As this session of Discrete Optimization comes to a close, we would like to give a BIG Thank You to everyone who participated. We could not be happier with the quality of work and dedication you have demonstrated.

Before completing your optimization journey and reclaiming all of your free time please consider:

• Sharing your thoughts about the course in the post-course survey.
• Joining the Facebook group to keep in touch with class alumni and staff announcements.
• Commemorating your Discrete Optimization experience with a class t-shirt.

We hope to see you next time,
The Discrete Optimization Team.

Wed 6 May 2015 3:50 PM CEST

The hard deadline on the assignments is fast approaching. Submissions points will stop counting toward certificates in one week. This is your last chance to grab those last few points.

The official certificate granting rules will be as follows,

• Any student with a total of 224 points or more will be awarded a regular certificate.
• Any student with a total of 300 points or more will be awarded a distinction certificate.
• The grade appearing on your certificate will be a percentage out of 320 total points (Screen Name is a bonus point!).

The rational for these thresholds is discussed in the grading rubric.

Wed 29 Apr 2015 3:50 PM CEST

With only two weeks left to go, you can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep up the great work as you move on to the final and most challenging assignment, the vehicle routing problem. Combining aspects of both the Traveling Salesman and the Knapsack problem, in this assignment you can start to see how complex real-world discrete optimization applications can be.

If you get stuck make sure to:

• Watch this video on the assignment.
• Take a look at your solutions in this web-based visualization tool.
• Ask for help in the forums.

At this point we highly recommend viewing the lectures in the advanced topics section. These advanced solution methods are incredibly powerful and culminate all of the skills you have developed throughout this course.

Lastly, as you complete the course please take a few minutes to complete the post-course survey to give us your feedback.

Wed 22 Apr 2015 3:50 PM CEST

We hope you had a great time with the traveling salesman problem. Now you have passed the halfway point in your Discrete Optimization journey. As the increasing difficulty of the assignments indicates, making it this far is a substantial accomplishment. Congratulations and keep up the great work! We hope your thirst for optimization will continue to grow as you move on to the last two assignments.

Over the next two weeks, we recommend you explore the facility location problem. This problem has applications in areas ranging from capital investment and inventory management to cluster analysis.

If you get stuck make sure to:

• Watch this video on the assignment.
• Review the lectures on the closely related warehouse location problem.
• Take a look at your solutions in this web-based visualization tool.
• Ask for help in the forums.

Wed 1 Apr 2015 2:50 PM CEST

In the past two weeks, we have seen very few colors. Keep up the great work! We hope you found the graph coloring assignment both a challenging and rewarding experience. Now is a good time to move on to the next assignment.

Over the next two weeks, we recommend you explore the infamous traveling salesman problem. This problem has been the subject of optimization research for over 50 years (see this book for the complete story). With applications ranging from drilling holes in circuit boards to planning telescope star gazing paths, the traveling salesman problem is one of discrete optimization's greatest success stories. After this assignment, maybe you will find the next breakthrough application.

If you get stuck make sure to:

• Watch this video on the assignment.
• Take a look at your solutions in this web-based visualization tool.
• Ask for help in the forums.

Wed 25 Mar 2015 1:50 PM CET

In the past week, we have seen some fantastic optimization. Keep up the great work!

The knapsack problem was just the tip of the discrete optimization iceberg. Over the next two weeks, we hope you will enjoy the significant challenge that graph coloring presents.

If you get stuck make sure to:

• Watch this video on how to approach the assignments.
• Ask for help in the forums. The collaboration policy is quite flexible.
• Have a look at the open-source set cover assignment for inspiration.

If you have a few minutes please complete the pre-course survey to help us understand your interests in this course.

Wed 11 Mar 2015 10:50 AM CET

Thank you for showing up to class! We are very excited to have the opportunity to share the science of discrete optimization with you. The next nine weeks are sure to be an exciting learning experience for all of us. We hope you will find this course just as fun, challenging, and rewarding as we did in preparing it.

This course assumes you are comfortable writing computer programs and has no other prerequisites. That said, we expect a typical student to require 10 hours of work on each assignment in order to succeed in this course. Such a major commitment may be daunting, but we think you will find the learning process of doing the assignment very rewarding. Earning a certificate in this course demonstrates you have truly learned the foundations of discrete optimization. We will also provide a certificate with distinction for students who truly excel in the assignments.

This course is distinctive, in that you are free to explore the material in any order you like, but to get off to a good start we recommend you begin the class with the following tasks:

• Watching the introductory videos (Motivation, Introduction, and the Knapsack 1-6 lectures)
• Watch the first two assignment videos (Screen Name and Knapsack)
• Review the Syllabus
• Take the pre-course survey (Optional)

After that, the rest is up to you!

Have fun and never hesitate to ask questions. We are all here to help you.

The Discrete Optimization Team

Wed 25 Feb 2015 1:50 AM CET