SEAS Department Website

The IEOR Department at Columbia University, and BHP Billiton, the world's largest diversified mining company, have announced a collaborative research agreement. Under the agreement, BHP Billiton will provide a gift of US $150,000 over three years to support basic research in several areas of optimization with applications in mining technologies.

According to BHP Billiton's Peter Stone,
"We are excited about the opportunities that a broader relationship with IEOR faculty and students of fers us at BHP Billiton, and hope that the gift provides encouragement for the best minds in OR to focus on the difficult scheduling and planning optimization problems which currently challenge the mining industry. Application of leading edge mine planning optimization tools has the proven potential to add hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars of present value to the operations of large mining companies, and as advanced optimization algorithms and methods are developed, more and more of this value is being realized by well positioned companies in a booming but intensely competitive sector. The gift is only one part in the larger picture of our interaction with IEOR, which will also include focussed consultancies with some faculty as well as student internships. By exposing students to the many interesting and varied open problems in mining optimization, we also hope to interest them in pursuing a career in the mining industry, and particularly with BHP Billiton. "

Daniel Bienstock of IEOR said: "We look forward to a strong collaboration with BHP Billiton, and to the opportunity to develop cutting-edge optimization tools that will have impact in a real-world setting. At IEOR we have an outstanding optimization group, with research interests spanning a wide spectrum of modern topics, ranging from fundamental theory to high-performance computing, and with applications to diverse areas of engineering, science and finance. Partnering with BHP Billiton will further leverage our work."