Evangelos Paschalidis research projects

This page reports only the academic work registered in the databases of the Transport and Mobility Laboratory, and is not necessarily a comprehensive list of the work by Evangelos Paschalidis.

More information may be available here

Optimizing the physical workplace for Urban Socio-Environmental performance (Opt-USE)

Sponsor: School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC), École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Evangelos Paschalidis (PM)

Period: November 01, 2024-October 31, 2026

We have entered a new era of building use and work patterns. A plurality of workers in recent surveys have reported working in a hybrid format compared to office only or home only. This has resulted in low office occupancy rates. These evolving patterns of behavior have called into question the value of physical office space and added an additional layer of complexity to optimal performance of building, energy, and transportation systems. At the same time, these office buildings serve a fundamentally human purpose, facilitating interactions and collaboration among members of organizations. Such organizational processes are at risk with reduced use of office space. In this project, we aim to collaborate with Fribourg companies and organizations to collect data on workplace behavior and interactions, building space use, and commuting practices. We will develop models to aid in the optimization of flexible working policies that balance effectiveness of workplace interactions, building energy and spatial efficiency, and commuting costs. Leveraging multi-objective optimization, we propose to develop a decision-support framework for companies to tailor their remote working policies, ensuring a harmonious balance between employee well-being, environmental considerations, and operational efficiency. This research aims to address the intersection of socio-organizational and environmental goals in the operation and utilization of the built environment in Fribourg and Switzerland.

Migration and Discrete Choice Models (MIGDCM)

Sponsor: Swiss National Science Foundation

Team: Michel Bierlaire (PI), Silvia Varotto (PM), Evangelos Paschalidis (PM)

Period: March 01, 2022-March 31, 2025

International migration is at the forefront of policy debates in most countries around the world. In industrialized nations, the proportion of foreigners in total population increased from 4.5 to 12 percent between 1960 and 2019, stirring up fears about economic costs for natives, loss of national identity, and integration issues. In poor countries, international migration raises concerns about the brain drain of highly-skilled workers, as college and university graduates have a much greater propensity to emigrate internationally than the less educated. Hence, the questions of how many people migrate (i.e., migration intensity}, which people migrate first or are more likely to migrate (i.e., migrants' selection), and where migrants choose to settle (i.e., migrants' sorting) have been analyzed from all possible angles in recent literature. Specifically, understanding how people revise their decisions about whether to emigrate, and where to, when facing changes in the global environment is of crucial importance for decision-makers.