Aleksandr M. Kazachkov

I am an assistant professor in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Florida, where I also serve as an assistant director of the Center for Applied Optimization. Previously, I was a postdoctoral researcher under Andrea Lodi at Polytechnique Montréal. Before that, I graduated with my Ph.D. in Algorithms, Combinatorics, and Optimization from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2018, under Egon Balas.

You can find more information about me and my recent research on my CV. Please contact me if you have any questions about my work.


CV  /   /   /   /   /  Research  /  Seminars


Updates


Students

Update: July 2023: I am not seeking additional students at the moment. If you would like to pursue postgraduate studies at UF, please consider applying with some of my fantastic colleagues.

Some of the courses / skills that would be helpful for a researcher working with me: linear algebra / matrix analysis, real analysis, convex analysis, linear programming, integer programming, graph theory, computer programming (C++ / Python / Julia), software engineering. Familiarity with LaTeX is helpful to communicate results.

Information on the application procedure for graduate programs, for both master's and doctorate students. Please be aware that (in our department) applications are first reviewed by a committee, who make an admission decision. Afterwards, individual faculty members can offer funding for your PhD; typically, students secure funding before accepting a PhD offer. I schedule interviews with prospective PhD candidates to my group through early March, after initial decisions are made by the admissions committee.

I am committed to promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion within the research team. All applications are welcome, including those from women, underrepresented minorities, indigenous people, people with any sexual orientation or gender identity, people with disabilities or health issues, and people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Research can be a challenging and taxing endeavor, especially during the initial transition period, and I make concerted efforts to support my students with that in mind. I also encourage students to take advantage of the Office of Graduate Professional Development.


Research

My research is on the methodology and applications of discrete optimization. In particular, I work on improving integer programming techniques, as well as designing and analyzing fair mechanisms for the allocation of indivisible resources.

I am interested in all aspects of discrete decision analytics, including theoretical, computational, and applied projects, as well as applying novel methods such as machine learning algorithms that can substantially outperform hand-engineered components of optimization solvers. I emphasize prosocial applications, such as in the nonprofit or healthcare sectors, and I also do research in sports analytics.

Cutting plane methods



Calendar of Academic Events


Acknowledgements

I am an avid user of (and occasional contributor to) open-source software. Thank you to the developers and supporters of the following projects / organizations (incomplete list).

  • COIN-OR: open-source community for operations research software.
  • SCIP: a non-commercial solver for mixed integer programming (MIP) and mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP).
  • Julia: high-level, high-performance dynamic programming language for technical computing.
  • JuMP: a modeling language for mathematical optimization embedded in Julia.
  • Zulip: open-source modern team chat app designed to keep both live and asynchronous conversations organized.
  • GNU parallel: shell tool for executing jobs in parallel using one or more computers.
  • Eigen: C++ template library for linear algebra.