Topics in Modelling, Simulation and Optimization
Coursework
- Requirements: Each student will:
- Present papers in class.
- Complete about four assignments. Typically, each assignment
will involve writing a program (simulation) and take about a week.
- Complete a project and write up a paper on the project and
its results suitable for conference publication.
- Presentations:
- Every class (except for the first 2-3 classes) will involve
a student presenting a paper (from our list of papers), followed
by group discussion.
- We will go in rotation (see the
schedule) among the students.
- Note that some presentations have more than one paper. That's
because I think some papers are related and are relatively light;
some of these have been clubbed together.
- What to present:
- Present the key ideas in a paper, including a clear
definition of the problem being solved, what approach is used,
and what results were obtained. Also tell us why the paper is
unique and different from related papers.
- Mathematics. In this class, some papers have been selected
for their mathematical contribution (such as C3). In these cases, please
walk us through some of the key ideas as best as you can. You
can do this by going through the steps in the main theorem.
In other papers (such as the Barkai paper), simply present
the models in detail (perhaps in more detail than in the paper),
without proof. Generally, it's more important that we understand
mathematical formulation than the solution technique.
- You might need to read through some of the cited papers
in a paper to get appropriate background.
- There is no need to use Powerpoint - simply make notes and
use the blackboard/whiteboard. If you must use Powerpoint, then
make sure you bring your Powerpoint to the classroom
before class starts so that you can have your presentation
up (using the PC in the classroom).
- See
this for tips on how to give presentations.
- Assignments (Click on this
link for details)
- Projects:
- Click here for some project ideas.
- No two students will work on exactly the same project, unless
you are working in a team. I will allow two students to work on
a team provided that a team completes two projects (same amount
of work as one student working alone on a project). Thus, the
end result should be six different projects at the end of the course.
- We will identify the first few steps in your project as:
- Exploration (Due Sept 20). In this time, you will
select TWO project ideas to think about and explore. You will
eventually settle on one, but I'd like you to think about another,
as a backup in case the first doesn't work out.
During this step, you will identify a work plan, what you expect
the project outcomes to be, why you are interested etc.
Meet with me to discuss your project ideas once you have thought
through these issues, and submit a one-page write up for each
of the two ideas with some of these points. We will then
focus on one of these as your project.
- Literature review (Due Sept 27). You will need
to make sure nobody else has done this kind of work. If there
is similar but different work, identify those papers (make copies
of papers) and identify how your project will be different.
Submit 1-2 pages listing the papers (with URL's and full citations)
and 3-4 sentences per paper describing how similar/different
the work is. Don't assume that the project ideas described
in the link above have been vetted through this process.
- Detailed work plan (Due Oct 4).
Submit a detailed work plan for your project. Your work plan
should include your plans for implementation and a schedule of
what results you expect to obtain and when.
- Preliminary results (Due Oct 18).
Stop by and give me an update with 1-2 preliminary results.
You should have your simulation working by this time.
- Phase I paper (Due Nov 1). First rough draft of
preliminary paper with first set of results. Also submit
a plan for completing remaining work.