Optimization Application
Optimization
Professionally, I am mainly concerned with the field of optimization. This refers to an area of applied mathematics, more precisely mathematical optimization. This fascinates me due to the fact that today's everyday life of many companies and every single person cannot be imagined without it. Don't you think so? Let's take a look at some examples:
Navigation
Most people like to use the convenience of a navigation system. This is suitable if you are traveling by car in foreign regions, do not know the traffic situation or simply do not want to use a conventional map. Nowadays, satellite data are sufficiently precise and smartphones are powerful enough to allow meter-accurate navigation even on foot or on a bike. Ask yourself on your next vacation whether you could have explored the city without optimization.
Logistics
If you are not only dealing with one object to be moved, but have to manage entire fleets of vehicles or aircraft, the problem quickly becomes confusing. Have you ever wondered how it is possible that sometimes only hours or a few days pass between the click on the buy button of an online store and the receipt of the goods, even though so many people are shopping and being supplied? This can only be achieved by optimally routing hundreds of vehicles to thousands of addresses. In every city, in every country, all over the world.
Travel
Do you know what a logistical masterstroke lies behind a single vacation flight? This requires network-wide planning of flight connections for all aircraft of an airline, taking into account all other airlines. Of course, all legal requirements must be met and the aircraft must be regularly maintained. This planning has to match exactly the operations at hundreds of airports, which have to provide just-in-time the right resources, such as runways, gates and fuel trucks, to guarantee smooth operations. In addition, there are less obvious optimization tasks, such as adjusting the trajectory of individual aircraft in the event of weather changes or a high volume of traffic in the respective flight space.