulance service. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/01605682.2025.2554740
• MUTORO, A.N., WANJOHI, M., WILUNDA, C., KOECH, M.J., OGUNSOLA, A., TAKO, A., JUN, T.G., WATERSON, P., GRIFFITHS, P.L. and KIMANI-MURAGE, E.W., 2025. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the baby-friendly community initiative and maternal infant and young child nutrition in Kenya. BMC Public Health, 25: 1618. ISSN 1471-2458
• Tako A A and Constantinescu C., Exposing gender bias in the mathematics and operational research professions, IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, Volume 36, Issue 3, July 2025, Pages 397–403, https://doi.org/10.1093/imaman/dpaf021
• Croft, S, Tako, A, He, Y, Thompson, S, Morgan, L and Lambie, M, 2025. Developing hybrid kidney care models with facilitated modelling. In: Harper, A, Luis, M, Monks, T and Mustafee, N, eds., Proceedings of the 12th Operational Research Society Simulation Workshop 2025 (SW25). Birmingham: Operational Research Society, pp. 126-135. ISBN 9798331315078
• Ghahremani-Nahr, J., Kian, R. and Ghaderi, A., 2025. A food upcycling model by food bank collection-distribution networks. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, p.102247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2025.102247
• Li, Y., Cao, D., Hewitt, M. and Shan, S., 2026. Using large-language models to analyse social media engagement with the public sector communication on circular economy: Evidence from X. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 222, p.124400
• Wang, B., Mirza, N., Umar, M. and Shan, S., 2025. Firm valuation under climate uncertainty: The role of climate risk exposure and disclosure practices. International Review of Financial Analysis, p.104724.
• Shan, S., Gümüş, D.B., et al., 2025, Online Health Community Recommendation System with LDA-FCM Approach. Engineering Headway, 27, pp.329-342.
• Chen, Z., Mirza, N., Umar, M. and Shan, S., 2025. Sustainability and entrepreneurial finance: how does climate risk affect startup financing and valuations? International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research, pp.1-17.

2024

• Lentle, D., Sachser, V., Incze, E., Tako, A., Rostami-Tabar, B., Spencer, C. and Morgan, J., 2024. Using simulation for long-term bed modelling in critical care. Journal of Simulation. ISSN 1747-7778.
• Shoaib, M., Tako, A., Fayad, R. and Vargas-Palacios, A., 2024. Towards using simulation to evaluate the circular economy of small medical devices. In: Proceedings of the 2024 Winter Simulation Conference. Winter Simulation Conference.
• He, Y., Hewitt, M., Lehuédé, F., Medina, J. and Péton, O., 2024. A continuous-time service network design and vehicle routing problem. Networks, 83, pp.300–323. https://doi.org/10.1002/net.22194.
• Xiao, Y., Kchouri, B., Li, A., & Shan, S. 2024. Tracing the dynamic impact of energy transitions on equity market volatility in an era of financial turbulence, Energy Economics 133, 107443.
• Ali, S., Umar, M., Naveed, M., & Shan, S. 2024. Assessing the impact of renewable energy tokens on BRICS stock markets: A new diversification approach. Energy Economics, 134, 107523.

2023

• Collins, A.J., Thaviphoke, Y. and Tako, A.A., 2023. Using Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) to understand the simulation accessibility problem. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 74(10), pp.2143-2164. ISSN 0160-5682.
• Tsioptsias, N., Tako, A.A. and Robinson, S., 2023. Are “wrong” models useful? A qualitative study of discrete event simulation modeller stories. Journal of Simulation, 17(5), pp.594-606. ISSN 1747-7778.
• Gümüş, D.B., Özcan, E., Atkin, J. and Drake, J.H., 2023. An investigation of F-Race training strategies for cross domain optimisation with memetic algorithms. Information Sciences, 619, pp.153-171.
• Ghahremani-Nahr, J., Ghaderi, A. and Kian, R., 2023. A food bank network design examining food nutritional value and freshness: A multi-objective robust fuzzy model. Expert Systems with Applications, 215, p.119272.
• Ghahremani-Nahr, J., Ghaderi, A. and Kian, R., 2023. Bi-objective fuzzy food bank network design with considering freshness of food baskets. Journal of applied research on industrial engineering, 10(4), pp.518-540.https://doi.org/10.22105/jarie.2022.370119.1513
• Shan, S.; Yang, S.; Becerra, V.; Deng, J.; Li, H. 2023. A Case Study of Existing Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading Platforms: Calling for Integrated Platform Features. Sustainability,15, 16284
• Wang, T., Umar, M., Li, M., & Shan, S. 2023. Green finance and clean taxes are the ways to curb carbon emissions: An OECD experience. Energy Economics, 106842.
• Shan, S., Mirza, N., Umar, M., & Hasnaoui, A. 2023. The nexus of sustainable development, blue financing, digitalization, and financial intermediation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 195.
• Yulei, Li.; Shan, S.,& Lin, Z.,2023. Text Mining and Topic Modelling, Research Methods in Business and Management, Theoretical and Practical Perspectives, Taylor & Francis
• Hepple, R., Du, H., Feng, H., Shan, S., & Yang, S. 2023. Sustainability and carbon neutrality in UK's district heating: A review and analysis. e-Prime-Advances in Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Energy, 100133.

2022

• Danaye, N., Kian, R. and Colmekcioglu, N., 2022. An agent-based modeling approach for understanding drivers of consumer decisions on foreign vs domestic products: Case study of a local refrigerator market. International Journal of Information Technology and Decision Making.
• Ghahremani-Nahr, J., Kian, R., Sabet, E. and Akbari, V., 2022. A bi-objective blood supply chain model under uncertain donation, demand, capacity and cost: A robust possibilistic-necessity approach. Operational Research, pp.1-39.
• Kian, R., Erdoğan, G., de Leeuw, S., Salman, F.S., Sabet, E., Kara, B.Y. and Demir, M.H., 2022. Logistics planning of cash transfer to Syrian refugees in Turkey. European Journal of Operational Research, 296(3), pp.1007-1024.
• Shan, S., Umar, M., & Mirza, N. 2022. Can robo advisors expedite carbon transitions? Evidence from automated funds. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 180, 121694.
• Shan, S, li, Y& H,L. 2022. Motivations behind P2P Energy Trading: A Machine Learning Approach, International Journal of Chinese Culture and Management, 5(3), 189-202

2021

• Sumsurooah, S., He, Y., Torchio, M., Kouramas, K., Guida, B., Cuomo, F., Atkin, J., Bozhko, S., Renzetti, A., Russo, A., Riverso, S. and Cavallo, A., 2021. ENIGMA—A Centralised Supervisory Controller for Enhanced Onboard Electrical Energy Management with Model in the Loop Demonstration. Energies, 14(17), p.5518. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14175518.

• Shan, S., Genç, S. Y., et al. 2021. Role of Green Technology Innovation and Renewable Energy in Carbon Neutrality: A Sustainable Investigation from Turkey. Journal of Environmental Management, 294, 113004.

• Shan, S., Munir, Ahmad., et al. 2021. The Role of Energy Prices and Non-Linear Fiscal Decentralization in Limiting Carbon Emissions: Tracking Environmental Sustainability, Energy,234, 121243

• Xu, X., Li, H., & Shan, S. 2021. Understanding the Health Behaviour Decision-Making Process with Situational Theory of Problem Solving in Online Health Communities: The Effects of Health Beliefs, Message Source Credibility, and Communication Behaviours on Health Behavioural Intention. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(9), 4488.

2020

• Tako, A.A., Tsioptsias, N. and Robinson, S., 2020. Can we learn from simplified simulation models? An experimental study on user learning. Journal of Simulation, 14(2), pp.130-144. ISSN 1747-7778.
• Currie, C.S.M., Fowler, J.W., Kotiadis, K., Monks, T., Onggo, B.S., Robertson, D.A. and Tako, A.A., 2020. How simulation modelling can help reduce the impact of COVID-19. Journal of Simulation, 14(2), pp.83-97.
• He, Y., Artigues, C., Briand, C., Jozefowiez, N. and Ngueveu, S.U., 2020. A matheuristic with fixed-sequence reoptimization for a real-life inventory routing problem. Transportation Science.
• Eliş, H., Tansel, B., Oğuz, O., Güney, M. and Kian, R., 2020. On guarding real terrains: The terrain guarding and the blocking path problems. Omega, p.102303.
• Allahi, F., Taheri, S., Kian, R. and Sabet, E., 2020. Cash based interventions in persistent humanitarian refugee crisis: A system dynamics approach. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2020.2982583.
• Kian, R., 2020. A production planning problem with lost sales and nonlinear convex production cost function under carbon emission restrictions. Journal of Energy Management and Technology, 4(2), pp.1-13.
• Kian, R., Berk, E., Gürler, Ü., Rezazadeh, H. and Yazdani, B., 2020. The effect of economies-of-scale on the performance of lot-sizing heuristics in rolling horizon basis. International Journal of Production Research, pp.1-15.