INFORMS Open Forum

Inaugural IJOC Test of Time Paper Award

  • 1.  Inaugural IJOC Test of Time Paper Award

    Posted 11-10-2019 09:39

    Hi colleagues, the INFORMS Journal on Computing (IJOC) has implemented a new award to honor the paper that has been most impactful over a prolonged period.  This will be awarded each year going forward and will consider papers published in IJOC 10 years prior over a five year window.  The inaugural selection committee is John Chinneck (chair), Bill Cook, Bruce Golden, Pascal Van Hentenryck, and David Woodruff.  Below is the citation of the first award and also a reflection by the authors on this landmark paper.   By the way, IJOC started publishing in 1989 so this is our 30 year anniversary!  Best, Alice Smith, Editor in Chief, IJOC


    INFORMS Journal on Computing

    Test of Time Award for papers published 2004-2008

     

    The Test of Time Award for papers published in the INFORMS Journal on Computing in the years 2004-2008 is awarded to:

    Zsolt Ugray, Leon Lasdon, John Plummer, Fred Glover, James Kelly, and Rafael Martí.

    Scatter search and local NLP solvers: A multistart framework for global optimization

    INFORMS Journal on Computing 19(3):328-340, 2007.

    Not only has this paper attracted a large number of citations, but it continues to be highly cited to this day, many years following publication. In fact, a significant number of the publications are recent, showing that the authors were ahead of their time.

    The paper describes the multi-start global optimization algorithm in the OptQuest solver, which can handle nonlinear programs in both continuous and integer variables, requiring only that the functions be differentiable with respect to the continuous variables. The algorithm suggests launch points for a local nonlinear solver, holding the integer variables constant, and is able to find global optima for most test problems using very few local solver launches (the most expensive operation).

    As well as influencing academic researchers (as shown by the many citations), the paper has influenced the practice of global optimization. A large variety of applications have been successfully attacked using OptQuest, and commercial global optimization solvers such as LINDO have been influenced by the ideas described in the paper. OptQuest has also developed into a leading tool for simulation optimization.

    Reflection from Authors:

    Comments on the 2019 Test of Time Paper Award

    Ugray Z, Lasdon L, Glover F, Kelly J, Marti R

    10/14/2019

    When we started our work on nonlinear mixed integer programming in 2004 we felt that there was an opportunity to expand on the designs of multistart algorithms to solve these problems. Our flexible framework to combine heuristics as trial solution generators, local solvers supplied with the trial solutions as starting points, procedures to deal with discrete variables, and the inclusion of starting point filters proved to be quite effective. The resulting system described in our 2007 paper incorporated the OptQuest implementation of the scatter search heuristic to generate the trial solutions and the LSGRG local solver to provide high accuracy solutions. Our work showed that the applications of OptQuest in the simulation optimization domain and of LSGRG in the nonlinear optimization domain could be integrated via a multistart framework to provide a useful technology for additional important classes of problems.

    As of October 2019, there are 290 citations of this paper listed in Scopus. The three most cited areas are Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics. They indicate the usefulness of the approach for applications and as a starting point for further algorithm developments. Another mark of the versatility of the framework is the existence of multistart solvers in many modeling languages and platforms, including MATLAB, TOMLAB, AIMMS, LINGO, and Frontline Systems' Enhanced Excel Solver.

    We would like to thank the Editors of the INFORMS Journal on Computing and the members of the 2019 IJOC Test of Time Paper Award committee for selecting our paper for this award. We also wish to remember our late colleague, John Plummer, who contributed so much to our work.

     


     



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    Alice Smith
    Forehand/Accenture Distinguished Professor
    Auburn University
    Auburn AL
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