Dr. Chris Caplice
Senior Research Scientist, MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics
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About Chris
Dr. Caplice serves as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Transportation & Logistics (CTL) where he is responsible for the planning and management of the research, education, and corporate outreach programs for the center. He created and currently serves as Director of the MITx MicroMaster’s Program in Supply Chain Management – the very first MicroMasters credential ever offered. Since its inception in 2015, more than 430,000 students from 196 different countries have participated in these online courses and more than 45,000 Verified Certificates have been awarded. A total of 2,976 MicroMasters credentials have been awarded to date.
Dr. Caplice was selected as the first Silver Family Research Fellow in 2016 in recognition of his contribution to supply chain education and research. Also in 2016, he received the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Distinguished Service Award.
More About Chris
He is also the founder of the MIT FreightLab – a research initiative that focuses on improving the way freight transportation is designed, procured, and managed. His primary research is in all aspects of freight transportation to include combinatorial procurement auctions, robust planning, portfolio management, performance metrics, and infrastructure design.
In addition to his work at MIT, Dr. Caplice is currently the Chief Scientist for DAT Freight & Analytics, the largest truckload freight marketplace in North America with over $120 billion in market transactions. In this role, he pioneered the concept of freight rate modeling that became Chainalytics Freight Market Intelligence Consortium (FMIC) and is now part of DAT. He leads the development and deployment of innovations and insights into the transportation industry to include the monthly FMIC Pulse Signal Report and the bi-weekly Freightvine Podcasts.
Prior to joining MIT, Dr. Caplice held senior management positions in supply chain consulting, product development, and professional services at several companies to include Logistics.com, SABRE, and PTCG. As part of PTCG/SABRE, he led the team that pioneered the concept and use of optimization-based procurement throughout the transportation industry.
Chris received a Ph.D. from MIT in 1996 in Transportation and Logistics Systems. His dissertation on Optimization Based Bidding for Transportation was selected as the winner of the Council of Logistics Management (CLM) Doctoral Dissertation Award and received an Honorable Mention in the 1996 Dissertation Award sponsored by the Transportation Science Section of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).
Prior to receiving his PhD, Dr. Caplice taught at the Virginia Military Institute for two years and served five years in the Army Corps of Engineers, achieving the rank of Captain. His writing has appeared in numerous academic and business journals and publications. In addition to his PhD, he earned a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).
My Research Initiatives
FreightLab
Freight transportation is not only one of the largest costs within a company supply chain, it is also typically the most volatile. The manner in which a firm designs, procures, and manages its freight transportation network can reduce uncertainty, lower costs, and increase the level of service.
Future Freight Flows
The future rarely moves in predictable, incremental ways. Often seemingly small changes in technology, demographics, regulations, economics, or a myriad of other factors have dramatic and unintended impacts on how companies source, manufacture, distribute and operate in general. These non-linear impacts are very difficult to predict using traditional forecasting methods and techniques since they, by definition, do not follow any historical patterns. The Future Freight Flows (FFF) initiative provides planners and decision makers at all levels with a better method of strategic planning for future investments.
Education
Dr. Chris Caplice has been teaching logistics and supply chain management at MIT for over a decade. He created and currently serves as Director of the MITx MicroMaster’s Program in Supply Chain Management – the very first MicroMasters credential ever offered. In the first four years more than 300,000 students from 196 different countries have participated in these online courses and more than 20,000 Verified Certificates have been awarded. A total of 1,500 MicroMasters credentials have been awarded to date.
MicroMasters Online
The MITx MicroMasters® program credential showcases your end-to-end understanding of supply chain management. The credential offered by MITx and edX, is an advanced, professional, graduate-level foundation in Supply Chain Management.
SCM Masters Thesis
Dr. Chris Caplice has been teaching logistics and supply chain management at MIT for over a decade. He currently teaches during both semesters of the MIT Supply Chain Management program and serves as an advisor to several masters theses.