Department of Engineering Science
Operations research
Creating models based on a scientific approach using observation, data and analysis to assist in identifying solutions to management based problems.
Operations Research (OR), also known as Management Science (MS), is the scientific approach to solving management problems. Typical OR/MS problems involve deciding how to make the most cost-effective use of limited resources such as people, machines, money and time. Using observation, data, and analysis, the OR practitioner builds up quantitative relationships, called models, which may be used to help management make informed decisions.
The research of the OR Group is supported by
Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) under contract UOAX0203
New Zealand Institute of Mathematics & its Applications (NZIMA)
Mixed Integer Programming
Mathematical Models for Optimising Transportation Services
Crew Rostering and Scheduling
The research of the rostering group is motivated by practical problems in industry. Many of the techniques developed in this group rely on the solution of set-partitioning problems which are massive zero-one integer programming problems. The development and improvement of these techniques is one goal of the FRST project: Techniques for Large-Scale Mathematical Programming.
Rostering at NZ Customs research project
The OR group has produced DORIS, Dynamic Optimal Rostering Information System, which is used by NZ Customs at Auckland airport.
Stochastic Programming
The research of the stochastic programming group is motivated by practical problems in industry in which some optimal decision is sought subject to uncertainty on the problem data. These problems often originate from planning models in which the future is uncertain. Introductory material on stochastic programming can be found at the COSP website.
Stochastic programming problems can often be formulated as equivalent mathematical programming problems with many variables and constraints, and techniques to solve them usually incorporate some form of decomposition. The development an improvement of these techniques is one goal of the FRST project: Mathematical Programming with Industrial and Business Applications.
Research Projects in Stochastic Optimisation
Capacity Expansion in Electricity, Transportation and Telecommunications Networks
The main class of problem on which the group works comprises problems of expansion planning subject to uncertain demand for services. These are difficult stochastic integer programming problems which must address issues of facility layout, routing, set-up costs, and uncertainties in technology.
Optimising Power Generation and Purchasing in Electricity Markets
Stochastic programming problems arise frequently in the electricity sector. Scheduling power generation and transmission has traditionally been a difficult optimization problem due to the uncertainty of supply of water to the hydro lakes, and the uncertainty of daily load. New models are currently under development for optimizing power generation in the wholesale electricity market, under the auspices of the Electric Power Optimisation Centre.
Revenue and Pricing Optimisation
Revenue and pricing optimisation models are routinely used to determine pricing policies for airlines, hotels, rental cars and event ticketing. Our group is building a capability in this area, primarily through the PhD research of Amir Joshan, who is funded by an NZIMA scholarship.
Mathematical Programming and Yachting
The OR group have had a long involvement over the years with the New Zealand yacht-racing fraternity. There is considerable interest amongst these groups in using optimization techniques in yacht design, performance analysis and weather modelling. Find details at the Yacht Research Unit.
Professor David M. Ryan
Professor Andrew B. Philpott
Professor Matthias Ehrgott
Dr Andrew Mason
Dr Golbon Zakeri
Dr Michael O'Sullivan
Dr Cameron Walker
Dr Andrea Raith
Dr Judith Wang
Top
