[Iefac.list] 2014 INFORMS RAS Problem Solving Competition

[Xiaopeng Li]

Dear Friends, 

 

I am pleased to announce the 2014 INFORMS Railroad Applications Section
(RAS) Problem Solving Competition (PSC) (attached is the PSC
announcement). This competition will award the top three places $2000,
$1000, and $750, respectively, and the first prize winner's contribution
will be also considered for publication in journal "Networks".  More
information is available at our website  
https://www.informs.org/Community/RAS/Problem-Solving-Competition. I
also appreciate it if you can forward this announcement to those who may
be interested in participating in this competition. Thank you very much.


 

Regards,

Xiaopeng

 

*********************************

 

 

 

ANNOUNCING:

2014 Problem Solving Competition

 

Applying Advanced Analytics to Railroad Problems for Fun and Prizes!

 

1st Prize   $2,000

2nd Prize  $1,000

3rd Prize  $750

 

 

 

Plan Railroad Hump Yard Block-to-Track Assignment

                

Freight transportation by rail has been in existence for more than
one-hundred and fifty years. Over time, the volume moved by rail has
increased dramatically, and four major railway companies known as Class
I Railways have become responsible for moving millions of railcars
between thousands of origins and destinations each year. Rail yards are
nerve centers in this transportation of merchandise within rail
networks. Yard operations mimic the hub operations in the hub-and-spoke
networks used by airline companies, LTL providers, and package delivery
companies. However, unlike other industries, the railway industry uses a
complex network of interconnected tracks which have a very limited
capacity for moving railcars between tracks in yards.  

Participants are asked to build a model to identify a plan that
optimizes the humping sequence and the block-to-track assignment of a
railroad classification yard. In this problem, a number of inbound
trains arrive in the receiving yard at given times. Each train can be
broken into a number of railcar tuples (or blocks) that may go to
different destinations. These blocks are sent to tracks in the
classification yard according to a planned sequence. Finally, each set
of classified blocks are assembled into an outbound train in the
departure yard. The goal of an assignment plan is to minimize the
average dwell time of freight cars and to maximize the total number of
railcars processed in the yard during a certain period. An optimal
block-to-track assignment plan can significantly improve the efficiency
of yard operations while saving critical resources for a railway
company. However, designing a good assignment plan is very challenging
as it is subject a number of interdependent constraints due to limited
resources (e.g., limited tracks to hold railcars and limited engines to
move railcars) and specific classification requirement (e.g., blocks
going to the same destination must be moved together). 

The criteria that will be used to evaluate a solution include the
quality of the solution, the soundness of the solution approach, and the
corresponding computational time.

Apart from the cash prizes, the first prize winner's contribution will
also be considered for publication in Networks. The paper still needs to
go through the journal's normal refereeing procedure; however, the paper
will receive an expedited refereeing and publication process. 

 

Visit the competition web site for complete problem details: 
http://www.informs.org/Community/RAS/Problem-Solving-Competition
<http://www.informs.org/Community/RAS/Problem-Solving-Competition>   

 

 

Xiaopeng Li, Ph.D.

Chairman of 2014 RAS Problem Solving Competition

INFORMS

 

Assistant Professor 

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Mississippi State University

PO Box 9546, 235L Walker Hall, 501 Hardy Road

Mississippi State, MS 39762-9546

E-mail: XLi at CEE.MsState.Edu <mailto:XLi at CEE.MsState.Edu> 

Webpage: http://www.cee.msstate.edu/xli.html

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