Spring 2001

ME/IE 8773-8774

Revenue Management and Markov Decision Processes

by

William L. Cooper

Assistant Professor

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN 55455

Wednesday, January 31, 2001

3:35-4:30 p.m.

Room 108 ME

Broadcast on UNITE Channel A

Coffee and cookies will be available in 152 ME following the seminar

Revenue management refers to methods of addressing inventory control problems characterized by (1) the perishability of the inventories, (2) the absence of large variable costs, and (3) the ability of the firm to segment the demand for the inventories. Such problems appear in the airline, hotel, and car rental industries. After providing an introduction to the area, we will describe solution techniques that employ the Markov decision process modeling framework.

William L. Cooper is currently an Assistant Professor in the Division of Industrial Engineering within the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech's School of Industrial and Systems Engineering in 1999 and his B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993. His interests include topics in stochastic modeling and applied probability, such as revenue management and queueing theory. His research is scheduled to appear in journals such as Operations Research, Queueing Systems, and Journal of Applied Probability. While in school, Professor Cooper did work for Talus Solutions, including aiding in the design and implementation of revenue management systems for clients such as Television New Zealand and Japan Airlines. He is a member of IIE and INFORMS.

Informal Faculty Luncheon: Wednesday, January 31, 2001, 12:00 noon. A table is reserved at McCormick's Restaurant, Radisson Hotel Metrodome. Prof. Cooper will not be able to attend.