Venkat Akhil Ankem

Ph.D. Candidate in Industrial Engineering
Polytechnique Montréal · GERAD

Operations Research · Large-Scale Optimization · Mixed-Integer Programming

I develop scalable optimization algorithms and research software for complex industrial decision problems. My work focuses on open-pit mine production scheduling, where I study and implement mathematically strong and computationally scalable solution methods for large real-world planning systems.

My research combines:

mixed-integer programming (MILP)
cutting planes and model strengthening
relax-and-repair frameworks
rolling-horizon methods
Large Neighborhood Search (LNS)
emerging integration of machine learning with optimization

Professional Profile

I am a Ph.D. researcher at Polytechnique Montréal and GERAD, working on large-scale industrial optimization problems with substantial computational and operational challenges.

I build optimization models, algorithms, and software systems in C++ and Python, with a strong emphasis on scalability, reproducible computational experiments, and real-world applicability.

Key Highlights

Ph.D. Candidate in Industrial Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal
Researcher at GERAD
Author of a 2026 paper in Computers & Operations Research
Expertise in large-scale mixed-integer optimization
Experience developing optimization software for industrial-scale planning problems
Interest in optimization, research engineering, and OR + ML applications

Research Focus

Mixed-integer programming (MILP)
Large-scale optimization
Cutting planes and model strengthening
Relax-and-repair frameworks
Rolling-horizon heuristics
Large Neighborhood Search
Machine learning for optimization

Selected Links

Career Interests

I am interested in roles related to:

Optimization Scientist
Operations Research Scientist
Research Engineer
Decision Support Systems
Applied Optimization and Machine Learning