Case studies

A case study lets you dig into a non-trivial Optimization problem and formulate, test, and compare models for that problem. It is a more business-oriented type of work, as you have to perform computational experiments in order to obtain a result.

The instructor acts as the company that contacted you for the work. The instructor can only provide information about the problem, not the model.

However, the instructor is available for hints on the type of solver to use, parameters, what to do if something goes wrong, etc.

Rules

  1. Completing the case study is necessary to receive a grade for this course.
  2. Every group consists of two to four students enrolled in the course.
  3. Every student is part of exactly one group.
  4. The list of projects is given below and will be updated soon.
  5. Once you have formed a group and chosen the project, send me an email with the names and the project.
  6. Projects are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. I will update the list of assigned projects as soon as I can.
  7. A short report (one per group) is due before or at the final exam, December 10.
  8. You can use whatever material you find at the library or on the Internet. However, you should provide appropriate reference in the report (article, book, website, etc.).
  9. All or most coding work that is needed is in AMPL. You are also very welcome to choose different modeling or programming languages, as long as you solve the problem.
  10. Email the report, if possible, in PDF format. Make a .zip file containing the material you have used, including AMPL files or output text.
  11. As this is a modeling course, it is extremely important (especially for the grade) to discuss in detail all choices that were made on the model, as well as your interpretation of the results.

Projects

  1. The Eternity II puzzle;
  2. Seat assignment at exams (assigned);
  3. Portfolio Optimization (assigned);
  4. Portfolio Optimization II (assigned);
  5. Pipe hauling (assigned);
  6. WiFi for commuter trains (assigned);
  7. Graph partitioning;
  8. Telecommunication networks;
  9. Wind energy;
  10. Obnoxious Location;
  11. Road network planning;
  12. Supercomputer scheduling;
  13. Production planning (assigned);
  14. Railroad routing;
  15. Ambulance location;
  16. Create-your-own-problem: if you know of an Optimization problem that might be suited for a project like this, send me an email with a brief description of the problem; as the modeling work involved should be non-trivial, the problem should be of a certain complexity. The instructor may change the project to suit it to the required level of difficulty.