Operational Research Lab (9th semester – compulsory), National Technical University of Athens – School of Mechanical Engineering

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The objective of Operational Research is to help engineers solve practical problems by developing relevant mathematical models. Moreover, these models are used for selecting the optimum out of a set of potential solutions. During the course Operational Research I, students get familiar with specific type of operational research problems, learn how to model them and optimise their solutions.

The course is divided into two streams. The first one concerns Linear Programmimg (Model Formulation, Graphical Solution, Simplex Method), Sensitivity Analysis, Transportation Problems and Assignment Problems. The second part of the course concerns quantitative techniques in Project Management (CPM/PERT - Schedule/Cost Optimization), Monte Carlo Simulation, Shorter Route problems, Minimum Spanning Tree problems and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Modelling complicated operational research problems
• Modelling investment problems
• Use spreadsheets for solving operational research related problems
• Use spreadsheets functions for solving operational research problems
  Use "Solver" for solving operational research problems

The course is based on the following books:

Παπαθανασίου, Ε. 2008, Επιχειρηματικές εφαρμογές με το MS Excel, Εκδόσεις Γκιούρδας, Αθήνα.

Λιώκη-Λειβαδά, Η. και Ασημακόπουλος, Δ. 2010, Μαθήματα εφαρμοσμένης στατιστικής, Χρήση του Microsoft Excel, Εκδόσεις Αθανασοπούλου - Αθανασόπουλου, Αθήνα.

Suggested bibliography:

Course handouts.

USEFUL FILES - ANNOUNCEMENTS

For files - announcements related to the course please visit this link (available only in greek)