Business PhD Spotlight: Yasser Zeinali

Yasser Zeinali is currently a PhD candidate in Operations & Information Systems at the University of Alberta School of Business. He holds a BSc from Shahid Beheshti University and an MSc from Sharif University of Technology, both in Industrial Engineering.

Yasser’s interest in pursuing a PhD grew from a long-standing desire to apply engineering and analytics to real-world problems. His early experience with data analytics during his bachelor’s studies sparked a lasting focus on using analytics to solve complex operational problems with real societal impact.

Yasser’s research applies data-driven optimization to high-impact, real-world problems, with his current work focused on wildfire suppression operations. Wildfires pose a severe and growing global threat, damaging both natural ecosystems and infrastructure. Canada experiences more than 8,000 wildfires annually, burning millions of hectares, with a record-breaking 18.5 million hectares affected in 2023.

In collaboration with Alberta Wildfire, Zeinali is developing a data-driven framework for initial attack operations — the crucial first hours of response aimed at rapid containment. The proposed framework combines three components:

1. Predictive modeling to forecast daily helicopter, air tanker and firefighter demand, as well as expected wildfire incident counts.
2. A transient queueing model that captures short-term congestion.
3. An optimization model that recommends where to pre-position and redeploy limited suppression resources across forest areas.

In practical terms, the system translates forecasts into actionable deployment plans. It tells wildfire managers how to allocate air tankers, helicopters, and crews across regions in a way that reduces expected waiting time for response while accounting for operational realities such as capacity limits, travel time, and surge needs.

“The framework is designed to be operationally realistic and decision-ready — for example, it accounts for congestion and short planning horizons, — producing clear, actionable guidance for wildfire managers,” states Zeinali.

While the current case study centers on Alberta’s landscape, the methodology is adaptable and can be tailored to other jurisdictions confronting intensifying wildfire risk.

When asked why he chose to pursue his PhD at the Alberta School of Business, Yasser points to the opportunity to work directly with provincial wildfire agencies and access to supervisors with expertise in operations management. “It was important to me that my work not stay theoretical,” he notes. “I wanted to build tools that organizations can actually use.”

Yasser Zeinali joined the Alberta School of Business in 2020 as a PhD student in Operations & Information Systems. He is co-supervised by professors Ivor Cribben and Ilbin Lee.