Decision Intelligence for Nationwide Ventilator Allocation

Many states in the U.S. have faced shortages of medical resources because of the surge in the number of patients suffering from COVID-19. As many projections indicate, the situation will be far worse in coming months. The upcoming challenge is not only due to the exponential growth in cases but also because of inherent uncertainty … Read more

An Upper Bound on the Hausdorff Distance Between a Pareto Set and its Discretization in Bi-Objective Convex Quadratic Optimization

We provide upper bounds on the Hausdorff distances between the efficient set and its discretization in the decision space, and between the Pareto set (also called the Pareto front) and its discretization in the objective space, in the context of bi-objective convex quadratic optimization on a compact feasible set. Our results imply that if t … Read more

Application-Driven Learning: A Closed-Loop Prediction and Optimization Approach Applied to Dynamic Reserves and Demand Forecasting

Forecasting and decision-making are generally modeled as two sequential steps with no feedback, following an open-loop approach. In this paper, we present application-driven learning, a new closed-loop framework in which the processes of forecasting and decision-making are merged and co-optimized through a bilevel optimization problem. We present our methodology in a general format and prove … Read more

A simulation-based optimization approach for the calibration of a discrete event simulation model of an emergency department

Accurate modeling of the patient flow within an Emergency Department (ED) is required by all studies dealing with the increasing and well-known problem of overcrowding. Since Discrete Event Simulation (DES) models are often adopted with the aim of assessing solutions for reducing the impact of this worldwide phenomenon, an accurate estimation of the service time … Read more

Adaptable Energy Management System for Smart Buildings

This paper presents a novel adaptable energy management system for smart buildings. In this framework we model the energy consumption of a living unit, and its energy exchange with the surroundings. We explicitly consider the impact of the outside environment and design features such as building orientation, automatic shading, and double facade. We formulate this … Read more

Expensive multi-objective optimization of electromagnetic mixing in a liquid metal

This paper presents a novel trust-region method for the optimization of multiple expensive functions. We apply this method to a biobjective optimization problem in fluid mechanics, the optimal mixing of particles in a flow in a closed container. The three-dimensional time-dependent flows are driven by Lorentz forces that are generated by an oscillating permanent magnet … Read more

Hybrid Rebalancing with Dynamic Hubbing for Free-floating Bike Sharing Using Multi-objective Simulation Optimization

For rebalancing problem of free-floating bike sharing systems, we propose dynamic hubbing (i.e. dynamically determining geofencing areas) and hybrid rebalancing (combining user-based and operator-based strategies) and solve the problem with a novel multi-objective simulation optimization approach. Given historical usage data and real-time bike GPS location information, dynamic geofenced areas (hubs) are determined to encourage users … Read more

Reinforcement Learning via Parametric Cost Function Approximation for Multistage Stochastic Programming

The most common approaches for solving stochastic resource allocation problems in the research literature is to either use value functions (“dynamic programming”) or scenario trees (“stochastic programming”) to approximate the impact of a decision now on the future. By contrast, common industry practice is to use a deterministic approximation of the future which is easier … Read more

PyMOSO: Software for Multi-Objective Simulation Optimization with R-PERLE and R-MinRLE

We present the PyMOSO software package for (1) solving multi-objective simulation optimization (MOSO) problems on integer lattices, and (2) implementing and testing new simulation optimization (SO) algorithms. First, for solving MOSO problems on integer lattices, PyMOSO implements R-PERLE, a state-of-the-art algorithm for two objectives, and R-MinRLE, a competitive benchmark algorithm for three or more objectives. … Read more

Multi-objective Ranking and Selection: Optimal Sampling Laws and Tractable Approximations via SCORE

Consider the multi-objective ranking and selection (MORS) problem in which we select the Pareto-optimal set from a finite set of systems evaluated on three or more stochastic objectives. Solving this problem is difficult because we must determine how to allocate a simulation budget among the systems to minimize the probability that any systems are misclassified. … Read more