Events for February 17, 2015
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Epstein ISE Department Seminar
Tue, Feb 17, 2015 @ 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Hoda Bidkhori, Lecturer and Postdoctoral Associate, Operations Research and Statistics Group, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Talk Title: Flexibility, Adaptability and Pareto Efficiency in Manufacturing Operations
Abstract: Process and operational flexibility have been widely applied in many industries as competitive strategies to improve responsiveness to demand uncertainty. The first part of this talk addresses the problem of managing process and operational flexibility in a fairly general manufacturing system. In our model, each plant might have a different cost for adding flexibility or extra capacity, and different costs for transporting its different products. We model this problem as an adaptive optimization problem and discuss different approaches to solve it efficiently. One of the features of our model is that it captures information about the uncertainty in the demand; different demand uncertainties lead to different design suggestions. We conclude this talk with several computational and theoretical results.
In the second part of the talk, we introduce a method for worst-case analysis of stochastic programming for a class of truncated distributions. We use this to evaluate the performance of general unbalanced process flexibility structures.
Biography: Hoda Bidkhori is a lecturer and postdoctoral associate in the Operations Research and Statistics group at MIT's Sloan School of Management. She holds a Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics from MIT. Her current research centers around decision making under uncertainty and the development and implementation of robust and computationally tractable solutions for problems arising in manufacturing and logistics. She is a recipient of the Roger Family Prizes at MIT for excellent mentorship, and Second and Third Prizes in the 8th and 9th International Competition for University Students.
Host: Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
More Information: SEMINAR-Bidkhori.doc
Location: 206
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
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Epstein Institute / ISE 651 Seminar Series
Tue, Feb 17, 2015 @ 03:30 PM - 04:50 PM
Daniel J. Epstein Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Boris Defourny, Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Talk Title: Optimal Learning for a Class of Structured Problems
Abstract: While several methods exist to formulate decision making problems under uncertainty, sometimes we also have the opportunity to make experiments to make more informed decisions. For instance, consider a market survey that tries to identify consumersâ preferences prior to launching a new product. Optimal learning roughly refers to the task of selecting the best experiments to carry out, dynamically as we collect more information. Optimal learning comes in several flavors, depending on the experiments we can make and the model that produces the final decision we implement given the information collected. In this talk, we focus on certain classes of optimal learning problems and approximate solution approaches. We adopt a Bayesian perspective to model the information dynamics, and we develop methods adapted to special structures of interest in optimal learning. This work is motivated in part by the question of valuing information for a risk-averse decision maker.
Biography: Boris Defourny is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Lehigh University. His research interests are in the broad areas of stochastic optimization and machine learning, with a focus on energy systems analysis, electricity markets, and more generally, valuation of interconnected assets. Boris Defourny obtained his Ph.D. in 2010 from the University of Liege, in Belgium, and then worked as an associate professional specialist in the Operations Research and Financial Engineering department at Princeton University, prior to joining Lehigh in 2013.
More Information: Seminar-Defourny.docx
Location: Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (GER) - 206
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Georgia Lum
