Bio

Sarah Halsey is a Ph.D. student in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department. She focuses on supply chain, logistics and systems analytics and optimization. She began college as a pre-law student but discovered a passion for mathematics in an introductory statistics course. That experience changed her academic path.

Since then, Halsey has pursued industrial engineering for its problem-solving approach and real-world impact. She shifted from a focus on pure and applied mathematics and statistics to applied systems work. Her interest in understanding complex systems and solving practical problems led her to pursue a Ph.D. in ISE.

Halsey also gained research experience as an undergraduate through an REU at NC State’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics. She worked with a team to study non-uniform fractionation methods for patients with brain metastases using mixed integer linear programming. During her senior year, she completed an honors thesis that used logistic regression and inferential statistics to predict mental health outcomes among Meredith College students.

Area(s) of Expertise

Sarah Halsey's research focuses on applied operations research and spatial optimization, with a particular emphasis on facility location modeling for public services, sustainable infrastructure planning and disaster management.

She has been working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation to develop methodologies for planning and designing an electric vehicle infrastructure network that supports both light-duty and medium- to heavy-duty vehicles. In addition, Halsey collaborated with the Goldsboro Fire Department to develop multiple supply chain network models, identifying optimal locations for fire station expansion by focusing on population growth and development in northern Goldsboro, NC.