Index
Invited speakers for MISG 2012
Richard J. Boucherie
Richard J. Boucherie – Full professor of Stochastic Operations Research, Department of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente, the Netherlands.
Richard J. Boucherie (1964) received M.Sc. degrees in 1988 in applied mathematics (stochastic operations research) and theoretical physics (statistical physics) from the Universiteit Leiden, and received the Ph.D. degree in econometrics in 1992 for a thesis on /Product-form in queueing networks/ from the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. Following Post docs at INRIA Sophia Antipolis, CWI Amsterdam, and Universiteit van Amsterdam, since 2000 he is in the department Applied Mathematics of the University of Twente, where he was appointed in 2003 as full professor of Stochastic Operations Research. His research interests are in queueing theory with appication areas including sensor networks and health care. Richard is chair of the UT Industrial Engineering research and educational programmes and co-founder of the UT research center CHOIR (Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement and Research) in the area of healthcare logistics.
Abstract
Health care logistics at University of Twente
We present an overview of the collaboration between the Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement & Research (CHOIR) of the University of Twente and Dutch health care organizations to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the health care process. We give some examples of recent projects and their impact on and implementation in health care and highlight our approach towards establishing and maintaining a healthy collaboration.
Johann Hurink
Johann Hurink.
Johann L. Hurink received the Ph.D. degree from the University of Osnabrueck, Germany, in 1992 for a thesis on a scheduling problem occurring in the area of public transport. From 1992 until 1998 he was an Assistant Professor at the same university working on local search methods and complex scheduling problems. From 1998 until 2005 he was an Assistant Professor and from 2005 until 2009 an Associate Professor in the Discrete Mathematics and Mathematical Programming group, Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. Since 2009 he is a Professor in the same group. His current work includes the application of optimization techniques and scheduling models to problems from logistics, health care, and in the area of smart grids.
Abstract
Planning and Control in Smart Grids
In the last few decades, more and more stress is put on the electricity supply and infrastructure. On the one hand, electricity usage increased significantly and became very fluctuating. On the other hand, the reduction in CO emissions and the introduction of generation based on renewable sources become important topics today. These renewable resources are mainly given by very fluctuating and uncontrollable sun, water, and wind power and a lot of this generation is done by small decentralized generators. As a consequence, the energy supply chain will change drastically in the next years:
- the flow in the grid changes from a top down one directional flow to a bidirectional flow possibly changing its direction several times a day making prediction and control of electricity flows very hard.
- nowadays, all flexibility is at the generation side, but with the introduction of renewable sources the flexibility decreases and other flexibility is required for e.g. the use of storage and demand side management
- higher and fluctuating demand asks for higher grid capacity and leads to a less efficient use of large generators and network capacity
- more and very divers players (active consumers, small suppliers, large suppliers, storage facilities, distribution operators) have to be integrated in the market taking into account their different objectives
To cope with these changes, in the last few years the concept of ‘Smart Grids’ or ‘Smart Energy Systems’ came up meaning that communication and intelligent control has to be added to the electricity grid. To realize this concept in practice, still a lot of research on economic aspects and control issues are needed.
In this talk a general concept for a combined planning and control within Smart Grids is presented. The concept is based on a general model of the energy flows and leads to a three-step control methodology. This methodology consists of:
- offline local prediction
- offline global planning
- online control
Professor Masato Wakayama
Professor Masato Wakayama – Director of Institute of Mathematics for Industry and Vice President of Kyushu University, Japan.
Masato Wakayama is Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Kyushu University, author of about one hundred mathematics publications mostly related to Representation/Number theoretical subjects, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Math-for-Industry. He is Director of Institute of Mathematics for Industry since 2011 and was Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Graduate School of Mathematics 2006-2010. He is currently the chairman of the "Committee of Innovation by-/for- Mathematics" in the Japanese government and the Program Leader of the Global COE Program "Education and Research Hub for Mathematics-for-Industry" (FY 2008-2012) supported by MEXT.
Abstract
Educational & Research with Mathematics-for-Industry in Japan
The Graduate School of Mathematics, Kyushu University, has been responsible for the running of the Global Center of Excellent (COE) Program "Education-and-Research Hub for Mathematics-for-Industry" supported by MEXT (the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology of Japan) since 2008. The Math-for-Industry (MI) is organized by integrating and reorganizing pure and applied mathematics into a fluid and versatile form so to be capable of responding to the needs arising in industrial technologies. Because a new breed of researchers is essential for conducting MI research, this program aims to grows young mathematicians who have a global view about supporting future of technologies.
Based on this idea, Kyushu University established a new mathematical institute "Institute of Mathematics for Industry (IMI)" in the Japanese Spring of 2011. The institute also has the responsibility for the education program in the Graduate School of Mathematics. In this talk, I will discuss several activities within the Global COE Programs for MI and IMI, and relate them to new activities/trials in Japan. In order to explain why such situation has become an imperative in Japan in recent times, I will give a brief historical summary about the mathematics situation in Japanese mathematics which has motivated these changes.
Professor Graeme Wake
Professor Graeme Wake – Director, Centre for Mathematics in Industry, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand.
Graeme Wake is Professor of Industrial Mathematics at Massey University Auckland and Director of its Centre for Mathematics in Industry since 2006. He was Director of the ANZIAM MISG in Auckland for the three years; 2004–2006. He has been involved in assisting developments in Initiatives to further Industrial Mathematics in ANZ, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and, very recently, in Brazil. In 2009 he was a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics, The MISGs as we know it began in Oxford in 1968, just around the time that Graeme was a postdoctoral fellow there. Spontaneous ignition is his original research area, starting in 1964. He continues in this area to this day, now along with a substantial activity within the area of “Mathematics-in-Medicine”. He received the ANZIAM Medal in 2006.
Abstract
Consulting for Industry about Fires
The classical theory of thermal condition has been developed using the stationary theory for a nonlinear heat conduction equation. The ignition threshold is then obtained as a bifurcation point in parameter space. This is well-suited for obtaining the critical storage conditions in steady ambient conditions. Recently a raft of consulting problems have arisen where the ignition is triggered by “super-critical” initial conditions – that is, the material stored in safe ambient conditions, but is assembled too hot. Similarly, situations are now arising in applications where the variations in the ambient temperature can trigger a thermal spontaneous ignition, while the average suggests that the material is sub-critical. Thus new algorithms are needed to determine critical thresholds for both these transient scenarios to provide under-pinning decision support for legal assessments. I have participated in a number of Insurance decisions on cases involving spontaneous ignition.
Numerical procedures have been developed for this purpose for defining the thresholds for thermal ignition for both of these scenarios. These are expected to be made available commercially to assist assessment of new ignition scenarios. The shape of the initial temperature profile is also investigated, using the moments of the profile. Recent cases of marine fires caused by bulk Calcium Hypochlorite (a cleansing powder) in transit have been resolved in the courts in London using this methodology.