Check out how scientists are building the next-generation logistics industry

What do a neurogeneticist, a particle physicist and someone trained in structural bioinformatics have in common? They are all bringing their backgrounds – which include studying the neural circuitry of walking in fruit flies and work on the large hadron collider – to the Indian logistics sector to improve the way the industry performs.

This piece from India’s Economic Times looks at how five scientists, now employed by India’s leading logistics firms, are reshaping the industry by bringing an academic and research-based background.

Particle physicist Suvayu Ali is now employed by Delhi-based delivery firm Delhivery and is focused on mapping bottlenecks – including those caused by unexpected peaks – that hinder e-commerce deliveries.

Santanu Bhattacharya, senior vice president of data, technology and products at Delhivery, says: “The ability to solve problems and deal with uncertainty and flexibility is not something people from corporates are trained to do.”

Prior to accepting the position at Delhivery, Mr Ali had no logistics experience and while the article makes nice work of showing how a variety of companies are experimenting with inexperienced scientists stepping in to improve the sector, it fails to give a verdict on their performances.