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First Annual Symposium on Biologistic Supply Chains

Advancing Supply Chains, Logistics, and Transportation of Bio-Products:  State of the Art Meets State of the Practice
December 2, 2016
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
FedEx Institute of Technology

The Intermodal Freight Transportation Institute and the FedEx Institute of Technology are hosting Advancing Supply Chains, Logistics, and Transportation of Bio-Products: State of the Art Meets State of the Practice, immediately following IFTI's 10th Annual Intermodal Freight Conference.  This symposium will showcase the cutting edge research taking place here at the University of Memphis as a result of a partnership between the Intermodal Freight Transportation Institute and the FedEx Institute of Technology. This partnership created a Biologistics Research Cluster, home to the University of Memphis Biologistics Research Fellows.    

Biologistics can be defined as the management of the safe flow of high value, temperature sensitive, and time-critical biological materials as they are delivered for patient care, analyzed for diagnostic purposes, processed to higher value products or stored to meet physical and data archival needs.  

Topics for the Biologists Symposium include:

  • Innovations in Packaging for Biologisitcs Applications
  • Additive Manufacturing: New Horizons for Biologistics
  • Security Challenges in Biologistics

Don't be left behind!  Learn more about the cutting-edge research taking place in a rapidly growing field by attending this Symposium! 

Click HERE to register>

Click HERE to learn more about the Tenth Annual IFTI Conference, The State of Freight.

The University of Memphis Biologistics Research Fellows

Read below for an abstract from each research team.  Click on the project name to access the abstract.

These awards address a broad scope of emerging biologistics topics.  The sixteen faculty researchers involved represent seven academic departments in five colleges, schools and centers from across the University. Please click on the titles below to view an abstract of the research.  Congratulations to the faculty members listed below:

Alternative Biologistics for Pharmaceutical Products: 3D-Printed Tablets and Pills
PI:  Dr. Ebrahim Asadi, Mechanical Engineering, Herff College of Engineering
Co-PI:  Dr. Sabya Mishra, Civil Engineering, Herff College of Engineering

Biologistics of Lung Cancer Screening and Management Using Field Effect of Carcinogenesis
and a Novel Biophotonics Technique
PI:  Dr. Prabhakar Pradhan, Physics & Materials Science, College of Arts & Sciences
No Co-PI 

Assessment of Biologistics Research and Practices for the Purposes of Proposing a New Cutting-Edge Research Agenda
PI: Dr. Mehdi Amini, Marketing & Supply Chain Management, Fogelman College of Business & Economics
Co-PI:  Dr. Mihalis Golias, Civil Engineering, Herff College of Engineering

Post-Disaster Management of Freight Transportation Networks
PI:  Dr. Charles Camp, Civil Engineering, Herff College of Engineering
Co-PIs:  Dr. Shahram Pezeshk, Civil Engineering, Herff College of Engineering & and Dr. Chris Cramer, Center for Earthquake Research Information (CERI), Herff College of Engineering

Biologistics Security: Implications for Market Growth, Transportation and Logistics
PI:  Dr. Haskel D. Harrison, Sparks Bureau of Business & Economic Research, Fogelman College of Business & Economics
Co-PI:  Dan Pallme, Intermodal Freight Transportation Institute, Herff College of Engineering

Big Data Analytics Meets the Internet of Things: A Paradigm Shift in Biologistics
PI:  Dr. Mohammed Yeasin, Electrical Engineering, Herff College of Engineering
Co-PI:  Dr. Sabya Mishra, Civil Engineering, Herff College of Engineering

Advanced Aerogel Packaging Solutions for Cold-Chain Biologics Materials Handling
PI:  Dr. Firouzeh Sabri, Physics & Materials Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Co-PI:  Dr. Jeffrey Marchetta, Mechanical Engineering, Herff College of Engineering

Smart Packaging Temperature Sensing for Biologistics
PI:  Dr. Firouzeh Sabri, Physics & Materials Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Co-PI:  Steve Allison

Engineering Novel Supercapacitor:  Batteries for Biologistics
PI:  Dr. Sanjay Mishra, Physics & Materials Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Co-PI:  Dr. Jiangbiao Cui, Physics & Materials Science, College of Arts & Sciences

What is Biologistics?

The pace at which the biosciences industry and clinical research are evolving has created an explosive demand for temperature-controlled logistics services (cold-chain logistics). The demand for these services is projected to increase by more than 60% by 2020. The intersection of intermodal access and the significant logistics and biosciences industries uniquely positions Memphis to become a leader in this rapidly evolving field known as biologistics.  

The unique nature of biomaterials and advanced pharmaceuticals creates new challenges not only for those needing to ship or receive them but also for supply chain and logistics providers due to the high-value and temperature/time sensitive nature of the products and the increasingly stringent regulatory requirements for shipment control and monitoring. This creates a need for new and more advanced storage and distribution infrastructure, customizable supply chain strategies, innovative solutions to scheduling and validation problems, and a highly specialized and compliant network to enable predictive insight, generate alternative procedures, and mitigate risk so that product integrity is maintained.

Why Memphis?

Known as 'America's Distribution Center' for extensive infrastructure in all modes, Memphis boasts the second busiest cargo airport in the world, five Class I railroads, the fourth busiest inland port in the country, and the ability to reach more major markets overnight by truck than any other metropolitan area in the nation. This nexus of transportation infrastructure creates significant transportation, logistics and distribution sector job opportunity, with Memphis having a greater percentage of logistics workers in its workforce than any other metropolitan area in the country. The speed to market for the Memphis area is one reason for the robust biosciences industry, and nearly 10% of the Memphis workforce is employed in this sector. This intersection of intermodal access and the significant logistics and biosciences industries uniquely positions Memphis to become a leader in the rapidly evolving field of biologistics.