Chair of Operations, Economics & Strategy

Weakest Link, Harmonic Increment, and Crossed Ladders

Published:29.10.26 — A harmonic increment provides a new way to improve smooth approximations of the minimum function. In a recent paper, published in the Journal of Inequalities and Applications, Prof. Thomas A. Weber shows how a harmonic-increment transformation brings any smooth estimate that lies strictly below the minimum closer to it, while keeping the improved estimate below the minimum, so it remains a conservative estimate of a worst realization, or weakest link. The method also provides explicit error guarantees. Its inner workings can be illustrated by a recursive construction based on the classical crossed-ladders problem. More broadly, it offers a tool for models of production bottlenecks and other systems governed by their smallest input.

Fair Resource Sharing Across Generations

Published:08.10.26 — Sharing a finite resource across generations requires a balance between today's needs and the claims of those yet to be born. Research by Prof. Thomas A. Weber, presented at the 2026 European Control Conference in Reykjavík, proposes a fair allocation rule that gives every generation the same fraction of its best attainable welfare. The approach preserves access for all future generations and provides a performance guarantee without requiring agreement on a single social objective.

EPFL Master's Thesis wins Prix LITRA 2026 for Transport Research

Published:05.10.26 — Nico Wyss, graduate of EPFL's Master in Management, Technology and Entrepreneurship, has received the Prix LITRA 2026 for his Master's thesis analyzing regional differences in the cost recovery ratio of Swiss regional passenger transport. The award was presented in Bern during the 90th anniversary celebrations of LITRA, in the presence of Federal Councilor Karin Keller-Sutter and LITRA President Martin Candinas. The thesis was supervised by Professor Thomas A. Weber (EPFL) and Marie Degrange-Touzin de Martignac (FOT).