MXB332 Optimisation Modelling
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | MXB332 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | MXB232 or MAB315 |
| Equivalent(s): | MAB525 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $555 |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $3,324 |
| International unit fee | $4,296 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Gardens Point, Internal
| Unit code: | MXB332 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | MXB232 or MAB315 |
| Equivalent: | MAB525 |
| Coordinator: | Paul Corry | p.corry@qut.edu.au |
Overview
Operations research techniques are used in numerous industries and are critical for decision making. These industries need graduates who can apply techniques of mathematical modelling, statistical analysis, mathematical optimisation and simulation and can implement these techniques using appropriate computer software packages. This unit will build upon the content of MXB232 by introducing more advanced “intermediate” level operations research methods and techniques. The topics addressed in this subject are vital in this field and are critical for advanced applications and studies in this field. Topics covered include: model building in mathematical programming, modelling language - (e.g. OPL, Gurobi or equivalent), integer programming and branch-and-bound method, introduction to inventory theory, dynamic programming; and computer solutions of advanced linear programming problems and their analysis.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Formulate a real-life problem in mathematical terms.
- Analyse and solve familiar and unfamiliar problems in a variety of fields using critical thinking skills to select and apply operations research techniques, tools and methods.
- Use spreadsheet modelling and other computer based techniques to solve problems in operations research.
- Interpret published research of relevance to the unit and communicate solutions to problems appropriately.
Content
The technical content of the unit includes:
- Model building in mathematical programming
- Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) formulation and solution techniques
- Computer solutions and analysis of MIP Problems using a commercial solver
- Modelling Inventory Systems
- Dynamic Programming
As part of the preparation for the case study assessment, you will explore methods of activity planning and information retrieval, and how to approach the successful completion of such an assessment task in an ethical and professional manner.
Learning Approaches
This unit is available for you to study in either on-campus or online mode. Learning in this unit includes weekly pre-recorded lectures, online activities, workshops, practicals and a unit communications channel, designed to facilitate communication with your peers and teaching staff outside of scheduled classes. You can expect to spend 10 hours per week involved in preparing for and attending all scheduled workshops, completing assessment tasks, and undertaking your own independent study to consolidate your learning.
The weekly pre-recorded lectures will introduce you to the theory and concepts and you will be exposed to the processes required to solve problems using the methods of this unit. There will also be a workshop and a practical session each week where consolidation of concepts and techniques presented in pre-recorded lectures will be achieved.
The material presented will be context-based utilising examples from a range of real-world applications and purely mathematical scenarios. The emphasis will be on learning by doing, learning in groups and as individuals, written and oral communication, and developing skills and attitudes to promote life-long learning. Operations research computer packages will be used for quick connection of theory and practice. Real-life case studies from different industry sectors will be provided as assignments. Creativity in problem-solving and critical assessment skills will be promoted with open discussions.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:
- Ongoing formative feedback will be provided by your teaching staff during the workshop and practicals.
- Written feedback will be provided on summative assessment work tasks, which will be graded using rubrics.
Assessment
Overview
The assessment items in this unit are designed to determine your level of competency in meeting the unit outcomes while providing you with a range of tasks with varying levels of skill development and difficulty.
Formative feedback will be provided for the in-semester assessment items by way of written comments on the assessment items, student perusal of the marked assessment piece and informal interview as required.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Case Study
For this assessment item you will develop a mathematical formulation of a real-life problem and use a computer to solve an analyse the problem. You will apply one or more of the techniques covered in the unit including integer programming, inventory theory and dynamic programming.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Timed Online Assessment
This open book assessment item will assess your ability to read and interpret published research. It will provide you with feedback of your progress in this unit.
The late submission period does not apply, and no extensions are available.
Assessment: Examination (invigilated)
This will assess your knowledge and skills in using the techniques studied throughout this unit.
The examination will require attendance at a local testing centre. For students enrolled as internal or on-campus, the local testing centre will be on QUT campus. For students enrolled as online, QUT Examinations will provide local testing centre information.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
There are no set texts for this unit.
There are many reference texts for this unit, many of which can be located in the library. There are also many online resources such as lecture notes and some e-books that can be found online. Highly recommended reference texts are listed below.
1. Winston, W.L. (2004), Operations Research Applications and Algorithms, Boston: Duxbury Press.
2. Hillier, F.S. (2009), Introduction to Operations Research, McGraw Hill.
3. Taha, H.A. ( 2006), Operations Research. An Introduction, Prentice Hall.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit, as all classes will be held in ordinary lecture theatres. Emergency exits and assembly areas will be pointed out in the first few lectures. You are referred to the University policy on health and safety.
http://www.mopp.qut.edu.au/A/A_09_01.jsp
Standards/Competencies
This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.
Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer
1: Knowledge and Skill Base
Relates to: Examination (invigilated)
Relates to: Case Study, Examination (invigilated)
Relates to: Timed Online Assessment
2: Engineering Application Ability
Relates to: Case Study, Examination (invigilated)
Relates to: Case Study
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Online
| Unit code: | MXB332 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | MXB232 or MAB315 |
| Equivalent: | MAB525 |
Overview
Operations research techniques are used in numerous industries and are critical for decision making. These industries need graduates who can apply techniques of mathematical modelling, statistical analysis, mathematical optimisation and simulation and can implement these techniques using appropriate computer software packages. This unit will build upon the content of MXB232 by introducing more advanced “intermediate” level operations research methods and techniques. The topics addressed in this subject are vital in this field and are critical for advanced applications and studies in this field. Topics covered include: model building in mathematical programming, modelling language - (e.g. OPL, Gurobi or equivalent), integer programming and branch-and-bound method, introduction to inventory theory, dynamic programming; and computer solutions of advanced linear programming problems and their analysis.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Formulate a real-life problem in mathematical terms.
- Analyse and solve familiar and unfamiliar problems in a variety of fields using critical thinking skills to select and apply operations research techniques, tools and methods.
- Use spreadsheet modelling and other computer based techniques to solve problems in operations research.
- Interpret published research of relevance to the unit and communicate solutions to problems appropriately.
Content
The technical content of the unit includes:
- Model building in mathematical programming
- Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) formulation and solution techniques
- Computer solutions and analysis of MIP Problems using a commercial solver
- Modelling Inventory Systems
- Dynamic Programming
As part of the preparation for the case study assessment, you will explore methods of activity planning and information retrieval, and how to approach the successful completion of such an assessment task in an ethical and professional manner.
Learning Approaches
This unit is available for you to study in either on-campus or online mode. Learning in this unit includes weekly pre-recorded lectures, online activities, workshops, practicals and a unit communications channel, designed to facilitate communication with your peers and teaching staff outside of scheduled classes. You can expect to spend 10 hours per week involved in preparing for and attending all scheduled workshops, completing assessment tasks, and undertaking your own independent study to consolidate your learning.
The weekly pre-recorded lectures will introduce you to the theory and concepts and you will be exposed to the processes required to solve problems using the methods of this unit. There will also be a workshop and a practical session each week where consolidation of concepts and techniques presented in pre-recorded lectures will be achieved.
The material presented will be context-based utilising examples from a range of real-world applications and purely mathematical scenarios. The emphasis will be on learning by doing, learning in groups and as individuals, written and oral communication, and developing skills and attitudes to promote life-long learning. Operations research computer packages will be used for quick connection of theory and practice. Real-life case studies from different industry sectors will be provided as assignments. Creativity in problem-solving and critical assessment skills will be promoted with open discussions.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:
- Ongoing formative feedback will be provided by your teaching staff during the workshop and practicals.
- Written feedback will be provided on summative assessment work tasks, which will be graded using rubrics.
Assessment
Overview
The assessment items in this unit are designed to determine your level of competency in meeting the unit outcomes while providing you with a range of tasks with varying levels of skill development and difficulty.
Formative feedback will be provided for the in-semester assessment items by way of written comments on the assessment items, student perusal of the marked assessment piece and informal interview as required.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Case Study
For this assessment item you will develop a mathematical formulation of a real-life problem and use a computer to solve an analyse the problem. You will apply one or more of the techniques covered in the unit including integer programming, inventory theory and dynamic programming.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
Assessment: Timed Online Assessment
This open book assessment item will assess your ability to read and interpret published research. It will provide you with feedback of your progress in this unit.
The late submission period does not apply, and no extensions are available.
Assessment: Examination (invigilated)
This will assess your knowledge and skills in using the techniques studied throughout this unit.
The examination will require attendance at a local testing centre. For students enrolled as internal or on-campus, the local testing centre will be on QUT campus. For students enrolled as online, QUT Examinations will provide local testing centre information.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
There are no set texts for this unit.
There are many reference texts for this unit, many of which can be located in the library. There are also many online resources such as lecture notes and some e-books that can be found online. Highly recommended reference texts are listed below.
1. Winston, W.L. (2004), Operations Research Applications and Algorithms, Boston: Duxbury Press.
2. Hillier, F.S. (2009), Introduction to Operations Research, McGraw Hill.
3. Taha, H.A. ( 2006), Operations Research. An Introduction, Prentice Hall.
Risk Assessment Statement
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit, as all classes will be held in ordinary lecture theatres. Emergency exits and assembly areas will be pointed out in the first few lectures. You are referred to the University policy on health and safety.
http://www.mopp.qut.edu.au/A/A_09_01.jsp
Standards/Competencies
This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.
Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer
1: Knowledge and Skill Base
Relates to: Examination (invigilated)
Relates to: Case Study, Examination (invigilated)
Relates to: Timed Online Assessment
2: Engineering Application Ability
Relates to: Case Study, Examination (invigilated)
Relates to: Case Study