Her Research Fuels Humanitarian Relief - Yuehwern Yih

Today we’re speaking with Professor Yuehwern Yih, newly elected to the National Academy of Engineering, among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. Professor Yih‘s accomplishments have morphed over her career from entomology, to manufacturing, to healthcare, to humanitarian work, to broadly applicable advances in supply chain resilience. In each instance she started afresh, not knowing what she didn’t know, and thinking of ways to help. That flexibility to pivot from one domain and challenge to another — so vital in our fast-changing, technology-driven world — is precisely what she embeds in her real-time decision-making solutions: the ability to adapt as circumstances dictate (interestingly, the same skills she brings to her passion of ballroom dancing). In her work, this has led to truly consequential successes — like getting lifesaving goods over the last mile of the humanitarian supply chain during natural disasters and conflicts in places like Uganda, Ukraine and South Sudan.