Young Researcher Award

"I attribute my success to my colleagues who are devoted to
uplifting and fortifying the research environment in NUS.
I salute them. "


Assoc Prof Melvyn SIM

PhD (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); MSc, MEng, BEng (NUS)
Department of Decision Sciences

RESEARCH INTERESTS
  • Theory and applications of Robust Optimization
  • Prescriptive models for decision making consistent with behavioral choices

RESEARCH ACHIEVEMENTS
  • Developed original, truly tractable and scalable Robust Optimization models for addressing optimization problems under uncertainty and applied them in inventory control, portfolio management, warehouse management and engineering control
  • Proposed Robust Optimization methods have been tested and adopted by researchers and industry practitioners with diverse applications such as in radiation therapy planning for cancer treatment, among others

RESEARCH STRENGTHS
  • Challenges fundamental assumptions; first put aside what others have done and develop own insights
  • Openness; willing to work with and learn from colleagues of different research backgrounds
  • Non-attachment to past successful results; ready to move on to different research domains when an area becomes saturated
  • Deferred gratification; instead of publishing minor results, reserve the insights for tackling more significant challenges

PUBLICATION CREDITS
  • Authored 12 articles in top tier journals such as Operations Research, Management Science, Mathematical Programming and Mathematical Finance in less than five years after graduate school

INTERNATIONAL STANDING
  • Associate Editor, Management Science (since 2009), IIE Transactions (since 2009), Mathematical Programming Computations (since 2008)
  • Plenary speaker, 3rd Nordic Optimization Symposium, Stockholm, Sweden (2009)
  • Plenary speaker on Robust Optimization, Second International Conference, on Continuous Optimization, Canada (2007)
  • Sponsored lecturer, Robust Optimization Summer School, Italy (2007)
  • Judge, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) George Nicholson Student Paper Competition (2007 and 2008)

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
  • Recognition list, NUS Business School Outstanding Researcher Award (2008)
  • First place, INFORMS Junior Faculty Interest Group (JFIG) Best Paper Competition (2007)
  • NUS Business School Outstanding Researcher Award (2007)
  • Department of Decision Sciences Outstanding Researcher Award (2005)
  • Second place, INFORMS George Nicholson Student Paper Competition (2002 and 2004), the only individual to have won this top international award twice since 1975

RESEARCH ASPIRATION
To popularize Robust Optimization as the dominant approach to address optimization problems under uncertainty.



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