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The ICR Evening Lecture Series

Monday, October 30, 1989 - 8:00 p.m.
Room 1302 Davis Centre
University of Waterloo

Solving the Traveling Salesman Problem

William R. Pulleyblank
Professor of Combinatorics & Optimization and Computer Science

A major oil company has an offshore drilling field consisting of about
fifty platforms.  Each day, certain platforms must be visited to
regulate oil flow and, in addition, people and objects must be
transported between various pairs of platforms.  This activity is
carried out by means of one or more helicopters.  Because of the high
cost of helicopter operation, it is desired to find a route which
satisfies the requirements for which the flying time is minimized.
This lecture describes how the problem was solved and discusses a
PC-based implementation that is currently being used by the company.
The problem is a special case of the well known ``traveling salesman
problem'' whose efficient solution has eluded mathematicians for many
years.

William R. Pulleyblank is a professor in combinatorics & optimization
and computer science.  He has held the Canadian Pacific/NSERC chair of
optimization and computer applications since 1988 and served for three
years as the first director of the Division of Mathematics for Industry
and Commerce in the Faculty of Mathematics.  Prior to joining the
University of Waterloo in 1982, he was a member of the Department of
Computer Science at the University of Calgary and a systems engineer
with I.B.M.  Canada.  His main interests are mathematical optimization
problems which arise in the ``real world,'' as well as the underlying
theory.

Everyone is welcome to attend the ICR evening lecture series.  Each
lecture addresses an area of current research at the University of
Waterloo related to the use of computers.  The series is designed for a
broad audience, including non-specialists interested in gaining more
insight into recent advancements in the field of computing and the
potential impact those advancements have on everyday life.

Coffee and cookies will be served after the lecture.

Guest parking is available in the University's ``B'' Parking Lot
(entrance off Phillip Street).

For further information, contact the Institute for Computer Research at
the University of Waterloo, 519/888-4530.