MAST 30013

Techniques in Operations Research

Operations Research aims to develop and apply scientific methods to improve decision-making. It deals with theoretical development of models and methods, as well as their practical applications to find optimal or near-optimal solutions to problems arising in various disciplines, such as engineering, management, economics, and education. This subject introduces some major techniques and algorithms for solving nonlinear optimisation problems. Unconstrained and constrained systems will be considered, for both convex and non-convex problems. The methods covered include: interval search techniques, Newton and quasi-Newton methods, penalty methods for nonlinear programs, and methods based on duality. The emphasis is both on being able to apply and implement the techniques discussed, and on understanding the underlying mathematical principles. Examples involve the formulation of operations research models for linear regression, multi-facility location analysis and network flow optimisation. A significant part of the subject is the project, where students work in groups on a practical operations research problem.