I. Esra Buyuktahtakin Toy – Optimization Online

An Interpretable Ensemble Heuristic for Principal-Agent Games with Machine Learning

Published: 2026/04/12

Applications - OR and Management Sciences, Game Theory, Optimization in Data Science

This paper addresses the challenge of enhancing public policy decision-making by efficiently solving principal-agent models (PAMs) for public-private partnerships, a critical yet computationally demanding problem. We develop a fast, interpretable, and generalizable approach to support policy decisions under these settings. We propose an interpretable ensemble heuristic (EH) that integrates Machine Learning (ML), Operations Research (OR), … Read more

Deep Learning for Sequential Decision Making under Uncertainty: Foundations, Frameworks, and Frontiers

Published: 2026/04/12

I. Esra Buyuktahtakin Toy

Data Science Algorithms, Optimization in Data Science, Stochastic Programming decision making under uncertainty, Decision-focused learning, deep learning, learning-to-optimize, Machine learning and optimization, markov decision processes, multi-stage stochastic programming, operations research, optimization under uncertainty, reinforcement learning, sequential decision making, stochastic optimization

Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving increasingly beyond prediction to support decisions in complex, uncertain, and dynamic environments. This shift creates a natural intersection with operations research and management sciences (OR/MS), which have long offered conceptual and methodological foundations for sequential decision-making under uncertainty. At the same time, recent advances in deep learning, including feedforward neural … Read more

Artificial Intelligence in Supply Chain Optimization: A Systematic Review of Machine Learning Models, Methods, and Applications

Published: 2025/12/08

I. Esra Buyuktahtakin Toy

Discovering Heuristics with Large Language Models (LLMs) for Mixed-Integer Programs: Single-Machine Scheduling

Published: 2025/10/14

I. Esra Buyuktahtakin Toy

(Mixed) Integer Linear Programming, Combinatorial Optimization, Meta Heuristics algorithm design, Algorithms, Heuristic Discovery, Knowledge Discovery, Large Language Models (LLMs), MIP, optimization, Single Machine Total Tardiness Scheduling

TitleDiscovering Heuristics with Large Language Models (LLMs) for Mixed-Integer Programs: Single-Machine Scheduling Authorsİbrahim Oğuz Çetinkaya^1; İ. Esra Büyüktahtakın^1*; Parshin Shojaee^2; Chandan K. Reddy^2 Affiliations^1 Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA^2 Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech, Arlington, VA, USA Abstract: Our study contributes to the scheduling and combinatorial optimization … Read more

Random-Restart Best-Response Dynamics for Large-Scale Integer Programming Games and Their Applications

Published: 2025/06/24, Updated: 2026/02/26

Hyunwoo Lee

Robert Hildebrand

Wenbo Cai

I. Esra Buyuktahtakin Toy

(Mixed) Integer Linear Programming, Applications - OR and Management Sciences, Game Theory Aquatic Invasive Species, Best Response Dynamics, Integer Programming Games, Random-restart

This paper presents scalable algorithms for computing pure Nash equilibria (PNEs) in large-scale integer programming games (IPGs), where existing exact methods typically handle only small numbers of players. Motivated by a county-level aquatic invasive species (AIS) prevention problem with 84 decision makers, we develop and analyze random-restart best-response dynamics (RR-BRD), a randomized search framework for … Read more