Personnel scheduling in the Call Center industry

We discuss the main results of the author’s PhD thesis (Canon 2005) presented in December 2005 at the Université François-Rabelais de Tours and supervised by J.-C. Billaut and J.-L. Bouquard. This thesis is written in French and is available from the author upon request. It deals with three different problems arising in the call center industry: the problem of dimensioning a call center, the annualisation problem and finally the Shift Design Problem.     

Models and algorithms for the reconfiguration of distributed wireless switching systems

This paper is a summary of the author’s PhD thesis entitled “Models and algorithms for the reconfiguration of wireless switching systems”. The thesis deals with the study of a strongly NP-hard resource-constrained scheduling problem arising from the telecommunication industry. This work was supervised by Jacques Carlier and Dritan Nace, both from Université de Technologie de Compiègne, and carried out while the author was a System Architect within Nortel GSM Access R&D organization. The thesis, which is written in both French and English, has been defended on 29 March 2007 and is available by email request to the author. This research was supported in part by Association Nationale de la Recherche Technique grant CIFRE-121/2004.     

Internal transport in automated semiconductor manufacturing systems

This paper summarizes the main results presented by the author in his PhD thesis (Montoya-Torres 2005), supervised by Stéphane Dauzèere-Pérés, Jean-Pierre Campagne and Hélène Marian, and defended on 29 November 2005 at the école des Mines de Saint-étienne and Université Jean-Monnet. The thesis is written in French and is available upon request from the author. This work deals with a real-life transportation problem in the semiconductor industry. It proposes a new approach by integrating tactical and operational decisions for the control of the automated transport system. At the tactical level, the problem is modeled using integer linear programming models inspired from Location Theory. At the operational level, the solution obtained from the tactical optimization is coupled with a discrete-event computer simulation program and some policies for transportation operations are implemented and compared.     

Combinatorial identification problems and graph powers

This is a summary of the author’s PhD thesis supervised by Pr. Olivier Hudry and defended on 7th June 2010 at Télécom ParisTech. The thesis is written in French (introduction and overview of results) and English (articles, which contain the proofs) and is available from the author upon request or from . It deals in a first part with algorithmic and combinatorial properties of different variations on identifying codes in undirected graphs, a theoretical model for problems of detection and localization in networks. These issues led us to consider a notion of powers of graphs, which we investigate into several directions in a second part.     

Transfer distance between partitions and search of dense zones in graphs

This text summarizes the Ph.D. thesis defended by the author in November 2006 under the supervision of Olivier Hudry, at the Université Paris 1. The thesis is written in French and can be obtained from the author upon request. The first part of the thesis is mainly devoted to the study of distances between partitions, and more precisely to the transfer distance. In the second part, we design a method for overlapping clustering and we apply it to protein interactions networks.     

Optimization of modular machining lines

The paper summarizes the main results of the author’s Ph.D. thesis presented in December 2006 at the école des Mines de Saint étienne. The work was supervised by Alexandre Dolgui and Xavier Delorme. The thesis is written in French and is available upon request from the author. Its purpose is to provide decision support in the design and reconfiguration of modular machining lines with multi-spindle units. This design problem is defined as the selection of spindle units to perform a set of operations needed to produce the parts and subsequently their assignment to workstations. The corresponding optimization problem is solved using different models based on integer and constraint programming.      

Solving scheduling problems from high-level models

This is the summary of the author??s PhD thesis supervised by Yves Deville and Pascal Van Hentenryck, and defended on 25 May 2010?at the Université catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve. The thesis is written in English and is available from the author, or downloadable from http://becool.info.ucl.ac.be/files2/thesis-monette.pdf. This work is about the gap between high-level modelling of scheduling problems and its efficient resolution. We propose to automatically classify models of scheduling problems, and to apply an appropriate search algorithm. Thanks to the strong separation between model and search, we propose also a simple way to create hybrid algorithms. A second part of the thesis deals with Constraint Programming approaches for two scheduling problems: The one-machine non-preemptive problem and the Just-In-Time Job-Shop problem. All parts are accompanied by experimental results showing their practicality.     

On a new class of nonlinear set covering problems arising in wireless network design

This is a summary of the author’s PhD thesis, supervised by Edoardo Amaldi and defended on 28 April 2006 at Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Matematica. The thesis is written in English and is available from the author upon request. The thesis investigates a class of nonlinear set covering variants arising from the problem of designing single-frequency Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) with maximum efficiency. In the first part of the thesis a basic hyperbolic formulation of the problem is considered. After a complexity and approximability study, the problem is tackled by linearization techniques, and by Lagrangean and Dantzig–Wolfe decompositions. The second part of the thesis focuses on variants accounting for various relevant features of the WLAN application. A Branch-and-Price algorithm is presented, and extensions to the multiple-frequency WLAN design problem are considered.      

On the design of networks with unicyclic connected components

This is a summary of my PhD thesis supervised by Walid Ben-Ameur and defended on September 29 2009, at Télécom SudParis. The thesis is written in French language and is available from the author upon request at makhlouf.hadji@it-sudparis.eu.     

Scheduling with earliness–tardiness penalties and parallel machines

This is a summary of the author’s PhD thesis supervised by Francis Sourd and Philippe Chrétienne and defended on 30 January 2007 at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. The thesis is written in French and is available from the author upon request. This work is about scheduling on parallel machines in order to minimize the total sum of earliness and tardiness costs. To solve some variants of this problem we propose: an exact method based on continuous relaxations of convex reformulations derived from a 0–1 quadratic program; a heuristic algorithm that relies on a new exponential size neighborhood search; finally, a lower bound method based on a polynomial time solution of a preemptive scheduling problem for which the cost functions of the jobs have been changed into so called position costs functions. Partial funding provided by CONACyT (Mexican Council for Science&Technology).     

Multiple criteria decision aiding: a dialectical perspective

This is a summary of the Ouerdane’s PhD thesis supervised by Alexis Tsoukiàs and Nicolas Maudet and defended on 01 December 2009 at the Université Paris-Dauphine, Paris. The thesis is written in English and is available from the author upon request. This work has the aim to investigate the different ways to use argumentation theory in a decision context. More precisely within multi-criteria evaluation models. The principal aim is to meet the needs in terms of explanations and revision during a decision process.     

Exact and approximate resolution of integral multiflow and multicut problems: algorithms and complexity

This is a summary of the author’s PhD thesis supervised by Marie- Christine Costa and Frédéric Roupin and defended on 20 November 2006 at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris (France). The thesis is written in French and is available upon request from the author. This work deals with two well-known optimization problems from graph theory: the maximum integral multiflow and the minimum multicut problems. The main contributions of this thesis concern the polynomial-time solvability and the approximation of these two problems (and of some of their variants) in classical classes of graphs: bounded tree-width graphs, planar graphs and grids, digraphs, etc.      

Angular derivatives on bounded symmetric domains

In this paper we generalise the classical Julia-Wolff-Carathéodory theorem to holomorphic functions defined on bounded symmetric domains. This work comprises part of the Ph.D. thesis [13] of the first author who gratefully acknowledges the support of Forbairt Basic Research grant SC/97/614.     

The Vertex Coloring Problem and its generalizations

This is a summary of the author’s PhD thesis supervised by Paolo Toth and defended on 29 May 2007 at the Università di Bologna. The thesis is written in English and is available from the author upon request. The first part of this work deals with the Vertex Coloring Problem and its generalizations, for which models, bounds and algorithms are proposed. The Second Part is dedicated to a different problem on graphs, namely a Routing Problem in telecommunication networks where not only the efficiency, but also the fairness of the solution is considered.      

A new stochastic Petri net model and its applications to logistics systems

This is a summary of the author’s PhD thesis supervised by Lionel Amodeo and Hoaxun Chen and defended on 29 November 2005 at the Université de Technologie de Troyes (France). The thesis is written in French and is available from the author upon request. This work deals with a new stochastic Petri net model and its applications for modeling and studying logistics systems and more generally discrete event dynamic systems.      

Simulation and optimisation of intermodal barge transport networks

This is a summary of the author??s PhD thesis supervised by Gerrit Janssens and Cathy Macharis and defended on 7 May 2010?at the Hasselt University, Belgium. The thesis is written in English and is available from the author upon request. This work deals with two key aspects in the competitiveness of intermodal transport making use of inland navigation. The first part of the thesis studies bundling of freight in intermodal barge transport networks. Alternative bundling strategies for container barge transport are compared by means of discrete event simulation. Cooperation between inland barge terminals to bundle freight flows is modelled as a service network design problem. The second part relates to the initial and final journey by road in the intermodal barge transport chain. Pre- and end-haulage by road is modelled as a Full Truckload Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows. A local search algorithm and deterministic annealing algorithm are proposed to find near-optimal solutions.     

The dirichlet problem in a domain whose boundary is partly degenerated

Summary In this paper we bring a formulation of the Dirichlet problem for strongly elliptic equations in domains vhose boundaries may include manifolds of different dimensions. It is shown that, under certain regularity conditions, this problem is equivalent to the generalized Dirichlèt problem, with respect to existence and uniquennes of solutions. This paper represents part of a thesis submitted to the Senate of the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Science. The author wishes to tank ProfessorS. Agmon for his gudance and help in the preparation of this work.     

Some classical combinatorial problems on circulant and claw-free graphs: the isomorphism and coloring problems on circulant graphs and the stable set problem on claw-free graphs

This is a summary of the author’s Ph.D. thesis supervised by Sara Nicoloso and Gianpaolo Oriolo and defended on 3 April 2008 at Sapienza Università di Roma. The thesis is written in English and is available from the author upon request. This work deals with three classical combinatorial problems, namely the isomorphism, the vertex-coloring and the stable set problem, restricted to two graph classes, namely circulant and claw-free graphs. In the first part (joint work with Sara Nicoloso), we derive a necessary and sufficient condition to test isomorphism of circulant graphs, and give simple algorithms to solve the vertex-coloring problem on this class of graphs. In the second part (joint work with Gianpaolo Oriolo and Gautier Stauffer), we propose a new combinatorial algorithm for the maximum weighted stable set problem in claw-free graphs, and devise a robust algorithm for the same problem in the subclass of fuzzy circular interval graphs, which also provides recognition when the stability number is greater than three.     

Coordination of production planning and distribution

This is a summary of the main results presented in the author’s Ph.D thesis, supervised by C. Prins and defended at the Université de Technologie de Troyes in October 2006. The thesis, written in French, is available from the author upon request. It deals with the integrated optimization of production planning and distribution in supply chains. A single product case and a multiproduct case are investigated. Integer linear programming models are proposed and different approaches based on heuristics, metaheuristics and cooperative methods are developed. Significant savings are obtained, compared to classical decoupled methods. These results confirm both the interest of integrating production and distribution decisions and of using metaheuristics for the largest instances.