Optimisation at Monash University
Date and time: 31 May 2024, 14:00-15:30 CEST
Speaker: Mark Wallace, Monash University Australia
Title: Optimisation at Monash University
Where: Sahara (Room 206), Teknikringen 10B, plan 2 (Direct to the left-hand side after entering the main entrance) or
Zoom: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/65287832097
Moderator/Administrator: Zhenliang Ma, zhema@kth.se
Abstract: The separation of problem modelling and solving technology has enabled us to apply alternative solving technologies to the same model. Applied to industrial problems, this means we can easily respond to the changing business requirements that always occur in real applications. We discuss three example applications: plant layout, water flow optimisation, an Australian supply chain and public transport coordination in Melbourne.
Bio: Professor Mark Wallace has a special interest in combining planning and scheduling methods from mathematical programming, artificial intelligence and metaheuristics. He applies these methods to applications in transport, energy, and utilities.
After graduating from Oxford University, Prof Mark Wallace spent 21 years at the UK computer company ICL. Following his PhD, he studied databases and knowledge management and discovered the power of Artificial Intelligence for modelling and solving challenging industrial applications. He joined Imperial College and led a team developing a novel planning and scheduling platform, which was subsequently bought by Cisco Systems for managing network resilience. The platform was deployed by British Airways for schedule retiming, by Wincanton Transport for logistics planning, and by the RAC for strategic planning.
He was offered a Chair at Monash University and co-led a 10-year multi-laboratory project funded by National ICT Australia. At Monash, he directed the CTI-Monash Centre for travel, transport and logistics optimisation. In 2011, he became the founding CEO of the company Opturion, whose customer list includes Toll, Linfox and the Royal Flying Doctors. He served as Deputy Dean (Research) in the Monash Faculty of IT and is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Constraints. Some published books: “Constraint Logic Programming using ECLiPSe” Cambridge University Press, 2007. “Building Decision Support Systems using MiniZinc”, Springer, 2020.