Fundamental and Applied Research in Optimization.

The Center provides a foundation for a wide range of research projects in optimization, both fundamental and applied. The possibilities for applied research grow directly out of the prototype studies, which provide exposure to a rich variety of challenging real world problems in optimization. The possibilities for fundamental research stem from three primary sources.

First, fundamental research will be undertaken to create improved methods for important classes of problems encountered during the prototype studies.

Research by faculty and doctoral students that succeeds in developing such improved methods can be valuable both for Client/Beneficiary firms and for Research Support firms.

Second, a fundamental research opportunity arises when no available software embodies a method that appropriately handles a problem faced by a particular Client/Beneficiary firm. New solution methodology will be developed for such applications, leading to new software that will be valuable for handling previously unaddressed model classes.

Third, fundamental research can come directly from Research Support firms, whose software designers and researchers seek to extend the current state-of-the-art. These firms provide a useful source for identifying directions of research that can have a significant impact. Fundamental advances in such areas provide direct and immediate value to the Research Support firms. By their association with the Center, these firms will have knowledge of research advances created within the Center that are relevant to their interests. This will cut the lag for translating such innovations into practice, and provide direct commercial value.

Multi-Disciplinary Research Opportunities.

The field of optimization creates unique opportunities for multi-disciplinary research. Some of the areas that have conspicuously important applications of optimization are as follows.

Marketing — (a) identifying key compositions of consumer attributes that translate into demands for specific product offerings; (b) designing product bundles for particular demand segments to yield the highest profit or increase in market share; (c) identifying critical service features that affect customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and designing associated new services or new service policies that appropriately handle such features.

Information Technology — (a) responding to applications in data mining and data warehousing, by developing faster and more effective ways to identify, store and access useful types of information in massively large data bases; (b) creating more effective means of providing access to optimization software and services via the Web; (c) developing improved software designs for translating algorithmic or simulation processes into computer packages.

Finance — (a) designing debt and equity instruments of enhanced quality and reliability; (b) developing improved bases for evaluating credit and loan applications; (c) creating new methods to account for uncertainty and risk in financial investments; (d) identifying more effective policies for managing funds.

Production & Operations Management — creating more practical models and more effective methods for problems in manufacturing, logistics, resource management, routing, distribution, location, allocation and many related areas.

Other sources of multi-disciplinary research in optimization come from the domains of electronic commerce, geographic information systems, telecommunications, genetic engineering, spacecraft design, and personnel and workforce planning.