Our institute belongs to the department for Management Sciences and Technology (department W) of the Hamburg University of Technology. It was founded in the year 2009 with the objective of strengthening and expanding the department‘s research in the field of quantitative methods. Furthermore, we complement the study programs of industrial engineering and management as well as logistics by giving the students the opportunity to learn and to apply analytical planning and optimization techniques.

The different methods and approaches which we develop, apply and teach, belong to the disciplines Operations Research and Management Science. In general, they are applied to structure decision making processes and to find optimal solutions for complex problems. Their practical applications are manifold and include, but are not limited to, the solution of logistical (e.g. location planning, vehicle routing problems, optimization of material flows) and business management problems (e.g. resource planning, job shop scheduling, investment planning).

In general, the problem-solving process starts with the development of a quantitative model that covers the most relevant aspects of the problem at hand. In a subsequent step, an appropriate algorithm is chosen and employed to obtain a solution. The usually large problem sizes and their inherent complexity require the use of computers and dedicated optimization software to perform the optimization in a reasonable amount of time. In order to provide the students with a useful toolkit for their prospective working life, we equally cover the initial analysis, the modelling and the computer- and algorithm-based solution of the respective problems.

As these fascinating topics are not only theoretically challenging, but also of major practical relevance, it is important to us to enthuse our students about them and to prepare them for optimization tasks they might encounter later on in their career. We are also happy to give support with the solution of business problems in practical contexts.

We hope you find all the information you are interested in on our webpages, otherwise - just get in touch!

Prof. Dr. Kathrin Fischer & the ORIS-Team