10  Modeling, Optimization, and Simulation

Week 10 Planned, awaiting draft

ImportantLearning objectives (tentative)

By the end of this week you should be able to:

1. Formulate a simple optimization problem.
2. Explain when simulation is the right tool.

NoteComing soon

These lecture notes will be written from the instructor’s Week 10 draft. The topics below are a working outline.

10.1 Planned topics

• What is operations research?
• Optimization and a first look at linear programming
• Discrete-event simulation
• Digital twins

NoteKey terms in this chapter

• Digital twin — A virtual model of a physical asset or system that is continuously updated with real data to monitor, predict, and optimize performance.
• Linear programming — An optimization method in which the objective and all constraints are linear functions of the decision variables.
• Operations research — The application of mathematical models, statistics, and algorithms to support better decisions in complex systems.
• Optimization — Finding the best decision, such as minimum cost or maximum profit, subject to constraints.
• Simulation — Imitating the operation of a real system over time with a computer model to evaluate designs and policies without disrupting the real system.