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Mixed integer programming (MIP) provides an important modeling and decision support tool for a wide variety of real-life problems. Unfortunately, practical MIPs are large-scale in size and pose serious difficulties to the available solution methodology and software. / This thesis presents a novel solution approach for large-scale mixed integer programming that integrates three bodies of research: interior point methods, decomposition techniques and branch-and-bound approaches. The combination of decomposition concepts and branch-and-bound is commonly known as branch-and-price, while the integration of decomposition concepts and interior point methods lead to the analytic centre cutting plane method (ACCPM). Unfortunately, the use of interior point methods within branch-and-bound methods could not compete with simplex based branch-and-bound due to the inability of "warm" starting. / The motivation for this study stems from the success of branch-and-price and ACCPM in solving integer and non-differentiable optimization problems respectively and the quest for a method that efficiently integrates interior-point methods and branch-and-bound. / The proposed approach is called an Interior Point Branch-and-Price method (IP-B&P) and works as follows. First, a problem's structure is exploited using Lagrangean relaxation. Second, the resulting master problem is solved using ACCPM. Finally, the overall approach is incorporated within a branch-and-bound scheme. The resulting method is more than the combination of three different techniques. It addresses and fixes complications that arise as a result of this integration. This includes the restarting of the interior-point methods, the branching rule and the exploitation of past information as a warm start. / In the first part of the thesis, we give the details of the interior-point branch-and-price method. We start by providing, discussing and implementing new ideas within ACCPM, then detail the IP-B&P method and its different components. To show the practical applicability of IP-B&P, we use the method as a basis for a new solution methodology for the production-distribution system design (PDSD) problem in supply chain management. In this second part of the thesis, we describe a two-level Lagrangean relaxation heuristic for the PDSD. The numerical results show the superiority of the method in providing the optimal solution for most of the problems attempted.

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Generating employee rosters on a 24 hour, 7 day per week basis taking into account fluctuating demand for employees, employee skills, working conditions, training and employee preferences, while ensuring efficiency and equity between the employees is a very difficult task due to the very large number of possible rostering combinations available. The research done in this thesis sets to solve this exact problem for CS Energy's Swanbank Power Station located in Queensland, Australia. -- abstract. / Thesis (PhDMathematics)--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Carlyle, W. Matthew. "March 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on April 24, 2009. Author(s) subject terms: Integer Programming, Operational Planning, Navy Mission Planner, Navy Asset-Mission Pairing, Maritime Headquarters, Maritime Operations Center, Constrained Enumeration, Stack-based Enumeration, Mathematical Programming, Optimization, Decision Aid, Planning Tool, Ship Employment Schedule. Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-62). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): W. Matthew Carlyle. Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-48). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Operations Research)--Naval Postgraduate School, Sept. 2004. / Thesis Advisor(s): R. Kevin Wood. Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-80). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006u. / Nemhauser, George L., Committee Chair ; Ahmed, Shabbir, Committee Member ; Bartholdi, John J., Committee Member ; Takriti, Samer, Committee Member ; Gu, Zonghao, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Delaware, 2005. / Principal faculty advisor: David B. Saunders, Dept. of Computer & Information Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

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