June 12, 2022 – June 17, 2022
Reconnect 2022: Optimization
Chauncey Hotel & Conference Center
ETS, 660 Rosedale Road, Princeton, NJ 08541
The Reconnect Workshop series is a long-running program at Rutgers University’s Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science. An annual event, Reconnect Workshops became part of SENTRY’s workforce and professional development program in 2022.
The featured topic for Reconnect changes each year. This year’s topic is Optimization.
The notion of optimization is ubiquitous in everyday life—nearly every decision, at its core, is an optimization problem. The broad field of “optimization” emerged to provide the language and tools to surmount complex problems in real applications, and optimization tools and algorithms have since transformed fields ranging from biology to finance. Optimization capabilities touch our everyday lives through more efficient supply chains, better traffic management, and more secure power grids. In the short history of the field of mathematical optimization, advances in underlying theory, practical implementation, and computing power have brought us from solving linear programs (LPs) with a few hundred variables to those with more than a million, and widely available general-purpose solvers make sophisticated tools for linear, integer, and nonlinear programming broadly accessible.
Reconnect 2022 will review classic methods for linear and integer programming with an eye toward introducing software tools and activities that are engaging and accessible for use with undergraduate students. The workshop will also explore a variety of real-world applications that make use of optimization methods. Several researchers affiliated with the newly established DHS Center of Excellence, SENTRY, will provide an overview of SENTRY’s research mission and offer examples of how they will use optimization methods in the center’s research. These include allocating resources for disaster management, deploying “virtual sentries” to protect civilian spaces—so-called “soft targets”—around the country, and several others.