Tyler Brand is pursuing a Ph.D. in Geographic Information Science at the University of Utah. His dissertation research is on supply chain and logistics spatial optimization. The three chapters will be on last-mile logistics, food supply and cold chain, and regional distribution. He will be studying the following optimization problems that can be applied to supply chain and logistics: traveling salesman problem, vehicle routing problem, and the knapsack problem.

“Supply Route AI” is a project in conjunction with his dissertation research. It is focused on supply chain visibility and logistics route optimization for the cold chain.

Upon graduation, he plans to apply to Y-Combinator in Summer 2027 in an effort to turn this project into an actual software for commercial use. Tyler plans to focus his career on supply chain and logistics operations research.