• The NFL Schedule is Created with 100,000 Decisions: How Optimization Tackles the Toughest Matchups

    The NFL just released its schedule for the upcoming season — a moment of excitement for fans and a jaw-dropping example of complex decision-making for those of us in the world of optimization. Behind the scenes, over 100,000 yes/no decisions are made to determine who plays whom, when, and where....

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    Published on May 14, 2025 by Brian Schaefer

  • INFORMS Analytics+ 2025 Conference programs

    Reflections from INFORMS Analytics+ 2025: Optimization, AI, and What Really Matters

    This week I had the opportunity to attend the INFORMS Analytics+ Conference in Indianapolis—a gathering of industry professionals, academics, and thought leaders exploring the future of analytics, optimization, and AI. It was a mix of sharp insights, witty commentary, and honest reflection on where our field is headed. Below are...

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    Published on April 9, 2025 by Brian Schaefer

  • Computer CPU shown with analog signals

    Speed Isn’t the Point: What Faster Solvers Really Unlock

    Over time, optimization solvers have become dramatically faster and more powerful—but paradoxically, model run-times haven’t always decreased. Why? Because as computational power increases, so do our ambitions. We add more products, more time periods, more constraints, and more real-world nuance. Models that once included a dozen decision variables now include...

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    Published on April 1, 2025 by Brian Schaefer

  • March Madness, Meet Mathematical Optimization: Cutting 34,000 Miles of Travel with Smarter Scheduling

    Every March, 64 college basketball teams punch their ticket to the Big Dance—March Madness. While the bracket brings plenty of drama on the court, there’s another part of the tournament that gets less attention: how far teams have to travel for their first-round games. We wondered: what if we...

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    Published on March 22, 2025 by Brian Schaefer

  • Running cuOpt in an AWS EKS cluster as a managed node group

    March 21, 2025 When the SimpleRose engineering team went looking for a guide on how to deploy cuOpt for our specific needs, none existed because the technology is so groundbreaking. We wished when we did an internet search for how to get started we found an article exactly like...

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    Published on March 21, 2025

  • Accelerating Optimization: How SimpleRose and NVIDIA cuOpt Solve Linear and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Problems Faster

    March 18, 2025 Linear programming (LP) and mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) are at the core of solving operations challenges, ranging from supply chain efficiency to workforce scheduling. These problems are notoriously complex and computationally demanding. To tackle these problems, SimpleRose and NVIDIA have joined forces to deliver cutting-edge optimization solutions...

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    Published on March 18, 2025