They first heard about this competition from one of their professor, Alessandro Zocca, and enthusiastically decided to participate. Alessandro, who was their lecturer for the Mathematical Optimization course earlier this year, advised and helped them throughout the competition, together with Leon Lan, who is a Ph.D. student in optimization in our department.
The MOPTA competition is renowned for its challenging problems, and this year's theme revolved around the construction of commercial electric vehicle charging stations. This is extremely important for the green transition and moving away from fossil fuels. More specifically, the goal was to identify optimal locations for constructing charging stations, as well as the number of chargers at each station, to minimize the total cost, based on the spatial demand and EV characteristics provided as data in the competition.
The solution approach that Fergus and Iker proposed was a two-stage evolutionary algorithm. First, stations were positioned geographically using an implementation of particle swarm optimization. Next, a greedy heuristic handled the assignment of EVs to chargers, which controlled the sizing of stations. Their heuristic for assigning vehicles to stations aimed to mimic the behavior of EV drivers as they search for a station to charge their EV.
Their model considered various factors such as the construction and maintenance cost of the station, the cost of driving to the charging station, and the cost of charging. Their innovative approach also included sensitivity analysis and the investigation of the robustness of the solution after modifying the conditions of the problem. This ensured their solution was versatile and practical.
Besides a report with the optimal solution approach, the students also submitted a UI interface as part of their deliverables. The UI allows users to run different scenarios in real-time, visualize results, and make scheduling decisions, providing an interactive platform to explore the impact of various parameters on the solution.
The team passed the first phase and was thus invited to present during the MOPTA conference, held from 16th to 18th August 2023 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (USA). During the presentation, the students had the possibility of explaining in detail their solution approach and showcasing the UI, impressing the judges with their comprehensive understanding of the problem and innovative solution.
The VU students ended up in 2nd place, winning a prize of $600 and certificates for each team member. Their success not only reflects their individual talents but also the quality of the Business Analytics program at VU and the ability to foster excellence in applied mathematics and optimization. It also aligns with the global trend towards environmental sustainability, a subject that resonates deeply with the broader scientific community and reflects the university's commitment to contributing to real-world challenges.