Memo to System Optimization Off-Campus Students March 13, 1996 To: Off-Campus Students in the System Optimization Course From: Tom Magnanti Subject: Course and Personal Background Copy: M. Best, M. Chapman, E. Crawley, A. Drazen I am delighted to welcome you as a student in the System Optimization course. As most of you are aware, this course is part of a new program at MIT called Systems Design and Management that is unique in at least two ways: (1) in content, it is emphasizing large complex systems and products, bringing together resources from both MITıs engineering and management schools, and (2) in delivery, it is the first MIT program ever offered in an on-campus off-campus format. I am both a co-director of the new program and an instructor in this, one of its core courses. Therefore, for me the course will serve as a multifaceted learning experience: on its subject matter, on teaching and learning at a distance, and on the delivery of a broad-based on-campus off-campus educational program. I have never taught in an off-campus format myself, and I suspect that I have a lot to learn about this mode of educational delivery. This mailing includes a course syllabus and the readings for the first half of the course. In a few weeks I will send you the reading material for the second half. The mailing also includes two other items: a student information survey and a form called ³todayıs learnings.² Please complete the student information survey as soon as possible and fax it to me (617-258-9218) or send your responses by e-mail (to magnanti@mit.edu). To help me better tailor the course for your needs and interests, the form asks about your background in optimization and what you might like to learn from the course. To help me learn a bit about you as an individual, it also asks about your background and interests in general. In the rest of this note, I will offer some overall comments about the System Optimization course and about my own personal background and interests. About the Course Overall Orientation The System Optimization Course focuses on applications, using optimization models and methodology to improve engineering and management decision making. As an outcome of the course, I hope that you will develop an understanding of optimization modeling in general, an appreciation for its use in varied applied settings, and at least a hint at some of the underlying methodologies. Since almost all of the on-campus students will have had an exposure to optimization modeling in a previous course, to begin the course I will be giving a brief ³short course² on linear programming. I will be delivering this portion of the course (the first six sessions) to only the off-campus students and to a few on-campus System Design and Management students (who will not have had a prior course in optimization). This first section of the course will differ from the remainder in two ways: (i) it will have a much more limited audience, and (ii) it will be somewhat less oriented to applications and to large-scale systems. By limiting the audience of the first few sessions to the off-campus students, I hope that we will be able to develop a working and teaching relationship that we can draw upon throughout the course. Teaching Style I tend to teach in a fairly interactive mode, with a substantial amount of class discussion. I also occasionally have students undertake collaborative exercises in the classroom. So, my classes tend not to be completely in a lecture format. I encourage students in class to not just passively take notes and assimilate information, but also to think along with me. I believe that this teaching approach leads to a better and more enjoyable learning experience. Its not clear to me how this style will work in a distance learning mode (especially for students sitting by themselves) and so we will have to work this out throughout the course. I do hope to provide you with opportunities to actively participate in class and to work on several exercises during the class periods. Therefore, I would encourage you to participate in the classroom discussions. My boardmanship tends not to be very good, and I tend to do a fair amount of ³hand waiving.² I will need your feedback about these teaching peculiarities and about other elements of the classroom experience. In my most recent classes, I have used another learning device. At the end of each class session, I ask students to very briefly write down what they have learned that day (for their own use). If time permits, we share these learnings in class. I have found that this exercise forces us all to reflect upon the subject matter in ways that are constructive and that promotes learning. In order to do this, I ask you to make copies of the enclosed form entitled Todayıs Learnings and bring a copy to class with you each day. I encourage you to keep these forms and refer back to them occasionally so that you can reflect upon your accumulated learnings. Course Delivery Optimization software is an essential part of the course. Ordinarily, for an on campus course, I would simply send students to one of our computer labs and know that they would have access to the course software and to the required computer hardware. Of course, we wonıt be able to make this assumption. At the very least, you will need access to Microsoft Excel with is solver routine (on either a Macintosh or a PC platform). We have set up a world wide web home page for the course and will be using fax and e-mail (see the course outline for details). We plan on posting some course material (homework assignments) on the web using a program called Acrobat. To access this material, you will need a program called the Acrobat Reader, which you can download from the course home page. We have made arrangements for you to have dial up access to the MIT network with full privileges as though you were on campus. I will have one of my teaching assistants or one of the SDM staff provide you with instructions about these issues. Typically, I am easiest to reach by e-mail. About me I have been on the MIT faculty since 1971. I did my undergraduate work in chemical engineering at Syracuse University and graduate work (in statistics, mathematics, and operations research) at Stanford University. I have spent sabbaticals or short periods of time, ranging from a few months to a year, at a research institute in Belgium (twice), at Bell Labs, at GTE labs, and on the corporate manufacturing staff of Digital Equipment Corporation. I hold a joint appointment with MITıs school of management (The Sloan School) and department of electrical engineering and computer science. I have previously served as an area head (department chair) of about a third of the Sloan School and was a founding co-director of MITıs Leaders for Manufacturing Program. Currently, I am a co-director of MITıs interdepartmental operations research center as well as a co-director of the systems design and management program. My primary research and teaching interests are in optimization. Indeed, I am an optimization jock and enjoy essentially all aspects of optimization. In the past, I have worked on optimization methodology as well as in several application settings: in communications, manufacturing, scheduling, transportation, and logistics. Much of my recent research has focused on the design of telecommunications networks. When I am not engaged with MIT related activities, I live and (mostly) die with the Boston Red Sox and Celtics and the New England Patriots. I am a sports voyeur. I enjoy the theater and traveling. My wife and I have one child; he is twenty-five, is handicapped, and lives at home with us. For inspiration, above my desk at MIT, I have a framed letter by Albert Einstein and above my desk at home I have a framed picture of Larry Bird.