D2.2 Optimization of Infrastructure Networks

Infrastructure facilities are an essential foundation of any society. Their management faces a wide range of challenges. Hence optimization methods are increasingly applied to assist making management decisions in infrastructure system management. The course will help familiarize with an array of methods of optimizing facilities, transport networks and port infrastructures, planning investments, strategic decisions, and setting up management policies and management scenarios. The structure of the course is as follows:

1. Optimization of Installations – The General Problem
2. Strategic Planning – Theory and Practice
3. Optimization of Distribution Networks
4. Systems Analysis and Evaluation
5. Multi-objective Optimization
6. Presentation of Mid-term Assignment
7. Terminology and principles of network analysis. The Shortest path, Minimum spanning tree, Maximum flow and Minimum cost flow problems.
8. Queuing Theory. Delay Models. Reliability Models.
9. Location Theory and Analysis. Plant Siting Models. Reliability Models.
10. Principles and Models of simulation. Use of Statistical Methods in Simulation. Simulation of Complex Systems with Agent-Based Models.
11. Game Theory Applications in port management and optimization problems.
12. Examples of using computational packages and tools to solve empirical problems. Solving network optimization problems using Microsoft Excel. Use of NEOS Server for Optimization. Simulation of complex systems in NetLogo (Northwestern University) and StarLogo (MIT).
13. Presentation of End-term Assignment