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Methods of Operational Analysis |
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Module Objectives |
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Module Schedule for 2006 |
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Lecturer |
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Module Material |
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Module Assessment |
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Project Groups, Briefs and Video Clips |
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Students Enrolled |
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Bulletin Board |
This course is suitable for graduate students on honours or fourth year level in applied mathematics, operations research or industrial engineering. The only mathematical prerequisites are an understanding of basic linear algebra (including eigen values and eigen vectors) and of simple statistical analysis (although the necessary background will be recapped at the start of the course), as well as an introductory course in mathematical programming (covering topics such as linear programming, dynamic programming, goal programming & integer programming). Computer programming skills are not essential, but are helpful. Computer literacy is, however, essential.
This course is aimed at bridging the gap between theory and practice often experienced by students following regular style courses (i.e. courses in which the focus is usually on solving well-defined, already formulated and typically very neat "textbook example" problems). Problems encountered by applied mathematicians or operations researchers in the field are very far from "neat", "well-defined" and "already formulated": they are often very vague, with incomplete or inaccurate data sets, and typically do not suggest any specific solution approach. This course is offered in collaboration with a number of partners in industry, who share the view that good applied mathematicians and operations researchers are bred through practical experience and who should possess a number of skills in order to be successful in practice: (i) they should have a sound mathematical background, (ii) they should be "problem formulators" just as much as "problem solvers", (iii) they should have good interactive and "people" skills, (iv) they need to be computer literate, and (v) they should be able to "sell" their product via the compilation of clearly understandable written reports and oral presentations.
Week 1:
Monday 23 July 2007: No Contact Session
Wednesday 25 July 2007: Lecture 1 (Introduction, Site Visits, Group Work, Report Writing, Project Delivery)
Friday 27 July 2007: Lecture 2 (Statistical Background)
Week 2:
Monday 30 July 2007: No Contact Session
Tuesday 31 July 2007: Site Visit 1 (Keerom Dam - Whole day)
Wednesday 1 August 2007: Group Discussion 1 (Keerom Dam)
Friday 3 August 2007: Group Discussion 2 (Keerom Dam)
Week 3:
Monday 6 August 2007: Group Discussion 3 (Keerom Dam)
Wednesday 8 August 2007: Lecture 3 (Inventory Theory)
Friday 10 August 2007: Lecture 4 (Inventory Theory)
Week 4:
Monday 13 August 2007: Lecture 5 (Inventory Theory)
Wednesday 15 August 2007: Lecture 6 (Inventory Theory)
Friday 17 August 2007: Lecture 7 (Inventory Theory)
Week 5:
Monday 20 August 2007: Project Delivery 1 (Keerom Dam)
Wednesday 22 August 2007: No Contact Session
Friday 24 August 2007: No Contact Session
Week 6:
Monday 27 August 2007: Project Feedback 1 (Keerom Dam)
Wednesday 29 August 2007: Site Visit 2 (Click-a-Box)
Friday 31 August 2007: Group Discussion 4 (Click-a-Box)
Week 7:
Monday 3 September 2007: Group Discussion 5 (Click-a-Box)
Wednesday 5 September 2007: Group Discussion 6 (Click-a-Box)
Friday 7 September 2007: No Contact Session
SEPTEMBER BREAK
Week 8:
Monday 17 September 2007: Lecture 8 (Biological Species)
Wednesday 19 September 2007: Lecture 9 (Biological Species)
Friday 21 September 2007: Lecture 10 (Biological Species)
Week 9:
Monday 24 September 2007: No Contact Session [Public Holiday]
Wednesday 26 September 2007: Lecture 10 (Biological Species)
Friday 28 September 2007: Lecture 11 (Biological Species)
Week 10:
Monday 1 October 2007: Project Delivery 2 (Click-a-Box)
Wednesday 3 October 2007: Lecture 12 (Biological Species)
Friday 5 October 2007: Project Feedback 2 (Click-a-Box)
Week 11:
Monday 8 October 2007: (Virtual) Site Visit 3 (Kgalagadi Park)
Wednesday 10 October 2007: No Contact Session
Friday 12 October 2007: Group Discussion 7 (Kgalagadi Park)
Week 12:
Monday 15 October 2007: Group Discussion 8 (Kgalagadi Park)
Wednesday 17 October 2007: Group Discussion 9 (Kgalagadi Park)
Friday 19 October 2007: No Contact Session
Week 13:
Monday 22 October 2007: No Contact Session
Wednesday 24 October 2007: No Contact Session
Friday 26 October 2007: Project Delivery 3 (Kgalagadi Park) [End of Term]
Week 14:
Monday 29 October 2007: Project Feedback 3 (Kgalagadi Park) [Examination Starts]
Notes for the theoretical background lectures will be provided by the lecturer.
The course spans approximately 14 work weeks and consists of potentially three contact sessions per week. The course is project driven, consisting of three project cycles. A project cycle consists of a number of background theoretical lectures by the lecturer, followed by a site visit by the students and lecturer, where a contact person in industry presents the class with a practical problem, followed by a number of group discussions by the students, followed by modelling work by the students in groups, followed by an oral presentation by the groups of their model solution to the practical problem, and finally feedback by the lecturer on the quality and style of the project as a whole. Marks for the three project cycles make up the candidate's final mark for the course, using a weighting of 33%:33%:33%.
[2007 Marks] [2006 Marks] [2005 Marks] [2004 Marks] [2003 Marks] [2002 Marks] [2001 Marks]