Project Info
Heuristics for Problems in Heavy Industry
Alexandra Newman | newman@mines.edu
It will help real-life industries such as steel manufacturers, energy distribution centers and mine operators better run their operations with respect to goals such as costs, profits, and efficiency, for example.
Elucidate the interdisciplinary nature of the project
The models the Operations Research with Engineering program focuses on are mathematical in nature, but also involve programming to create feasible solutions to provide the optimization solver. Coding heuristic (good, but not optimal) solutions requires expertise in programming languages such as C++ and Python. additionally, we often receive data that must be parsed into manageable chunks for the solver, sometimes simulated to create duplicate data sets, and analyzed to determine statistical significance of results.
More Information
Grand Engineering Challenge: Make solar energy economical
Student Preparation
Qualifications
Computer science major fluent in at least one programming language such as C++ or Python, Statistics major with skills in the package R.
Time Commitment
20 – 30 hours/month
Skills/Techniques Gained
Knowledge of a new industry, insight into the field of optimization within operations research.
Mentoring Plan
I will meet with the students at least once a week and ensure that there is appropriate coordination with the graduate students and the project. The relevant Ph D student will also meet with them 1-2 times per week. Finally, they will also be encouraged to join the Hour of Power (my once-a-week research group meeting), as well as various ORwE social events.