Dr. Liping Fang
Areas of Academic Interest
Industrial engineering
Systems engineering
Engineering management
Conflict resolution
Decision support systems
Environmental management
Water resources management
Agent-based modelling and simulation
Education
| Year | University | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | University of Waterloo | PhD |
| 1985 | University of Waterloo | MASc |
| 1982 | Tianjin University | BEng |
Selected Courses
| Course Code | Course |
|---|---|
| ME8135 | Directed Studies in Mechanical Engineering |
Spotlight
Liping Fang is a helpful guy to have around when there is a complicated decision to make. In both of his professional roles – as a researcher and an administrator – he specializes in determining how to allocate resources when there are competing interests and limited options.
As an engineering researcher, Fang develops models that enable as many participants as possible to benefit from a decision-making process. For example, he worked on a case study involving a prairie river basin, helping a diverse group of stakeholders decide how to allocate scarce water resources while navigating legal, regulatory and customary constraints. “Our models search for solutions in which everybody wins,” he says.
His expertise with resource allocation has also been useful in his role as associate dean of undergraduate programs and student affairs at the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science. He is regularly faced with tough decisions, such as how to assess new programs or resolve academic appeals. “I always try to think from the perspective of the different stakeholders to see how we can make better decisions.”
“I’m fascinated by the process of reaching fair and equitable decisions when there are limited resources.”
- Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering (2016)
- Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2018)
- INFORMS ENRE Best Publication Award in Environment and Sustainability (2012)
- Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership, Toronto Metropolitan University (2014)
- Xu, H., Hipel, K.W., Kilgour, D.M., and Fang, L. Conflict Resolution Using the Graph Model: Strategic Interactions in Competition and Cooperation. Springer, Cham, Switzerland, 2018, 436 pp.
- Williams, C., and Fang, L. “A Value-focused Multiple Participant-multiple Criteria (MPMC) Decision Support Approach for Public Policy Formulation.” Group Decision and Negotiation, vol. 28, no. 1, 2019, pp. 99-126.
- Xiao, Y., Fang, L., and Hipel, K.W. “Agent-based Modeling Approach to Investigating the Impact of Water Demand Management.” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, vol. 144, no. 3, 2018, pp. 04018006-1 to 04018006-12.
- Elias, Reaz-us Salam, M.I.M. Wahab, and Liping Fang, “The Spark Spread and Clean Spark Spread Option Based Valuation of a Power Plant With Multiple Turbines.”Energy Economics, vol. 59, 2016, pp. 314-327.
- Bristow, M., Fang, L., and Hipel, K.W. “Agent-based Modeling of Competitive and Cooperative Behavior Under Conflict.” IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, vol. 44, no. 7, 2014, pp. 834-850.
- Associate editor, Group Decision and Negotiation (2018 - present)
- Associate editor, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems (2013 - present)
- Member, Civil, Industrial and Systems Engineering Evaluation Group, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada (2018-21)
- Member, International Conferences on Water Resources and Environment Research (ICWRER) Steering Committee (2008 - present)
- Member, Fellows Evaluation Committee, IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (2019-20)
- Vice-president for membership and publications, Group Decision and Negotiation Section, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) (2019 - present)