Operations Research

Operations Research: A Practical Introduction is just that: a hands-on approach to the field of operations research (OR) and a useful guide for using OR techniques in scientific decision making, design, analysis and management. The text accomplishes two goals. First, it provides readers with an introduction to standard mathematical models and algorithms. Second, it is a thorough examination of practical issues relevant to the development and use of computational methods for problem solving. Highlights: All chapters contain up-to-date topics and summaries A succinct presentation to fit a one-term course Each chapter has references, readings, and list of key terms Includes illustrative and current applications New exercises are added throughout the text Software tools have been updated with the newest and most popular softwareMany students of various disciplines such as mathematics, economics, industrial engineering and computer science often take one course in operations research. This book is written to provide a succinct and efficient introduction to the subject for these students, while offering a sound and fundamental preparation for more advanced courses in linear and nonlinear optimization, and many stochastic models and analyses. It provides relevant analytical tools for this varied audience and will also serve professionals, corporate managers, and technical consultants.

Michael W. Carter is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and IndustrialEngineering at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario (since 1981) and foundingdirector of the Centre for Healthcare Engineering (in 2009). He received his PhD inCombinatorics and Optimization from the University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario. Healso spent seven years at Waterloo as a full-time Systems Analyst in the Data ProcessingDepartment. He is a member of the Canadian Operational Research Society (CORS), theInstitute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), the HealthApplications Society (of INFORMS), the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering(IISE) and the Society for Health Systems (SHS). He is the Canadian representative forORAHS (EURO: Operations Research Applied to Health Services).Since 1989, his research focus has been in the area of health care resource modeling andcapacity planning. As of January 2018, Dr. Carter had supervised 23 PhD students and90 Masters and directed more than 250 undergraduate engineering students in over 100projects with industry partners. He has over 100 former students who now work in thehealthcare industry. He is cross appointed to the Institute of Health Policy, Managementand Evaluation (IHPME) and the School of Public Policy & Governance at the Universityof Toronto.Dr. Carter teaches undergraduate courses in Healthcare Systems and EngineeringEconomics. Graduate courses include Healthcare Engineering, Healthcare Research andan Introduction to Operations Research for students in a part-time Master of HealthAdministration (MHSc) in IHPME.He was the winner of the Annual Practice Prize from the Canadian Operational ResearchSociety (CORS) four times (1988, 1992, 1996, and 2009). In 2000, he received the CORS Awardof Merit for lifetime contributions to Canadian Operational Research. He also receivedan Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Toronto Student AdministrativeCouncil. He is on the editorial board for the journals Health Care Management Science,Operations Research for Health Care, Health Systems, and IISE Transactions on HealthcareSystems. He is an adjunct scientist with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences inToronto (www.ices.on.ca) and a member of the Faculty Advisory Council for the Universityof Toronto Chapter of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). He is a member ofthe Professional Engineers of Ontario. In 2012, he was inducted as a Fellow of the CanadianAcademy of Engineering and in 2013, he was inducted as a Fellow of INFORMS, the internationalsociety for Operations Research and Management Science.Camille C. Price has been a professor of Computer Science at Stephen F. Austin StateUniversity, Nacogdoches, Texas, and she now continues her academic association as emeritusprofessor. She has also held faculty appointments at the University of Texas at Dallas,Richardson, Texas; Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas; Colby College, Waterville,Maine;