The goal of our research is to develop theory, models and algorithms for the solution of fundamental and practically important problems in the area of Process Systems Engineering (PSE). Our research group is currently working in three areas:

Production planning and scheduling: We formulate mixed-integer programming (MIP) models to address new classes of process scheduling problems. To effectively address instances of practical importance, we also develop solution methods, such as hierarchical and iterative decomposition algorithms. Furthermore, we are currently developing a general framework for the integration of short-term scheduling models with medium-term production planning decisions.

Management of the pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) pipeline: The development of new drugs is a long, expensive and risky process. It takes an average of 15 years and $900 million to move a new drug from the discovery into the marketplace, and out of 5,000 compounds that emerge from discovery, only five perform well enough to move into human testing, and only one of these five compounds is approved. Our research is directed toward the development of stochastic programming methods for the planning of R&D activities, from the prioritization of drugs, to the sequencing of clinical trials.

Optimization methods for process design: Our current work focuses on the development of surrogate unit models, i.e. models that describe process units using fewer variables and constraints, yet provide all necessary high-level information. Our goal is to use these models to formulate computationally tractable process models for superstrucuture optimization.

Contact Information:
2004 Engineering Hall
1415 Engineering Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1691
Tel: 608-265-9026
Fax: 608-262-5434
E-mail: christos@engr.wisc.edu

Copyright 2008 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Date last modified: August 19, 2008
Date created: September 1, 2006
Content by: Professor Christos T. Maravelias
Markup: diaz@engr.wisc.edu

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