Optimization is about methods for handling decision problems. These methods involve mathematical formulations that take into account the performance criteria as well as the constraints about the problem. The objective is to maximize or minimize a utility function over a region defined by the constraints. We have limited resources, and hence, optimization is used in many different fields to efficiently use those scarce resources. Optimization techniques are used in various decision problems, such as; pricing in airline revenue management, routing in transportation, composing portfolios in finance, scheduling in healthcare and setting inventory levels in production.
People in the Computer Science and Engineering Program as well as in the Industrial Engineering Program of Sabancı University work in this field.
