The DMOR Project Description

The DMOR project description

The goal of the project is to present an optimization problem in the area of operations research including among others the following broad classes of problems discussed during classes:

·  linear programming

·  integer programming (including mixed integer and logical)

·  network programming

·  game theory and individual decision rules and decision trees

·  multi-criteria decision-making such as DEA, AHP, etc.

The complete project consists of:

A.  a text file which contains:

·  written statement of the problem

·  the mathematical formulation of the problem (objective function, decision variables, constraints) - if there are many constraints of one type, you don't have to write them all, just indicate what is the typical constraint of each type

·  description of the obtained results and their meaning/interpretation

·  optional elements specific to a given problem:

-  if there is something interesting about the algorithm or the size of the problem, write which algorithm was used, how long did it take to solve, how many constraints, decision variables, what was done in order to speed up the algorithm, etc.),

-  if used a different software than Excel solver, write which one and why,

-  if you need, do the sensitivity analysis,

-  if you want, write about limitation of the current formulation and indicate ways to improve it

-  etc.

B.  a relevant software file

·  Excel file with solver solution

·  Or a file made by any other software which can be used to optimize, including among others:

-  Matlab/Octave/R/C++ or any other programming language

-  SAS/Excel Solver Premium or any other commercial optimization package

-  GAMS/LINDO/AMPL or any other optimization language

The project may be done in groups up to three persons – if it is done by more than one person, the overall amount of work should be proportionally bigger

The project should satisfy AT LEAST one of the following conditions:

·  an original optimization problem (invented or taken from practice),

·  solved in another optimization software (not in Excel solver),

·  an interesting data (for example from the real-world) taken as an input,

·  an algorithm or a class of a problem not covered in class,

·  original constraints not discussed during the class.

There is no specific constraint on the text file – but it should definitely not exceed 8 pages altogether. The preferred size is 3-6 pages (depending on the problem and the number of people in a group)