Introduction to Operations Research


Instructor Information

Instructor: Professor Shun-Chen Niu
Office: SOM 3.201
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
E-mail: scniu@utdallas.edu
Phone: 972-883-2707
Home Page: http://www.utdallas.edu/~scniu/

Course Text

Introduction to Operations Research, by F. S. Hillier and G. J. Lieberman, 7th Edition. McGraw-Hill, 2001.
(A new edition is forthcoming in 2005; we will stay with the 7th edition.)

Course Prerequisite

MATH 5404; or consent of the instructor.

Course Teaching Assistant

Sanjeewa Naranpanawe
Office: SOM 3.407
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 5:00-6:00 p.m.
E-mail: sanjeewa@student.utdallas.edu

Course Software

The course requires the use of two pieces of software, one is Solver and the other is LINDO. Solver comes with Excel; it is, however, not installed by default, so you need to install this from the original Excel CD. A trial version of LINDO can be downloaded for free. The trial version can handle problems with up to 150 constraints, 300 (continuous) variables, and 30 integer variables; it is available here.

In addition, there is a very helpful interactive software routine that is available from the textbook site; you can download it here. (The link to Java there is out dated. Look for the current version of Java from Sun.)

Online Communications

You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the Discussion Bulletins in WebCT. Everyone is welcome to contribute answers to posted questions. The instructor will also monitor the Discussion Bulletins on a regular basis.

The Discussion Bulletins can be utilized to exchange ideas or to seek hints on how to get started on the assigned problems. This is intended to provide an active learning environment; therefore, such exchanges should be limited to "conceptual discussions," as opposed to the posting of detailed solutions. Thus, it is the responsibility of each student to prepare and submit written solutions to the assignments independently. The solution to each assignment will be posted after its due date.

Grading

The course grade will be based on two components: (i) homework assignments; and (ii) the final exam. The weights associated with these components are 35% and 65%, respectively.

There are seven sets of homework assignments; and these are grouped into five submissions, listed below.

Due dates for the submissions will be announced in class. Late homework submissions will not be accepted.

Please note that since our session is very short (6 meetings plus exam), I plan to make some revisions to the schedule above. Specific details will depend on the pace of the class, and they will be announced both in class and on the Bulletin.

The final exam will be held on December 1, 2004. It will be an open-book exam.

Course Content

Chapters 1-5, 6 (Sections 6.6 and 6.7), 8, and 11 in the text. The specific topics are:

1. Introduction
2. Linear Programming
2.1. Examples of Linear-Programming Problems
2.2. The Graphical Solution Method
2.3. The Simplex Method
2.4. Initialization and Other Considerations
2.5. Sensitivity Analysis
3. Transportation and Related Problems
4. Dynamic Programming
4.1. The Elementary Path Problem
4.2. The Equipment-Replacement Problem
4.3. Other Dynamic-Programming Examples