9414487 Fourer This research focuses on the identification and investigation of difficult conceptual issues that must be resolved in designing languages, interfaces, and algorithms for a broad classes of combinatorial optimization problems. The research aims to identify strategies for transferring discrete optimization technology to a broad range of users and to design general-purpose languages and environment that support application development in discrete optimization. The foundation of the research is provided by two system design elements, the algebraic modeling language and the algebraic toolkit, that have been used in the development of software in statistics and continuous optimization problems. This work will jointly consider the issue of representation and algorithms in developing the general-purpose software for combinatorial optimization. The research will have direct practical value to engineering education and the American industry. American industries engage daily in resolving problems that are combinatorial in nature. The outcome of this research will facilitate the ease of use of explicit models and powerful optimization technologies to resolve these problems. Industry will also benefit from the quality solution that can be obtained from the use of optimization models as against heuristic algorithms. From the engineering education view point, development of a general-purpose modeling software will play a key role in the teaching of large-scale optimization. This will allow student to formulate, solve, and analyze realistically large and complex models instead of dealing with textbook type problems that are generally small and contrived.
