Constraint technology

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Constraint technology
Methods for solving combinatorial problems

• Constraint technology is a collective term for a
  relatively new set of methods and tools for
  modelling and solving (hard) combinatorial
  problems. The aim in such a problem is to make a
  combination of decisions such that some
  constraints are satisfied and, optionally, that
  some expression takes a maximal or minimal value.
  The efficient solution of such problems is
  crucial in many practical application domains,
  such as configuration, design, logistics,
  molecular biology, planning, scheduling,
  transport, and so on. The number of candidate
  decision-combinations is usually astronomical, so
  that naive search or
  just fast computers
  are of no help.
• Constraint technology origin- ates from
  computer science and offers constraint
  program- ming, an orthogonal but com- plementary
  approach to the one of mathematical
  program- ming, which originated from operations
  research some fifty years ago. Constraint
  tech- nology also offers a powerful alternative
  to optimisation via differential equations.

• For many combinatorial problems, constraint
  technology has been shown to be very efficient,
  if not (vastly) superiour to other approaches,
  while the converse or a tie occurs for other
  problems. Naturally, all these approaches are
  bound to converge in the future. Constraint
  technology offers opportunities for obtaining
  better solutions, for obtaining solutions faster,
  and for solving problems of unprecedented scale.
• Many companies are already successfully
  deploying constraint technology, which
  makes knowledge thereof a useful asset on
  the job market. This course combines the
  theoretical and algorithmic foundations of this
  emerging technology with the practical modelling
  and solving of real-life combinatorial problems.

Prerequisites 40 p courses in technology or
science, programming and algebra included. Logic
programming recommended. Goal To model and
solve real combinatorial problems.