Introduction to Optimization using Python Workshop

Title: Introduction to Optimization using Python

How does a pool-rideshare work? Why no two people pay the same price for a flight? For food delivery business, what is the order to deliver food? For a courier company, how to stuff boxes in the cargo? What should be the value of the hyperparameters in my machine learning model?

What's the underlying theme? Optimization.

Highly-constrained, large-dimensional, and non-linear optimizations are found at the root of most of today's forefront problems in statistics, quantitative finance, risk, operations research, materials design, and other predictive sciences. The abundance of parallel computing resources has stimulated a shift away from using reduced models to solve statistical and predictive problems, and toward more direct methods for solving high-dimensional nonlinear optimization problems.

Sabre, a leading technology solutions provider to the world's largest industry - travel and tourism, is hosting the workshop "Introduction to Optimization using Python Workshop" at their Bangalore office organized jointly by BangPypers and Bangalore Operations Research Meetup groups. Sabre’s software, data, mobile and distribution solutions are used by hundreds of airlines and thousands of hotel properties to manage critical operations. Sabre also operates a leading global travel marketplace, which processes more than $120 billion of estimated travel spend annually by connecting travel buyers and suppliers.

The session will start with a small introduction to "Airline business problems that are solved using large-scale optimization methods" by Amit Agarwal, Manager, Operations Research at Sabre. The tutorial will begin post this talk.

This tutorial will introduce modern tools for solving optimization problems -- beginning with traditional methods, and extending to solving high-dimensional non-convex optimization problems with highly nonlinear constraints. We will start by introducing the cost function, and it's use in local and global optimization. We will then address how to monitor and diagnose your optimization convergence and results, tune your optimizer, and utilize compound termination conditions. We will use a case-study based approach.

This will be a hands-on session. No background is assumed. Please bring your own laptops for the session.

Please install the requirements prior to the workshop. The repository for the workshop has instructions.

https://github.com/rouseguy/Optimization_in_Python

Instructor Details

Talk by Sabre will be led by Amit Agarwal who has over 7 years’ experience in developing and managing optimization based solutions applying OR techniques to real world problems in the transportation industry.

The workshop will be led by Bargava Subramanian. He is a senior data scientist at Cisco Systems, India.

Contact details:

Goda: 98860 47004

Bargava:99169 27198

Wi-fi

There will be wi-fi available at the venue. Please bring your wifi dongles, if you have one in case the wifi is slow.

Lunch

Lunch will be provided at the venue.

Address and entry details

Sabre Travel technologies Pvt Ltd
6th Floor, Innovator Building
ITPB
Whitefield Main Road
BangaloreEntry into ITPL:

Attendees can collect gate pass at gate 1 or gate 2 by showing any government id (PAN card, driver’s license, passport)

Please make sure that you collect the ID before leaving ITPL.

There is a paid parking facility available at MLCP (diagonally opposite to TCS). Please park your cars there. Please note that yellow plated vehicles will not be allowed through gate 1 and 2. Any one coming in a taxi should get their gate pass at gate 2 and enter ITPL through gate 3.