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J.T. van Essen

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Master thesis (2025) - B.D.W. Janssen, Y. Murakami, J.T. van Essen, Pedro Lourenço, G.F. Nane
This thesis investigates optimization-based control allocation methods designed for fault-tolerant and scalable application in multi-stage rockets. It is particularly focused on rockets with Thrust Vector Control (TVC), aerodynamic fins and Reaction Control Systems (RCS). The aim is to minimize the error between control commands and actuator output, besides actuator effort. Both in nominal and faulty conditions. Three convex optimization formulations are proposed: an Angle-Deflection (AD) problem, a linearized problem and a Second-Order Cone Programming (SOCP) problem. The AD problem includes actuator deflections and the linearized and SOCP formulations jointly consider actuator deflections and engine throttling. This work allows integration of faulty scenarios by constraint tightening, allowing reconfiguration of control allocation without changing the problem structure. Simulation data is used to validate the effectiveness of the formulations in satisfying control commands and fault handling. The work contributes to fault-tolerant and scalable control allocation frameworks. ...

A Patient Prioritization Approach

Bachelor thesis (2025) - M.R. de Jong, J.T. van Essen
Efficient surgical scheduling is essential for maximizing patient outcomes and ensuring optimal use of hospital resources. This thesis proposes and evaluates optimization strategies that incorporate Maximum Waiting Times (MWTs) assigned by doctors—reflecting subjective urgency assessments—and medical urgency quantified objectively through Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), alongside operational constraints inherent in hospital scheduling. Using real-world surgical data from Erasmus MC, the study aims to identify approaches that effectively balance equity and efficiency in patient prioritization.

The scheduling problem is addressed through Integer Linear Programming (ILP). A core optimization model is developed to minimize the total DALY loss resulting from surgical delays while respecting MWTs. Two extensions of this model are introduced: one explicitly incorporating patient waiting time with a penalty on exceeding MWTs, and another designed to minimize the maximum DALY loss across patients to promote fairness. These three distinct models, each representing a different prioritization strategy, are empirically tested and compared. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis is conducted on the parameter gamma, which penalizes excess waiting time beyond the MWT, to assess how varying emphasis on excess waiting time impacts prioritization outcomes and overall scheduling effectiveness.

The results highlight key trade-offs between system-level efficiency and individual patient fairness, offering actionable insights for improving surgical scheduling practices. The findings support the integration of objective health-outcome metrics alongside clinical judgment into operational decision-making, contributing to a more equitable and effective allocation of surgical resources.

Overall, this study contributes to the field of surgical scheduling by incorporating the objective measure of Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) into prioritization decisions and promoting ethically grounded, outcome-oriented scheduling policies. The development of three distinct optimization models—balancing medical urgency, fairness, operational constraints, and MWTs—scheds light on the complex trade-offs between minimizing total DALY loss, considering waiting times and subjective urgency, and ensuring equitable patient outcomes. ...
Master thesis (2024) - E.T. Deen, J.T. van Essen, Dylan Huizing, W.T. van Horssen
Local search approaches are often used to find solutions for optimisation problems. However, these approaches easily get stuck in local optima, who are not yet globally optimal. More complex variants of those approaches cannot always escape those local optima easily. Thus, the need for another effective technique arises. This thesis proposes such a technique: potential KPIs. A potential KPI is an addition to the objective function such that the local search algorithm accepts solutions with `potential', i.e., solutions that are closer to the global optimum in some sense.
This thesis focuses on two optimisation problems, the bucketised planning problem (BPP) and the travelling salesman problem, to investigate the performance of potential KPIs. Various potential KPI functions and employment methods are tested to determine the efficacy of potential KPIs and to study their behaviour.
The findings of this thesis indicate that adding a potential KPI to the objective function can significantly improve a basic local search algorithm. The performance of the method with potential KPI is highly dependent on the chosen potential KPI function. Moreover, defining such a function is challenging since some knowledge about the local and global optima is needed. While a random function can already improve the algorithm a lot, using a well-constructed function performs even better as potential KPI.
Furthermore, the performance of the method is dependent on how the chosen function is employed. The method should always end with the local search with the original objective function, but whether to start with or without potential KPI is dependent on the function. Nevertheless, starting without potential KPI seems to be slightly better due to the lower runtime and ability to be always better than the basic local search. The weight of the potential KPI in comparison with the original objective should be high and instance-dependent. Additionally, the initial solution also influences the found solution of the method, as a better initial solution, such as a greedy solution, leaves less room for improvement for the basic local search. Thus, the technique of a potential KPI can significantly improve the basic local search, but its effectiveness is dependent on the method of employment and constructed function. Moreover, a potential KPI can only be used when enough information about the optimisation problem is known. ...

Dealing with uncertainty in surgery duration

Bachelor thesis (2024) - E.T. Wesselius, J.T. van Essen, J.A.M. de Groot
Scheduling surgeries in a hospital efficiently is a hard, but necessary task, because the Operating Rooms (ORs) contribute for about 40% of a hospitals total expenses. Therefore, we want to maximise the utilisation of the ORs. However, we want to prevent overtime, since there already is a lot of pressure on hospital employees. The overtime is not easily calculated, because of the stochastic nature of the surgery duration. In this thesis, we focus on maximising the utilisation of the ORs, without creating too much overtime. We model the scheduling of surgeries as integer linear programs (ILPs), which determine how many surgeries can be planned with the maximisation of the utilisation of the ORs as the objective. Different methods are used to include the overtime constraint and the resulting schedules are then compared and we take our conclusions. In our research, we use data provided by an academic hospital in the Netherlands, which provides spe-cialties, patient groups, a Master Surgery Schedule (MSS) and historical surgery durations. It also provides a minimum number of surgeries that have to be performed for each patient group. Preferably, we want to avoid overtime altogether. This however is not possible, due to the stochastic nature of the surgery duration. Instead we formulate an overtime constraint, by setting a probability that a surgery has to end within the opening hours. We call this, the overtime constraint. The premise of the first model is to create all possible combinations of surgeries which do not exceed the overtime constraint. In this model we create a variable which gives the distribution of the total surgery duration in a single OR on a single day. However, when adding multiple surgeries together we first need a distribution for the surgery duration. Unfortunately, we found that the surgery durations follow a log-normal distribution, which is supported by literature as well. The sum of log-normally distributed variables does not have a closed form, making it difficult to add the surgery durations together. To calculate the distribution of the total surgery duration, we use the Fenton-Wilkinson method. The second model discretises the opening hours of each OR into time blocks. We then define the probabil-ity that a surgery ends within a certain number of time blocks to incorporate the surgery duration. This way we can define a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) without relying on any specific distribution. At first, we use historical data to create the probability that a surgery ends within a certain number of time blocks. However, to ensure we compare the different models fairly, we use the same log-normal distributions as the previous model and discretises them. We found that the Column Based Approach has a high utilisation and computes the columns and solves the ILP faster than the discrete model. Despite this, overtime can still occur with this approach. However, the number of times overtime occurs, remains well within acceptable limits. Additionally, the probability of no
overtime directly impacts utilisation, as intuitively expected... ...
Master thesis (2024) - A.F.X.H. Dijkhorst, J.T. van Essen, J.L.A. Dubbeldam, Jur van Wijk
Plastic waste transported to oceans through canals and rivers becomes increasingly challenging to retrieve and harmful to ecosystems. Catching systems designed by Noria Sustainable Innovators can be used to capture the plastics as close to their source as possible. Deciding the best locations to place these systems is a difficult task, which is why a model for location optimization of catching systems for plastic waste removal from waterways is designed in this thesis: the Plastic Waste Flow Capturing Location Model (PW-FCLM).

In this model, the plastic waste flow through a network of waterways is represented as a Markov chain, using environmental data as inputs to estimate the initial probabilities and transition probabilities of plastic waste in the network. The PW-FCLM extends an existing Markov Decision Process-based Flow Capturing Location Model by incorporating various types of catching systems, considering sensitive areas, and specifying orientations for the systems. The equivalence of the linearized version of the extended model is demonstrated, a proof of NP-hardness of the problem is given and a greedy heuristic is presented as an alternative solution method.

A sensitivity analysis on the different types of input parameters is performed, and the runtimes for different problem sizes and solution methods are tested for case studies of Delft and Groningen in the Netherlands. The model is most sensitive to changes in the distance between the nodes in the network and to the probability of getting stuck due to water vegetation. For budgets up to B=2 and problem sizes up to n=375 nodes, the exact optimal solution can be found efficiently without a commercial solver license. For larger problem sizes or a higher budget, the heuristic appears to be a more appropriate solution method.

For future research, it is recommended to further study the influence of the distance between the nodes on the optimal solution and to investigate the plastic flow representation in the Markov chain further. Exploring the model's application to larger areas, such as provinces or countries, would be beneficial. The real-life effectiveness of placing catching systems at the optimal locations suggested by the model, depends on the accuracy of the input parameters. In this thesis, the values of the input parameters are primarily based on estimations of experts. It would be beneficial for the user of the model to further validate the values of the input parameters through experiments. ...
Master thesis (2024) - J.C.A. Faasse, J.T. van Essen, G.F. Nane, Lotte Berghman
The future prospect of healthcare workers in the Netherlands is worrisome, due to stressful working conditions and large expected personnel shortages. High quality personnel rosters have been shown to be able to alleviate this problem. The problem of creating personnel rosters that are of high quality in terms of how much they satisfy constraints regarding labor rules, work demand and personnel preferences, is denoted by the nurse rostering problem (NRP). This study aims to find an algorithm to solve the NRP that is suitable for implementation in a general automatic shift scheduler. 

Firstly, literature on the NRP is reviewed, from which we conclude that single-solution based meta-heuristics are most suitable for this purpose. A categorization is made of different algorithm components, that are varied among different methods, namely construction methods, neighborhood structures, overall frameworks and perturbation methods. Secondly, based on the conclusions from the literature review, two construction methods, i.e. Construction-per-shift and Construction-per-employee, and two overall frameworks, i.e. Simulated Annealing and Variable Neighborhood Search, are implemented. Experiments are performed on nine data instances from a Dutch hospital, for which the problem description, in terms of hard and soft constraints, is drawn up to reflect real-world target cases. Different variations within the implemented methods are tested, from which general conclusions are drawn, mostly on the use of neighborhood structures within the overall frameworks. 

Overall, Construction-per-shift greatly outperforms Construction-per-employee, Simulated Annealing slightly outperforms Variable Neighborhood Search, and the performance of the overall frameworks is largely independent of the preceding construction method. Based on the results, we conclude that both Simulated Annealing and Variable Neighborhood Search are stable and general methods, that can produce high quality rosters within a short time, making them suitable for implementation in a general automatic shift scheduler. 

Potential future improvements could be found in additional algorithm adjustments, such as adaptive neighborhood probabilities for Simulated Annealing, targeted perturbation for Variable Neighborhood Search, or hard constraint relaxations.
...
Intention aware routing system is a route-planning algorithm for electric vehicles that minimizes overall travel time by taking into consideration congestion at charging stations. This thesis extends this algorithm to allow choices to be made based on prices at charging stations. The goal of this thesis is to find a way to minimize maximum congestion while maximizing overall profit across the stations. To achieve this an optimal price has to be calculated. To this end, a formula is devised and applied to several graphs. ...

Leveling the bed occupancy through stochastic master surgery scheduling

Master thesis (2023) - T.P.K. Nguyen, J.T. van Essen, K.I. Aardal, K.P. Hart, L.M. Staals
This research addresses the operational challenges faced by the Sophia Children’s Hospital through a comprehensive analysis of its current state, literature review, and mathematical modeling. A model is created that produces a master surgery schedule, allowing for the allocation of patients to specific specialties, operating rooms, and days. Our aim is to maximize the utilization of the OR while also striving for a leveled bed occupancy and a balanced relative OR assignment for the specialties.

To address the uncertainty of future patient characteristics, we consider the surgery durations and the downstream to the nursing wards in a probabilistic manner. For the latter, we follow the approach of Schneider et al. (2020). For the first aspect, we devised a column generation based approach in which, assuming that individual surgery durations follow a log-normal distribution, we employ the
Fenton-Wilkinson method to estimate the distribution of the total sum of individual surgery durations. When this distribution is known, it becomes feasible to identify pairs of specialties with corresponding surgery counts that can be scheduled within our overtime restriction. The resulting model that includes this incorporation is referred to as the Log-normal Column model.

For our research, we use historical data provided by the Sophia Children’s Hospital. The data included properties about the patients’ surgeries and bed assignments. Due to the presence of errors in the data, we conducted preprocessing before utilizing it as input in our modeling. Additionally, we conducted goodness of fit tests to assess whether adopting the log-normal distribution for surgery duration was genuinely superior to the normal distribution. Our analysis revealed that, for the majority of instances, the log-normal distribution outperformed the normal distribution. This was the case for individual surgeries, as well as the Fenton-Wilkinson approximation for the duration of multiple surgeries.

We compared the performance of our Log-normal Column model to two other models which assume normality for the surgery durations. One is, similar to the Log-normal Column model, created with the column generation based approach, while the other is the model described by Schneider et al. (2020). The two column generation based approach models performed significantly better than the model proposed by Schneider et al. (2020). Furthermore, we compared our Log-normal Column model to the real-life situation with the help of a simulation. ...
Bachelor thesis (2023) - F.B.J. Hemler, J.T. van Essen
Velotech Solutions (VTS) is a company specialised in detecting damages in public spaces, such as road damages, non-working light posts or crooked traffic signs. This detection happens by bike or by car, and covers every street in the city or neighbourhood. The routes for navigation are currently created by hand. In this thesis, a proposal is given for the first step of automating this process meeting the requests of Velotech Solutions. A mathematical model is formulated for creating the routes. Firstly, the basic model is formulated to minimize the total distance of all routes that are created. Secondly, minimization of self crossings in every route is added. This is the main request, to prevent routes from becoming too complicated for the navigation devices and cyclists. Thirdly, two solution methods are presented. In the first one, all routes are created at once. In the second one, routes are created one-by-one. The methods are applied to the neighbourhoods Parkwijk and Boeier. From the results, the conclusion is drawn that the first solution method gives the most logical routes. However, the second method, is able to handle larger sets of data, since the solution space is smaller when creating only one route at the time. Lastly, recommendations for further research are given. These include research on the input parameters, the behaviour of the second method on larger datasets and using heurisitcs to solve this problem instead of exact solution methods. ...
Master thesis (2023) - J.M. Schmidt, J.T. van Essen, Bismark Singh, R.J. Fokkink
Facility location problems are an important set of problems within the field of optimisation. These problems consider which facilities to open out of a set of possible facilities and how to assign users to the open facilities. Most of the facility location problems studied have a linear objective. In this thesis, we consider a facility location problem with a quadratic objective, the Balanced Facility Location Problem (BFLP). This problem, and facility location problems in general, quickly becomes difficult to solve for standard MIP solvers as the input size increases. The difficulty of this problem is further supported by it being a NP-hard problem.

Hence, we develop three heuristics for the BFLP: two greedy heuristics and one local search heuristic. These heuristics are adapted from heuristics used for the standard Capacitated Facility Location Problem (CFLP).

The idea behind the first greedy heuristic is to close one facility at a time, starting with all facilities being open, until we have as many facilities open as the budget constraint of the BFLP dictates. At each step, the best facility to close is closed. Apart from adapting this heuristic to accommodate the slightly different constraints of the BFLP, we also make some further adjustments in order to reduce the running time.

The second heuristic that we adapt is a heuristic that instead of closing facilities one at a time, opens facilities one by one, until we reach the budget of open facilities that the BFLP allows. These simple heuristics perform very well in practice on both small and large instances of the BFLP.

Lastly, we discuss a local search heuristic, which attempts to improve a solution to the BFLP by opening one facility and closing another facility at each iteration. The local search only improves marginally upon the results of the greedy algorithms.

For use within the heuristics for the BFLP, we require fast heuristics to solve a subproblem of the BFLP, the problem of assigning users to facilities where the set of open facilities is fixed. Hence, we develop three heuristics for this subproblem and also adapt a previously developed heuristic to be optimised for its use within the BFLP heuristics.

Our heuristics achieve results that are similar or better than what a MIP solver achieves and find a good solution in significantly less time. Especially when the MIP solver struggles, due to the size or limited capacity of the BFLP instance, our heuristics are able to outperform the MIP solver. ...

Dealing with overtime

Bachelor thesis (2023) - M.J. van der Tuin, J.T. van Essen, R.C. Kraaij
Surgical scheduling is a complex task that requires consideration of various factors, including the probability of overtime. In this study, we address the research problem of surgery scheduling while accounting for the likelihood of exceeding scheduled operating room (OR) time. To tackle this problem, we employ integer linear programming (ILP) models to determine the optimal number of surgeries per group, with the objective of maximizing OR utilization while incorporating the probability of overtime as a constraint.

To capture the probabilistic nature of surgery durations, we investigate suitable probability distributions. Existing literature suggests that surgery durations follow a lognormal distribution. However, since the sum of lognormally distributed random variables lacks a closed form solution, we initially assume a normal distribution for analytical convenience. Subsequently, we approximate the lognormal distribution using the Fenton-Wilkinson method to account for its realistic behavior. To incorporate the
lognormalistic behavior and solve the ILP models efficiently, we employ a column based approach. This approach enables us to handle the complexities introduced by the lognormal distribution. Our study utilizes data provided by a hospital in the Netherlands, including information on surgeries, specialties, groups, and the master surgery schedule (MSS). Given the consideration of both normal and lognormal distributions for surgery durations, we assess the goodness of fit using appropriate statistical
tests.

Our results reveal that using averages or expected values yields the highest OR utilizations. However, there is a discussion regarding the validity of this method, as it does not explicitly incorporate the probabilistic overtime constraints. Nevertheless, we observe that all methods include cases which
surpass the predetermined overtime threshold, suggesting that utilizing averages or expected values can be a valid alternative. However, utilizing averages or expected values gives rise to high percentage
of cases surpassing our overtime threshold. So, we suggest to use a method which explicitly uses the probabilistic nature of the surgery durations.

During the examination of our methods, we had to take a minimum number of mandatory scheduled surgeries for each group into account. This means that another dataset, with different mandatory numbers, might lead to different results. Additionally, we noticed that our overtime definition might not be the most optimal, as we still have cases that surpass our overtime threshold. In future research, it would be valuable to include financial and staff factors, which can further enhance the scheduling process.

Overall, this study contributes to the field of surgery scheduling by addressing the probability of overtime and presenting insights into the trade-offs between OR utilization and the inclusion of probabilistic
constraints. Further research can build upon these findings to refine the scheduling approaches and incorporate additional factors for a more comprehensive solution. ...

Predicting construction algorithm performance for the vehicle routing problem using neural networks

Master thesis (2023) - N. Burgers, J.T. van Essen, A. Heinlein, Quinten Cederhout
The real-life Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) is the problem in which a set of vehicles needs to perform a set of tasks such that we have a shortest total driving distance. Such problems can be solved using construction algorithms. Finding the best-performing construction algorithm is time-consuming because these algorithms consist of many different elements, which differ between algorithms. In this thesis, a Neural Network (NN) model is built that predicts the best-performing algorithm from a pre-determined set of algorithms for a specific input case. These predictions are based on problem features extracted from real-life data. For our first NN model, we evaluate the best settings with a grid search, which leads to a model with a mean-squared error of 0.147 and an accuracy of $58.6\%$. We try to improve this original model by data balancing and varying the input features. First, we balance the data using downsampling and oversampling performed by an Integer Linear Program (ILP), which does not lead to a better-performing NN. Secondly, we add more input features to the model, which leads to a slight improvement because the model has more information about the problem at hand. After, we perform an elaborate feature analysis using permutation feature importance, SHAP, and Greenwell numbers. Based on this analysis, we reduce the number of input features to only 12. This reduction leads to the best-performing model with a mean-squared error loss of 0.125 and an accuracy of 61.7\%. To investigate whether our prediction model indeed improves the routes using the predicted algorithm, we look at the distribution of predictions. For each company, we replace the algorithm in use with the algorithm most often predicted by our model. This replacement indeed improves the results for most of the considered companies. ...

Sequencing surgery groups while levelling bed occupancy

Master thesis (2023) - K. Vos, J.T. van Essen, L.J.J. van Iersel, L.M. Staals, M. Keijzer
This research is conducted in collaboration with the Sophia Children's Hospital (SCH). The hospital wants to provide their patients with more detailed information about when a patient is approximately scheduled to have a surgery. The first step is to create a model which optimises the operation room (OR) schedule and indicates when different kinds of surgeries are planned. This information, combined with the waiting list, provides insight in when a surgery of a specific patient is scheduled.

In a hospital, different departments work together to treat the patient as good and efficient as possible. If a patient needs a surgery, not only an OR is needed, but also a bed at a ward which matches the patient's needs. The goal of this thesis is to use the different resources of the hospital as efficiently as possible. This is done by not only optimising the utilisation of the OR, but at the same time levelling the bed occupancy of the different wards. The levelling of the bed occupancy is done by minimising the maximum number of used beds at each ward. Because, if we minimise the maximum, we force that the patients are spread out more evenly over the day.

For each specialty, the patients are divided into patient groups based on historical data using a constrained $k$-means clustering algorithm. For each patient group, information is gathered about the length of stay (LoS) and the surgery duration of patients in this patient group. Next to that, the number of patients in a patient group indicates how often a patient group needs to be scheduled at least.

The probability distribution of the surgery duration is taken into account when deciding at which day, at what time, and in which OR a surgery is planned. A patient group can only be scheduled during OR shifts assigned to the corresponding specialty. At the same time, the levelling of the bed occupancy is taken into account.

After some constraints are linearised, this model can be formulated as a mixed integer linear program (MILP). However, the model has a large number of variables. Therefore, column generation is used to split the model into smaller subproblems per specialty. Some of the pricing subproblems take a lot of time to optimise. For that reason, we set some time limits both on the runtime of the pricing subproblems and the runtime of the entire algorithm. Column generation does not guarantee an optimal solution of our MILP. However, the objective value of our MILP improves over time, when new columns are added to the set of available columns. This indicates that column generation can be used to optimise our model.

In this thesis, several versions of the model are presented. For example, the schedule is different if the bed occupancy is calculated every hour or of every fifteen minutes. Next to that, the model can either be more focussed on maximising the OR utilisation or on levelling the bed occupancy. ...

Short-term scheduling for the intraday market using stochastic programming

Master thesis (2023) - A.A.C. Krijgsman, J.T. van Essen, A. Papapantoleon, Thomas Van der Vliet
The global push for renewable energy faces challenges due to the unpredictable and inconsistent nature of wind and solar sources. These inherent characteristics of renewable energy sources add volatility to the electricity markets. In response, electrical energy storage (EES) emerges as a solution for maintaining grid flexibility, stability, and reliability. Therefore, it is important to understand the potential interdependence of the wholesale electricity markets and the EESs.
This thesis focuses on short-term EES scheduling, comparing pumped hydropower storage (PHS), compressed air energy storage (CAES), and battery energy storage systems (BESS). This thesis aims to optimize EES scheduling, which includes charging and discharging actions, in the intraday electricity market, considering market price uncertainties. Storage decisions are optimized for one day (24 hours) from the perspective of the storage owner, and its objective is to maximize its profit through market operations. The research introduces a two-stage stochastic programming approach with a rolling horizon method (SORH) to adapt to changing conditions of the intraday market throughout the day.
The results of SORH, its deterministic counterpart (DORH), and simple deterministic optimization (DO) are compared by implementing a case study organized in four typical days based on trading data from the German electricity market. SORH consistently outperforms DORH and DO and is a suitable optimization strategy. SORH reaches on average 72 percentage of the theoretical optimum, where all prices are known in advance. Moreover, SORH offers opportunities for speculative trading using the storage as an option rather than only physically operating the storage. For a practical application of the model, future research could explore methods to match the current day with representative typical days to construct relevant price scenarios. ...
Doctoral thesis (2022) - J. Pierotti, K.I. Aardal, J.T. van Essen
One of the world’s biggest challenges is that living beings have to share a limited amount of resources. As people of science, we strive to find innovative ways to better use these resources, to reach and positively affect more and more people. In the field of optimization, we aim at finding an optimal allocation of limited sets of resources to maximize a certain objective. Some of these problems can be solved in polynomial time; others are more difficult to be solved. Current state-of-the-art methods can solve NP-hard problems (a class of optimization problems) in exponential time, in the worst case. To give an idea, for input size n Æ 100 and parameter k Æ 2: polynomial time nk Æ 1002 Æ 10,000; exponential time kn Æ 2100 Æ 1,267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376. Yet, many relevant and practical problems are NP-hard and have to be solved in a short amount of time. Our research focuses on formulating and solving four of these problems. Among those, three are vehicle routing problems (VRP, Chapters 2, 3 and 4). VRPs are problems where vehicles have to perform routes in order to minimize an objective function (for example, minimize routing costs) while being subjected to constraints (for example, each location has to be visited). Routing costs have a significant impact on society and on the cost of products (the transportation sector makes up 13.2% of the EU’s GDP (Joint Research Centre, 2021)). Although VRPs have been thoroughly studied for over half a century, new technologies (autonomous driving, real-time information, etc.) and new customers’ demands (increase in online shopping, a more competitive delivery market, etc.) create variants of the standard VRP that are more and more complex to formulate and solve. VRPs are well-known for being NP-hard and difficult to approximate, and hence solve. We formulated three novel VRPs and solve those both exactly via branch-and-bound (Chapters 3 and 4, the latter also uses valid inequalities) and metaheuristicly (Chapters 2 and 4). To increase generalizability, we introduced an almost non-parametric algorithm that encompasses all the most famous heuristic operators for VRP (Chapter 4). To increase performance, we proposed an adaptive, i.e., selftuning, algorithm (Chapter 2) that can detect problem’s features and steer its decisions to achieve better solutions. Lastly, Chapter 5 focuses on what we believe will be the most radical transformation in the metaheuristic field in coming years: machine learning for combinatorial optimization. Machine learning established its fundamental importance in many fields and it is currently paving its way into combinatorial optimization. We developed a selfattention based deep reinforcement learning algorithm without any problem-specific knowledge to solve one of the most studied combinatorial optimization problems. Our results suggest that machine learning can (and we conjecture that it will) tackle combinatorial optimization on its own, without problem-specific knowledge and will be a fundamental element in future state-of-the-art heuristics for combinatorial optimization. ...
Bachelor thesis (2021) - P.W. van de Lest, J.T. van Essen, R. Santbergen
In this thesis, a simulated annealing algorithm is implemented to optimize the efficiency of a tandem solar cell. The efficiency of a tandem solar cell is approximated by the current of the tandem solar cell. This current is determined by the simulation program GenPro4. Firstly, the general concepts of simulated annealing is described. After understanding these concepts, a simulated annealing algorithm is implemented for our specific problem. This algorithm includes the handling of discrete variables which describe the structure of the solar cell. The results contain multiple variants of the newly implemented simulated annealing algorithm, which differ in the used temperature schedule. Finally, a conclusion is made that a temperature schedule with a slower convergence gives the best results. However, one should consider a slightly faster convergence whenever there is a need to reduce the computational time. Moreover, one should write their own implementation of a simulated annealing algorithm when dealing with discrete variables, thus not use the provided function of MATLAB. ...

Creating an approach to combine tour-based mode-choice and modelling multimodality

Master thesis (2021) - N.R. van der Heide, N. van Oort, A.J. Pel, H. Taale, J.T. van Essen, Guus Tamminga
This study researches how station-based bike-sharing can be implemented in strategic transport models. Implementing station-based bike-sharing is a challenging topic, as it requires to combine two modelling techniques. The first is modelling transport tours to make sure that a person who rents a bike returns the bike to the same station. The second challenge is to model multimodality, because shared-bike are always used in combination with other modes. The most prevalent approach on the market to combine the topics is the two-step mode-choice approach. However, the two-step mode choice approach has three important limitations to model SB-bike-sharing. Therefore a new approach is proposed in this study; “The tour-based mode-chain and station choice approach”. Based on a small-scale theoretical case-study the new method gives promising results regarding modelling the combination of tour-based-mode-choice and multimodality. ...
Bachelor thesis (2021) - K.W. van Arem, J.T. van Essen, R. Santbergen
Tandem solar cells are a new type of solar cells that are currently being developed. Soms proporties of these solar cells are variable. In this scription, it is studied how genetic algoritms can be applied to optimize these tandem solar cells. Genetic algoritms are algorithms that find a good solution using the principles of evolution theory. It is studied what the influences are of several choices. In this way, this scription gives which genetic algorithms should be applied in several situations. Hereby, it provides insight in how genetic algorithms can be applied to optimize genetic algorithms. ...