Container Port Activity Analytics: Latin America and the Caribbean
Maritime sector analysis: Latin America and the Caribbean
Sustainability Performance in Ports
River transport in Colombia
GiroZero: RFT in ColombiaTeam Kühne Chair
Gordon Wilmsmeier
Director Logistics Chair Kühne
Contact: g.wilmsmeier@uniandes.edu.co
Gordon Wilmsmeier holds the Kühne Professorial Chair in Logistics at the School of Management, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. At the same time he is is the Director of the Hapag-Lloyd Centre for Shipping and Global Logistics (CSGL) at the Kühne Logistics University (KLU), Hamburg, Germany.
Since October 2020 he has been working with the Vice-presidency for Research and Creation at Universidad de los Andes, from 10/2020 – 08/2022, as the Director of the Project Development Office and since 10/2022 he is the Strategic Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Research Centers of the Vice-presidency.
Gordon is honorary professor for Maritime Geography at the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen, Germany.
From 2011 to 2017, he worked as Economic Affairs Officer in the Infrastructure Services Unit at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC). Previously he worked at Edinburgh Napier University’s Transport Research Institute (TRI), Scotland (2007-2011) and as consultant for UN-ECLAC, UNCTAD, UN-OHRLLS, the World Bank, Adelphi Research, JICA, IDB, CAF, OAS.
Gordon received his PhD. in Geography from the University of Osnabrück and graduated as geographer from the Technische Universität Dresden, Germany.
Wilmsmeier’s research focuses on maritime transport geography and economics, port economics and inland shipping issues. Recent projects focus on port governance, sustainable port development, energy transition, competition in liner shipping market, digitalization and technology in supply chains, as well as nautical electromobility. In 2023 his research group inaugurated the first battery electric school boat on the Pacific Coast of Colombia.
He has published over 100 book chapters, journal papers, institutional publications and working papers. His recent books include: Geographies of Maritime Transport and Maritime Mobilities. In 2022 his work on climate change adaptation was cited in the IPCC report.
He is leader of the global Port Performance Research Network (PPRN), member of the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME), , member of the International Geographical Union (IGU) Transport & Geography Commission, member of the Board of Directors Fundación Conecta Logística, Chile, member of the WCTRS Special Interest Group – Intermodal Freight, and associate member of PortEconomics.
Ricardo Sánchez
Co-Director Logistics Chair Kühne
Contact: r.j.sanchez@live.com
Economist graduated from Universidad del Salvador, Argentina, MSc in Management and Economics of Public Services from Universidad Carlos III – Madrid and University of Paris X, and PhD in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina.
Ricardo is currently the Director of the Caribbean Research Institute, CSA and co-director of the Kühne Chair in Logistics, School of Management, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.
Previously, he was Senior Economic Affairs Officer, Regional Expert on Infrastructure and Ports, at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Santiago de Chile Branch, dedicated to maritime, infrastructure and transport issues for the entire LAC region.
He has worked professionally or academically in 30 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean for 35 years, as well as in other countries in Europe and Asia. Professional career: both in the private sector with local and foreign companies and in the public sector with international organisations and the Argentinean Federal Government.
Professional orientation: Currently working in the areas of Maritime Economics; Infrastructure and Transport Economics.
Sara Manuela Graciano Correa
Project Officer
Contact: s.gracianocorrea@uniandes.edu.co
Magister in Conservation and Use of Biodiversity from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and political scientist from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Researcher and advisor on environmental and climate issues. She has experience in project coordination, legislative initiatives and public relations management in the public sector, NGOs and academia.
She has worked as an advisor on policies and legislative initiatives in the Government and Congress of the Republic of Colombia. She was the advocacy coordinator for the Marviva Foundation, where she also led the formulation and implementation of marine and coastal conservation projects, focusing on sustainable fisheries and ocean pollution mitigation.
In addition, she has research experience in areas of climate governance, socio-territorial movements and agroecological and sustainable practices.
She currently, works as a project professional in the Faculty of Administration at the Universidad de los Andes.
Ana Cristina Ocampo
Research Associate.
Contact: aco_kuhne_chair@uniandes.edu.co
Industrial Engineer with a Master’s in Administration from Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Manizales. She also holds a master’s degree in Supply Chain Management from Universidad de los Andes. During her master’s degree, she researched the carbon footprint of rural transportation for Colombian coffee growers.
She has also participated in research projects, including innovation barriers, market orientation and social entrepreneurship with productive initiatives of rural communities in Caldas. In addition, she has five years of experience as a university professor in operations management.
Diana Lisseth Trujillo-R
Leading of waterborne electromobility initiative | Project manager.
Contact: di-truji@uniandes.edu.co; di.trujillor@gmail.com
Professional in business administration and technologist in business management. She has 7 years of experience in the planning, operational and financial execution of research projects. Her work is oriented to the formulation of projects focused on nautical electromobility and renewable energies that generate quantifiable social/environmental impacts and that promote benefits in rural areas of Colombia and that include partnerships with strategic actors.
Diana has work and research interests related to sustainable resource management and its interrelation with technological, environmental, economic, social and political aspects. She has experience in working with communities – especially in the Colombian Pacific – supporting processes of adoption of technological innovations that result in the strengthening of quality of life, productive activities and reduction of environmental impacts.
In addition, she has 10 years of experience in research platform management, as well as extensive experience in delivering reports for international accreditation agencies and higher education measurement rankings.
Gustavo Martínez
Research Associate
Contact: ga.martinez408@uniandes.edu.co
Civil Engineer from the National University of Colombia. Master in Civil Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá and Master Candidate in Economics and Finance, University of Queensland, Australia.
Associate Researcher at the Universidad de los Andes (Colombia) in the project: Giro Zero. Civil Engineer from the National University of Colombia, Bogotá. With more than 10 years of experience in the area of transport and infrastructure services, specifically in maritime and river transport and ports. Lecturer in postgraduate programmes at the Universidad Externado de Colombia.
Research interests in maritime economics, new energy sources such as hydrogen, decarbonisation of transport and circular economy in infrastructure.
Natalia Calderón Rivera
Research Associate
Contact: natalialorenacalderonrivera@gmail.com
Natalia has bachelor’s degrees in Naval Sciences and Physical Oceanography, and a master’s degree in Oceanography from the Naval Academy “Almirante Padilla.” She is currently pursuing a PhD in Maritime Affairs at the World Maritime University, focusing on sustainable development of inland waterway transport. Natalia started her career as a Navy officer in the Colombian Navy. She then worked as an adviser and surveyor for the Colombian Maritime Administration. Currently, she is a Research Assistant for the EU Horizon Seanergy project, dedicated to facilitating the transition of ports towards cleaner energy sources, reinforcing his commitment to sustainable port operations. Her work highlights her commitment to sustainable port operations and environmental sustainability in the maritime industry.
Alejandra Gómez Paz
Research Associate
Contact: mariagomezpaz@yahoo.com
PhD in Transport from UPM, Master in Port Engineering from CEDEX and UBA, Civil Engineer from UCA. His research focuses on the dynamics of connectivity between regions and the factors that influence it—such as trade, freight, infrastructure, ship dimensions, new technologies, service configuration, and commercial practices. He is currently a member of the Khüne Chair at UniAndes.
She is presently a Senior Consultant at the Infrastructure and Logistics Unit of ECLAC. She has contributed to high-impact publications including ECLAC, ESCAP, UNCTAD, PIANC, JST, MPM, and IAME. She currently teaches in the Specialisation in Port Engineering at UBA, has lectured at UCA, UTN, UCU, Di Tella, and has supervised Master’s Theses in Urban Economics.
With 20 years of experience, he has collaborated with multiple governments and industries across America, Europe, and Asia, developing projects aimed at regional integration and contributing to the identification of challenges, policies, and innovative, flexible, and sustainable solutions.
Cristiam Gil
Research Associate
Contact: c.gilg@uniandes.edu.co
PhD in Engineering Systems from the University of Chile (2020).
Before joining the KLU, Cristiam worked in the GiroZero Project with Cardiff University in the UK and University of Andes in Colombia. GiroZero is a project funded of the UK Pact programme of the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The project seeks to accelerate vehicle renewal and technologies to reduce the miles run, fuel consumed, and CO2 emitted by vehicles operating within the Colombian road freight transport sector.
During his Ph.D. studies, he was awarded The Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) scholarship from Government of Canada to do his doctoral internship in the prestigious Interuniversity Center for research in Entrepreneurial Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT) in the École Polytechnique de Montréal-Canada, developing cutting-edge solution methods and algorithms for highly combinatorial and complex models.
Andrés Felipe Rey Ladino
Research Associate
Contact: a.reyl@uniandes.edu.co
PhD Candidate at Kuehne Logistics University. Mechanical Engineer from Universidad Nacional de Colombia with a Magister Science degree in Industrial Engineering from ICESI and GCLOG Certificate in Supply Chain Management at MIT.
He has 19 years of work experience in freight transportation in the private sector and public sector. He worked as transport planning specialist, project manager, operations manager and Senior Consultant for the National Planning Department (DNP) with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Also, he has developed freelance logistics and sustainable freight transportation projects with multilateral banking such as the World Bank for Bolivia, with the IDB for Peru, CAF for Panamá, and ICLEI for Colombia.
Ana María Montes Franco
Research Associate
Contact: a.montesf@uniandes.edu.co
Master in industrial engineering from the Universidad de los Andes (2022) with an emphasis in operations research and applied probability.
Experience in project formulation and management, among which stand out intelligent displacement systems, collaborative robotics and hybrid methodologies for container loading considering realistic mechanical limitations. Coordination of the integrated learning environment laboratory attached to the industrial engineering department of the Universidad de los Andes. Experience in formulation of programming models, optimization, industry 4.0, collaborative robotics and the development of hybrid methodologies.