Ricerca Operativa e Ottimizzazione

Research Activities

Combinatorial Optimization with focus on exact and heuristic methods for problems of packing and logistics (vehicle routing, bin packing, cargo loading), design of telecommunication networks (topological optimization, optimal location of infrastructures in multi-echelon networks with specific routing and reliability constraints), production planning and scheduling (single and multiple machine scheduling problems) and timetabling (timetables for hospitals, sport events and schools).

Main academic research results

Heuristic algorithms

  • Recovering Beam Search: a general metaheuristic method joining search tree and local search approaches.
  • Local search methods based on exponential sized neighborhood.
  • Metaheuristics for network design, vehicle routing and cargo loading.
  • Math-based heuristics for Multi-Echelon Vehicle Routing Problems.

Computational complexity and approximability

  • Approximation algorithms for Bin Packing, single machine scheduling and graphs.
  • Worst-case analysis of tree-search based exact methods.

Exact methods

  • Branch & Bound algorithms for classical scheduling problems.
  • Branch & Bound and Branch & Cut methods for Multi-Echelon Vehicle Routing Problems.

Main applied research results

  • Patent application, code WO 2003/101043 “A method for determining the minimum cost installation for apparatuses of a fixed telecommunication network” and development of the related software in partnership with Telecom Italia.
  • Patent application, code WO 2006/002665 “Method and system for network topology updating using topology perturbation" and development of the related software in partnership with Telecom Italia.
  • Development of models, methods and software for the resupply of the International Space Station by means of Automated Transfer Vehicle.
  • Development of methods and software for nurse rostering.

Other initiatives

  • Roberto Tadei. President of AIRO, the Italian Operations Research Society (2001-2006). Since 2000 he is director of the Master in Trasporti e Logistica: Sistemi, Reti e Infomobilità. President of FIMA, the Italian Federation of Applied Mathematics (2005-2006).
  • Federico Della Croce. Editor of Aironews, the newsletter of AIRO (2002-2005), and member of the Executive Council of AIRO (2002-2005).
  • Guido Perboli. Since 2008 he is Associate Member of CIRRELT – Centre Interuniversitaire de Recherche sur les Réseaux d’Enterprise, la Logistique et les Transport, Quebec, Canada. Since 2007, Director of LabORO, the Laboratory of Operations Research and Optimization of DAUIN. Member of the Executive Council of AIRO (2005-2008).
  • Alexis Tsoukias (external member of the group) was president of EURO, the European Operations Research Society.

Research projects and contracts

Research staff