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Ingram School of Engineering
Integrated Modeling and Optimization for Service Systems (iMOSS) Lab

HC-Meal deliveries

Nutrition for Underserved Elders Via Application (NUEVA)

Goal: The goal of the NUEVA team is to evaluate and sustain a scalable, non-traditional, multi-platform food delivery application by using community-engaged and mixed methods research to increase capacity for senior nutrition through digital health intervention, assessment, and evaluation that improves food and nutrition security, loneliness and socialization, and health and mental health status of underserved older adult populations while also reducing food loss and waste.  This project is an extension of promising practices that emerged during COVID-19.

Funded by: 

  • Administration for Community Living (ACL)
  • Texas State Translational Research Center (THRC)

Principal Investigator: 

  • Dr. Lesli Biediger (Texas State University)

Collaborators: 

  • Dr. Eduardo Perez (Texas State University)
  • Dr. Francis Mendez Mediavilla (Texas State University)

Graduate students: 

  • Md Yeasir Iqbal

Undergraduate students: 

  • Jestin Young, 
  • Emma Catron
  • Brian Haupt
Visit MOW

Team visiting Meals on Wheels

Award winners

Team wins best project award

Vehicle routing problem

Winner of competition

Yeasir presenting research - Award winner

  • The purpose of this research is to develop an operational framework tailored to nonprofit and community-based organizations, supporting their distinctive distribution and logistical needs. "Meals on Wheels Central Texas," a nonprofit focused on serving elderly populations, exemplifies this challenge, as it relies on three types of drivers: volunteers, paid drivers, and staff. 
  • Our research addresses the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW), specifically adapted for nonprofits, by creating a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model that accommodates different driver types and emphasizes cost-effective route allocation. 

Research publications

Journal papers:

  1.  Iqbal Farabi, Y. and E. Pérez, “The Vehicle Routing Problem with Multiple Driver Allocation for Nonprofit Organizations” in-preparation.

Conference proceedings:

  1. Young, J.J., E.M. Catron, B. Haupt and E. Pérez, (2025) “Improving Operational Efficiency for Meals on Wheels Central Texas: A Process Optimization Initiative”, Proceedings of the IISE Conference 2025, Atlanta, May 31 to June 3.
  2. Iqbal Farabi, Y. and E. Pérez, (2025) “Optimizing Last-Mile Delivery for Nonprofits: A Deterministic VRPTW Model with Multi-Driver Allocation”, Proceedings of the IISE Conference 2025, Atlanta, May 31 to June 3.