Towards a Better Understanding of Agent-Based Airport Terminal Operations Using Surrogate Modeling

Abstract

It marks the end of my time as a student and leads to future endeavors, whatever they may be. While I feel it is time for the next steps, I deeply cherish the experiences and opportunities of the past seven and a half years. Some highlights include my exchange to the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, an Internship at TUI, the intermediate year at the Rotterdam School of Management, but above all, the valuable skills and further ambitions I gained during my journey in Delft. It has shaped me into the person I am today, for which I am most grateful.Close support is one of the key ingredients to make a thesis successful, so therefore a sincere thank you to Dr. Alexei Sharpans'kykh, my supervisor. Despite inconceivable circumstances, he was always there to guide me into the right direction, to be critical of my work, and to provide constructive feedback. He has taken the quality of the research to a substantially higher level. Not only did this enhance the learning process, but it also created a pleasant and open working environment. His guidance is much appreciated; I wish him all the best and lots of strength. Furthermore, I also want to express my gratitude to senior researcher Seyed Sahand Mohammadi Ziabari, who co-supervised me along the way. I enjoyed our fruitful meetings, which helped me a lot. I wish him every success in his further career. Finally, it is always nice to be surrounded by fellow students who are going through the same thing. Therefore, many thanks to former and current members of the AATOM research group, in particular Benyamin, Didier, Klemens, Adin, Antonio, Misha, and Matthijs.Besides academic support, it would not have been possible without family. On the one hand, I acknowledge my parents, to whom this work is dedicated. They facilitated the practical arrangements and encouraged me to realize my ambitions. I am eternally grateful for their devotion. On the other hand, there are also my brothers. The physical distance between us may not always be small, but I admire their aura of optimism and fortitude. I wholeheartedly treasure the moments we spend together. Lastly, my father has been the most loyal proofreader. He has always helped me with linguistics, despite these kinds of technical subjects are not really among his interests. I appreciate his assistance.Over the years, and especially during this thesis, I was fortunate to be surrounded by the best people. They endured the -perhaps exaggerated -complaining about how tough everything was, but more importantly, they were always there for me. In particular, I want to thank my girlfriend, roommates, and friends for being the anchors in my life. I am looking forward to what the future might bring to us.