Competition

AIMMS-CPLEX/MOPTA
Optimization Modeling Competition
2009

It is with great pleasure and anticipation that we announce the first AIMMS-CPLEX/MOPTA Optimization Modeling Competition for graduate students. The competition is organized jointly by the conference organizers of MOPTA and Paragon Decision Technology (the developer of AIMMS).

Eligibility

Teams of three graduate students can participate. Each member of the team must be registered as a full-time graduate student at a recognized educational institution during the spring term of the 2008-2009 academic year. Graduate students with a background in operations research, regardless of their actual field of study are eligible. Collaboration between students from different departments is strongly encouraged. As the conference is international, so is the competition. Teams from all over the world can participate, as long as at least one team member can come to the conference, should the team make it to the final. The official language of the competition is English. All the teams need to register to participate in the competition and to receive the software.

Competition format

The competition consists of two stages. In the first stage the teams have to model an optimization problem (see the case study below) using AIMMS. They will need to submit a complete solution to the problem, including:

  • details of the mathematical model they decide to use to solve the problem,
  • implementation of the model in AIMMS, including a graphical user interface,
  • selection of the appropriate solver options and parameters, and the solution of the optimization problem,
  • a report (at most 15 pages, 12pt font, single spaced, 1 inch margins) describing the model, the implementation and the results.

The teams have 3 months to work on the problems. A Panel of judges, including people from both the conference organization committee and Paragon Decision Technology (the developer of AIMMS) evaluates the submissions, provides feedback to the teams and invites the best teams to present their work at a dedicated session of the conference. The finalists will also get an extra twist to the problem, which they will need to incporporate in their model between May and the conference. After the presentations the judges will ask a few questions. The finalists are ranked based on a combined score for the model, the implementation, the report, the solution, the oral presentation, and the answers to the judges’ questions.

The finalists are:

Konrad’s Truckers, Zuse Institute, Berlin, Germany
Stefan Heinz, Jonas Schweiger, Thomas Schlechte, Advisor: Rüdiger Stephan

Team Twente, University of Twente, The Netherlands
Ruben Hoeksma, Arjan Thomas, Erik-Jan Krijgsman, Advisor: Jacob Jan Paulus

Team SMU, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
T. Jason Kratz, Angelika Leskovskaya, Ron Dearing, Advisor: Dick Barr

Following the final the winner is Konrad’s Truckers. Congratulations!

Awards

Each member of the winning team receives an AIMMS/CPLEX license. In addition to this, monetary prizes and plaques will be awarded to the three best teams.

Problem statement

The trucks of the transportation company “Move Efficiently” have to undergo periodic maintenance of different types ranging from changing the oil to a complete engine overhaul. The time intervals between consecutive maintenance checks of each type are pre-described based on experience and information from the truck manufacturer. The trucks become unusable if they are behind on the required maintenance. However, maintenance is expensive and trucks should not be over-maintained. The problem, therefore, is to schedule maintenance so that it minimizes costs while making sure that trucks can be used. The problem needs to be solved over a 2-year time-horizon on a weekly basis, From July 1, 2009 till June 30, 2011. There are constraints on the number of trucks that are required to be active, and capacity constraints at the single maintenance location.

The detailed description can be downloaded from here (PDF format). Additionally, a spreadsheet containing the initial maintenance level of the trucks can be downloaded separately in OpenOffice, Microsoft Excel, and Comma Separated Text format.

The software (AIMMS with CPLEX) are available free of charge after registration. In the meantime we encourage you to check out the documentation (manuals and tutorials) available from the AIMMS website. In particular, you may find the AIMMS Optimization Modeling Book quite useful.

Important dates

Submissions (model and report) due by: May 3, Sunday, 23:59 EDT (extended!)
Finalists chosen by: May 31
Updated model and report due: August 1
Conference: August 19-21

If you have any questions please contact  for software and licensing related issues or  for other questions about the competition and the case study.

Copyright

By submitting an entry to the competition you agree that the organizers own the copyright to a copy of your submission. This does not limit your rights to publish your work, give talks, posters, etc.