The Texas A&M Energy Institute hosted Texas Optimization Day, a one-day collaborative conference on Monday, April 4, 2016, to create an opportunity for researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the state of Texas to share their research and educational developments on fundamental and applied optimization.
Professor Sergiy Butenko, professor and Donna and Jim Furber ‘64 faculty fellow in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering was one of the organizers of the inaugural event. “Since this is the first year for this event, a goal of ours is to decide on the format, locations and potential sources of funding for the Texas Optimization Day in the future,” Butenko said.
“I am excited to see so many people from the various institutions around the state,” said Professor Christodoulos A. Floudas, director of the Texas A&M Energy Institute. “We were pleased to welcome representatives from the University of Texas at Arlington, Prairie View A&M University, Houston Baptist University, Rice University, the University of Texas at Dallas, Southern Methodist University, the University of Houston, and Texas A&M University.”
Presentations covered topics from improving the flow of the shipping industry to finding cohesive groups in graphs to social media advertisement costs.
Professor Efstratios N. Pistikopoulos, associate director of the Texas A&M Energy Institute and Texas A&M Experiment Station distinguished research professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, was impressed with the vast range of topics that were presented. “It was very interesting to hear the kinds of things our peers are working on,” Pistikopoulos said. “I am excited to see the partnerships that develop as a result of the event today.”
“The Texas A&M Energy Institute is focused on important scientific and technological energy challenges that impact our society,” Floudas said. “With events like the Texas Optimization Day, we are creating relationships among researchers that will help conquer those challenges.”
