5 October 2015
The workshop focused on the travelling salesman problem, the vehicle routing problem and the arc routing problem. The event brought together 50 people from the fields of routing, planning, scheduling and transportation from countries all over Europe and beyond, a mixed group of both academics and practitioners.
Professor Gilbert Laporte (HEC Montréal) presented most parts of the workshop. His talks covered a wide range of topics in the field and shed light on the most recent developments and current topics of debate. As a leading scientist with over 450 journal publications, editor of multiple journals (including editor of JORS with MSBE’s own Thomas Archibald) and writer of 15 books, it is not surprising that Gilbert Laporte’s concluding seminar about publishing in Operational Research was also well received.
Tim Pigden (Optrak Distribution Software Ltd), our second keynote speaker, held a live demonstration of the routing software developed by his company for the pickup and delivery of freight using trucks across the UK and North America. The audience was impressed by the multitude of features that were included and the sophisticated way they were implemented. The demonstration was followed by a round table discussion with passionate debates about the discrepancies between the current focus of academic research and the actual industry requirements.
All in all, the workshop was a great success. The University of Edinburgh Business School proved itself as being able to provide an excellent platform for cutting edge-research where leading scientists from different disciplines were brought together. This couldn’t be done without the help and support of the facilitators and the research budget made available to us.