OR Methods for Data Scientists

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• formulate various problems using linear and integer programming, solve linear problems with the Simplex method, and have thorough understanding of duality theory, including the economic interpretation of dual programs.
• implement and analyse a discrete event simulation model using commercial software.
• describe situations when sensitivity analysis is used and apply parametric programming when coefficients of the objective or the right-hand side change.
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts and applications of simulation modelling and decision theory.
• demonstrate skills in technical report writing.
• model various condition-based constraints using binary variables and apply the branch and bound method to solve integer linear programs.
• demonstrate skills in team working.
• implement and analyse a linear program using commercial software.

Linear Programming:

• Model construction and modelling issues.
• Simplex method: two-phase algorithm, dual simplex method, network simplex method.
• Duality: motivation and definitions, duality theorem, complementary slackness, optimality testing.
• Sensitivity analysis: ranging for objective function coefficients and right hand-side constraints, economic interpretation and applications.

Parametric programming. Integer Programming:

• Modelling techniques using zero-one variables.
• Branch and bound algorithm for integer programming.

Simulation:

• The emphasis is on simulation computing skills, which are developed in computer labs using a commercial software package.
• Lectures on simulation cover: the concept of randomness; and sampling from probability distributions including discrete and continuous models.

Decision Theory:

• Bayes’ rule.
• Value of information.
• Decision trees.
• The concept of utility.

Thirteen 2-hour lectures

Seven 1-hour class sessions

Two 2-hour computer sessions on linear programming.

Six 1-hour simulation computer sessions

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.