Study Group Mathematics with Industry 2011

Problems (more coming soon)

NXP Semiconductors

The increasing demand for smaller, faster, and multi-functional electronic devices such as smart phones is one of the driving forces in the semiconductor industry. Combined with requirements on power usage, sustainability, and wireless functionality this is generating challenges in several domains. During the design of the layout, which is a representation of the chip in shapes in the physical layers (silicon, oxide, metal), one of the challenges is to place and route (wire) the circuit components in an optimal way. Full problem description

Statkraft

In any electric system, the generation has to match the consumption at all times. In the European interconnected (UCTE) grid, this balance is
maintained by Primary Reserve. The four German grid operators procure their demand of Primary Reserve by means of a monthly auction, which results are publicly accessible.

Generation units that can participate in this auction have to be located in Germany and have to be able to provide active power extremely quickly within seconds. Therefore the number of players in this auction is very limited and the available Primary Reserve is in the same order of magnitude as the demanded Primary Reserve. As providing Primary Reserve is technically very challenging, its price is higher than that of any other comparable product and it is hardly impacted by any macroeconomics.

The above mentioned factors suggest that Game Theory could be applied in order to improve the understanding of the auction results. The ultimate goal is to set up an estimator for the auction results. Based on the historic results, this estimator would assess the individual players' behavior and predict their bid for the upcoming auction.

Marin

Traditionally, the study of the hydromechanic behaviour of ships (and floating bodies in general) is divided into ship hydrostatics (without motions in calm water) and ship hydrodynamics (with motions in either calm water or in waves and/or current). The area of ship hydrodynamics can be roughly divided into powering/propulsion and calm water resistance, seakeeping (motions in waves with limited viscous effects) and manoeuvring (motions in calm water). Manoeuvring research addresses the performance of a ship in typical operations such as zig-zag manoeuvres, turning circles and harbour manoeuvres such as crabbing (moving sideways from/to a quay) or turning on the spot. Other issues of interest are the course stability and the directional stability of the ship.

The actual manoeuvring behaviour of a ship design is investigated in experiments using a scale model. The measured forces and moments are translated into coefficient values for the equations of motion. Although this quantitative analysis is valuable from a design point of view, it has the disadvantage that many simulations are needed in order to identify the weak spots of a particular design. A more qualitative design could reveal the most important terms (or coefficients) for a given set of coefficients and might also quantify the effect of changes of these key coefficients. Full problem description

Chess

A defining characteristic of wireless ad hoc networks is their dynamic behavior. In practice, it is not uncommon to find that the topology of even a small network deployed in a controlled environment changes from one moment to the next, without apparent changes to the layout of the nodes. This behavior stems from the inherent unreliability of wireless communication. The wireless nodes we consider are simple devices that communicate by broadcasting messages into the air. Nearby nodes may receive these messages, but reception is not guaranteed as there may be problems in the communication, such as interference or collisions. For nodes that are too far apart, the signal may just be too weak to allow for a message to be received. As a result, nodes may receive messages from a (possibly large) set of neighbors over time, with some nodes being heard from more often than others. The problem we propose is the discovery of the properties of the network by individual nodes. Full problems description

NFI

Causing a lethal vehicle accident as a driver is a serious offense. Especially if driving speed was excessive, imprisonment for a substantial time is likely. The Netherlands Forensic Institute is frequently asked to estimate driving speed based on accident scene data. Estimation is based on a physics model that simulates the crash itself and the post crash movement of the vehicles until they come to rest. Usually not all available information can be used. Full problem description.

Deltares

We are interested in the most appropriate way of formulating optimum control problems for heterogeneous, partially controllable water resources systems. These systems often need implicit time stepping schemas for avoiding restrictive stability criteria. This distinguishes them from most technical systems on which control is applied. We are interested in various methods to solve the optimal control problem. Full problem description.

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		Problems (more coming soon) NXP Semiconductors The increasing demand for smaller, faster, and multi-functional electronic devices such as smart phones is one of the driving forces in the semiconductor industry. Combined with requirements on power usage, sustainability, and wireless functionality this is generating challenges in several domains. During the design of the layout, which is a representation of the chip in shapes in the physical layers (silicon, oxide, metal), one of the challenges is to place and route (wire) the circuit components in an optimal way. Full problem description Statkraft In any electric system, the generation has to match the consumption at all times. In the European interconnected (UCTE) grid, this balance is maintained by Primary Reserve. The four German grid operators procure their demand of Primary Reserve by means of a monthly auction, which results are publicly accessible. Generation units that can participate in this auction have to be located in Germany and have to be able to provide active power extremely quickly within seconds. Therefore the number of players in this auction is very limited and the available Primary Reserve is in the same order of magnitude as the demanded Primary Reserve. As providing Primary Reserve is technically very challenging, its price is higher than that of any other comparable product and it is hardly impacted by any macroeconomics. The above mentioned factors suggest that Game Theory could be applied in order to improve the understanding of the auction results. The ultimate goal is to set up an estimator for the auction results. Based on the historic results, this estimator would assess the individual players' behavior and predict their bid for the upcoming auction. Marin Traditionally, the study of the hydromechanic behaviour of ships (and floating bodies in general) is divided into ship hydrostatics (without motions in calm water) and ship hydrodynamics (with motions in either calm water or in waves and/or current). The area of ship hydrodynamics can be roughly divided into powering/propulsion and calm water resistance, seakeeping (motions in waves with limited viscous effects) and manoeuvring (motions in calm water). Manoeuvring research addresses the performance of a ship in typical operations such as zig-zag manoeuvres, turning circles and harbour manoeuvres such as crabbing (moving sideways from/to a quay) or turning on the spot. Other issues of interest are the course stability and the directional stability of the ship. The actual manoeuvring behaviour of a ship design is investigated in experiments using a scale model. The measured forces and moments are translated into coefficient values for the equations of motion. Although this quantitative analysis is valuable from a design point of view, it has the disadvantage that many simulations are needed in order to identify the weak spots of a particular design. A more qualitative design could reveal the most important terms (or coefficients) for a given set of coefficients and might also quantify the effect of changes of these key coefficients. Full problem description Chess A defining characteristic of wireless ad hoc networks is their dynamic behavior. In practice, it is not uncommon to find that the topology of even a small network deployed in a controlled environment changes from one moment to the next, without apparent changes to the layout of the nodes. This behavior stems from the inherent unreliability of wireless communication. The wireless nodes we consider are simple devices that communicate by broadcasting messages into the air. Nearby nodes may receive these messages, but reception is not guaranteed as there may be problems in the communication, such as interference or collisions. For nodes that are too far apart, the signal may just be too weak to allow for a message to be received. As a result, nodes may receive messages from a (possibly large) set of neighbors over time, with some nodes being heard from more often than others. The problem we propose is the discovery of the properties of the network by individual nodes. Full problems description NFI Causing a lethal vehicle accident as a driver is a serious offense. Especially if driving speed was excessive, imprisonment for a substantial time is likely. The Netherlands Forensic Institute is frequently asked to estimate driving speed based on accident scene data. Estimation is based on a physics model that simulates the crash itself and the post crash movement of the vehicles until they come to rest. Usually not all available information can be used. Full problem description. Deltares We are interested in the most appropriate way of formulating optimum control problems for heterogeneous, partially controllable water resources systems. These systems often need implicit time stepping schemas for avoiding restrictive stability criteria. This distinguishes them from most technical systems on which control is applied. We are interested in various methods to solve the optimal control problem. Full problem description.