Managers and engineers are constantly attempting to optimize, particularly in the design and operation of complex systems. This course is an application-oriented introduction to (systems) optimization. It seeks to:

• Motivate the use of optimization models to support managers and engineers in a wide variety of decision making situations;
• Show how several application domains (industries) use optimization;
• Introduce optimization modeling and solution techniques (including linear, non-linear, integer, and network optimization, and heuristic methods);
• Provide tools for interpreting and analyzing model-based solutions (sensitivity and post-optimality analysis, bounding techniques); and
• Develop the skills required to identify the opportunity and manage the implementation of an optimization-based decision support tool.