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Dr.
Sigurður Ólafsson Welcome! |
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Background4 |
I am an associate professor at the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems
Engineering of Iowa State University,
where I have been since the fall of 1998. Before joining ISU I received a BS
in mathematics from the University of Iceland in 1994, an MS in
operations research from the Industrial Engineering Department of the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1996, and a Ph.D. from
the same department in 1998. Below you will find
information about my research and teaching, sample
of representative publications, and examples of professional
service activities. If you have any questions about my work please
feel free to contact me. My office is in 3018 Black Engineering,
my email address is olafsson (at) iastate.edu, or you can reach me by phone
at 515-294-8908. |
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I supervise an active research program with a group of
dedicated and hardworking graduate students interested in data mining,
operations research, and the interaction between the two areas. On the data mining side, we have been looking at the use of
optimization techniques to solve knowledge discovery problems, scalable data
mining through attribute and instance selection, and data mining for
production and logistics scheduling. Much of our work in
operations research has focused on basic methodology for discrete optimization of large-scale complex systems,
including the optimization of systems where the performance is estimated
using simulation. Although our focus is basic methodology and algorithm
development, algorithms developed by our group have been successfully used in
numerous industry applications. |
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My teaching includes both undergraduate and graduate
courses in operations research and data mining. I regularly teach one required undergraduate course, IE 312 Optimization,
which is offered every fall semester. Much more information about this
course, including course topics and PowerPoint slides used for lectures, can
be found by following the link to the course homepage. My regular schedule includes four graduate courses,
each of which is offered every other year. In odd numbered years, I teach IE 519
Simulation in the spring and IE 514 Production
Scheduling in the fall. In even numbered years, I teach IE 632 Integer Programming in the spring and IE 583 Knowledge
Discovery and Data Mining in the fall. In most years, my 500-level courses, which are
primarily aimed at 1st and 2nd year graduate students,
are also available through Engineering Distance
Education. |
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A book on the nested
partitions method, a new approach for solving complex
large-scale discrete optimization problems will be published this year. L. Shi
and S. Olafsson. Nested Partitions Optimization: Methodology and
Applications, International Series in Operations Research &
Management Science, Vol. 109, Springer, 2007. It is available for pre-order from the publisher,
through Amazon.com, and
other online retailers. Other publications include journal articles,
conference proceedings, and book chapter, and those can be divided into four
groups: data mining, simulation optimization, methodology and
applications in discrete optimization,
and engineering education.
Listed below are five representative publications from each of these groups. Data Mining S.
Ólafsson, X. Li and S. Wu (2007). “Operations Research and Data Mining,”
European Journal on Operational Research, in print. J.
Yang and S. Ólafsson (2006). “Optimization-Based Feature Selection with
Adaptive Instance Sampling,” Computers and Operations Research,
33(11), 3088-3106. J-Y
Lee and S. Ólafsson (2006). “Multiattribute Decision Trees and Decision
Rules,” in Triantaphyllou and Felici (eds.) Data Mining and Knowledge
Discovery Approaches Based on Rule Induction Techniques, Springer,
327-358. X.
Li and S. Ólafsson (2005). “Discovering Dispatching Rules using
Data Mining,” Journal of Scheduling, 8(6), 515-527. S.
Ólafsson and J. Yang (2005). “Intelligent Partitioning for Feature
Selection,” INFORMS Journal on Computing, 17(3), 339-355. Simulation Optimization S.
Ólafsson (2006). “Metaheuristics,” in Nelson and Henderson (eds.). Handbook
on Simulation, Handbooks in Operations Research and Management Science
VII, Elsevier, 633-654. S.
Ólafsson (2004). “Two-Stage Nested Partitions Method for Stochastic
Optimization,” Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability, 6,
5-27. S.
Ólafsson and J. Kim (2002). "Simulation Optimization,"
in E. Yücesan, C.-H. Chen, J.L. Snowdon, and J.M. Charnes (eds.), Proceedings
of the 2002 Winter Simulation Conference, 79-84. L.
Shi and S. Ólafsson (2000). “Stopping Rules for the Stochastic Nested
Partitions Method,” Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability,
2, 37-58. L.
Shi and S. Ólafsson (2000). “Nested Partitions Method for Stochastic
Optimization,” Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability, 2,
271-291. Discrete Optimization and Applications J. Won
and S. Ólafsson (2005). “Joint Order Batching and Order Picking in
Warehouse Operations,” International Journal of Production Research,
43, 1427-1442. L.
Shi, S. Ólafsson, and Q. Chen (2001). “An Optimization Framework for
Product Design,” Management Science, 47, 1681-1692. L.
Shi and S. Ólafsson (2000). “Nested Partitions Method for Global
Optimization,” Operations Research, 48, 390-407. S.
Ólafsson and L. Shi (2000). “A Method for Scheduling in Parallel
Manufacturing Systems with Flexible Resources,” IIE Transactions, 32,
135-146. L.
Shi, S. Ólafsson, and N. Sun (1999). “New Parallel Randomized
Algorithms for the Traveling Salesman Problem,” Computers & Operations
Research, 26, 371-394. Engineering Education S.
Ryan, J. Jackman, S. Ólafsson, V. Dark, “Meta-Problem Spaces and Problem
Structure,” in D.H. Jonassen (Ed.). Learning
to Solve Complex Scientific Problems, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007. S.
Ryan, J. Jackman, F. Peters, S. Ólafsson, M. Huba. (2004). “The Engineering
Learning Portal for Problem Solving: Experience in a Large Engineering
Economy Class,” The Engineering Economist, 49, 1-20. J.
Jackman and S. Ólafsson (2004). “Engineering Learning Portal: A Learning
Management System for Decision Making,” in the Proceedings of the Interservice/Industry
Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC). Ólafsson,
S, K. Saunders, J. Jackman, F. Peters, S. Ryan, V. Dark, and M. Huba (2004).
“Implementation and Assessment of Industrial Engineering Curriculum Reform,”
to appear in Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering
Education Annual Conference, June 20-23, Salt Lake City, UT. S.
Ólafsson, M. Huba, J. Jackman, F. Peters, and S. Ryan (2003). “Information
Technology Based Active Learning: A Pilot Study for Engineering
Economy,” in Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering
Education Annual Conference, June 22-25, |
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My professional service activities include journal editing,
service to professional societies, and conference and workshop organization.
A sample of those activities is listed below. Journal Editing Guest Editor, Computers & Operations Research
33(11), focused Issue on “Operations Research and Data
Mining,” November 2006. The editorial to this special issue is
available for download below: S. Ólafsson (2006). “Introduction to Operations
Research and Data Mining,” Computers and Operations Research,
33(11), 3067-3069. Guest Editor (with Victoria Chen), Annals
of Operations Research volume on “Operations Research and Data Mining,” to
be published in 2008. Professional Societies I am involved with three professional societies, the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and Institute for Operations Research and Management Science
(INFORMS). I served as Board Member and ISU Liason to the Central Iowa
Chapter of IIE from 2000-2002, and as President of its Computers & Information
Systems Division from 2003 – 2005. I have served as Newsletter Editor,
Secretary Treasurer, Vice President, and President of the Industrial
Engineering Division of ASEE (2003 – 2007). Finally, I have served as
newsletter editor of the INFORMS Data Mining Section
from its inception in 2003. Conference Organization I frequently organize tracks and sessions at the
INFORMS Annual Conference, the ASEE Annual Conference, and the Industrial
Engineering Research Conference. I have also helped organize numerous
workshops. A sample of those activities is listed below. Proceedings
Chair, “Workshop on AI/DM,” INFORMS Annual Meeting,
Pittsburgh, November 2006. Sponsored
Session Chair/Organizer, “Improving Decision Tree Induction,” INFORMS
Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, November 2006. Track Chair,
“Industrial Engineering Division,” ASEE Annual Conference, Chicago,
June 2006. Track Chair,
"Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery," INFORMS Annual Meeting,
Denver, October 2004. Sponsored
Session Chair/Organizer, "Optimization in Data Mining," INFORMS
Annual Meeting, Denver, October 2004. Invited
Session Chair/Organizer, "Clustering Applications and
Evaluation," INFORMS Annual Meeting, Denver, October 2004. Program
Committee, Conference on Mathematical Methods for Learning,
Lake Como, Italy, June 2004. Session Chair/Organizer,
"Data Mining," Industrial Engineering Research Conference,
Houston, 2004. |
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