Keck Foundation Donates $1 Million to RIce Computational Engineering

CONTACT: Michael Cinelli

PHONE: (713) 831-4794

KECK FOUNDATION DONATES $1 MILLION TO RICE COMPUTATIONAL ENGINEERING
PROGRAM

The W.M. Keck Foundation has awarded Rice a $1
million grant to help establish a Center for Computational Discrete Optimization
(CCDO) in the university’s computational engineering program.

The Keck grant will play an important role in developing Rice’s work in
computational engineering by providing laboratory and faculty work space in CCDO
facilities in the Anne and Charles Duncan Hall.

“This is a generous investment and a further strong vote of confidence in
Rice. It will greatly facilitate the efforts of Rice faculty to realize the vast
potential of computational engineering generally,” said Rice President Malcolm
Gillis. “The laboratory, conference room, and office space made possible by the
Keck Foundation grant will become the locus of our efforts in computational
discrete optimization.”

Discrete optimization, a critical component of computational engineering, is
used to solve practical problems that involve choosing the best alternative from
a field of possibilities. Many industries are dependent on discrete optimization
techniques to guide them through complex design procedures.

Perhaps the most important class of discrete optimization problems are the
mixed integer programming models, or MIPs for short. MIP is a mathematical model
having numerous applications within nearly every segment of the economy. An
example of the widespread use of MIP models is the CPLEX computer code developed
by Robert Bixby, of the Rice Computational and Applied Mathematics department.

CPLEX is currently installed at more than 5,000 industrial sites, including
all major oil companies, all major airlines, and the majority of Fortune 500
companies. This code is used to find solutions to tens of thousands of MIPs each
year.

As MIP models increase in complexity, new solution methods must be developed.
Research centers, such as CCDO, must provide new and better techniques and
software tools to support the increased needs of industrial users for faster and
more efficient systems.

Rice is well-positioned to address both these areas of needs, Gillis said.

“Future work of the Center for Computational Discrete Optimization will build
on the successful collaboration to create tools for economical solutions to
complex models that will emerge in telecommunications and elsewhere-models that
would not be solvable with today’s most sophisticated methodologies,” he added.

The Keck grant in support of the CCDO is the latest award to the university.
In the past, the foundation has provided funds for the university’s
Computational Biology and geology programs.

“We are indebted to the W.M. Keck Foundation for its continued strong support
of Rice’s research mission,” Gillis said.

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