ILOG CPLEX 11 DELIVERS BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

ILOG CPLEX 11, the latest version of ILOG’s optimization software, delivers significantly faster mixed integer programming (MIP) performance that enables the software to address complex real-world business requirements involving larger, more complicated problems that were often unsolvable by previous generations of optimization software. CPLEX 11 is also the first product on the market with the ability to return multiple MIP solutions out-ofthe-box, supporting critical decision-making processes, especially in challenging manufacturing or transportation applications, where multiple or alternative plans or schedules must be considered.

ILOG CPLEX improves business efficiency and decision-making by allowing businesses to calculate the best utilization of existing resources and implement an action plan that can potentially deliver millions of dollars in savings. CPLEX is used to solve an array of optimization problems in industries as diverse as financial services, transportation and manufacturing in functions ranging from asset management, airline crew scheduling, vehicle routing and production planning.

“CPLEX provides a better solution in terms of quality and speed than other methods, allowing us to solve much larger problems and construct more complicated models,” says Ronald Chu, Principal in Operations Research and Decision Science at American Airlines.“The quantum leap in solution speed renders our business units much more willing to use our models in their decision process.”

CPLEX 11 broke performance records in recent benchmark testing – demonstrating processing times 10-times faster, on average, for the most complex business problems, problems that took more than one hour to solve with CPLEX 10. CPLEX’s performance increase will mean businesses in the supply chain, manufacturing and logistics markets, among others, can increase the scope of their planning from one region to across regions, turn an overnight batch job into a near real-time application, or complete rapid what-if analysis on a planning problem.

OPTIMJ BRINGS STATE-OF-ART TOOLS TO OPTIMIZATION EXPERTS

OptimJ is a new object-oriented modeling language designed as an extension of the Java programming language with support under Eclipse. It provides a revolutionary new way to integrate optimization techniques in general IT environments, where models directly use existing data structures and libraries. OptimJ provides all features of mainstream modeling languages and can be backed by any solver engine.

An optimization model almost never exists in isolation; it is part of a larger software application that often include databases, Web servers and graphical interfaces. No interface layer is needed between an OptimJ model and a Java application, and the whole set of Java standard libraries and standard development tools are available directly from OptimJ models. OptimJ models are fast and memory-efficient because they work directly on the application data. Models can be deployed immediately in compiled form on any platform for which a Java Runtime Environment is available.

OptimJ brings object-oriented software development techniques to the optimization community. These techniques help manage large bodies of code, promote reuse, and enhance readability and quality. Optimization experts and programming experts can speak the same language, use the same development tools and share their code using a common repository.

20-YEAR-OLD WINS $25,000 WOLFRAM RESEARCH PRIZE

In his 2002 book “A New Kind of Science,” Stephen Wolfram hypothesized that a particular abstract Turing machine might be the simplest system of its type capable of acting as a universal computer.

In May 2007, the Wolfram 2,3 Turing Machine Research Prize was established to be awarded to the first person or group to prove either that Wolfram’s Turing machine is universal or that it is not. Alex Smith, 20, of the United Kingdom, was able to demonstrate with a 40-page proof that Wolfram’s Turing machine is, in fact, universal.

This result ends a half-century quest to find the simplest universal Turing machine. It demonstrates that a remarkably simple system can perform any computation that can be done by any computer. It also provides important further evidence for Wolfram’s general Principle of Computational Equivalence – a central hypothesis developed in “A New Kind of Science.”

“I had no idea how long it would take for the prize to be won,” Stephen Wolfram says.“It could have taken a year, a decade or a century. I’m thrilled it was so quick. It’s an impressive piece of work.”

The immediate implications of the result are primarily scientific, but potential future implications include the possibility of using Wolfram’s 2,3 Turing machine to construct a computer operating at a molecular scale.

Smith is an undergraduate studying electronic and computer engineering at the University of Birmingham, U.K. He grew up in Birmingham, and was an alternate for the U.K. International Mathematical Olympiad team. His proof will be published in the journal Complex Systems.