Holiday Tech Talk – Santa’s Bag of Interesting & Unusual Optimization Applications

As we know, Santa Claus faces some major optimization problems. First, he must fit billions of presents into a single sleigh. Then, he needs to solve a TSP (Traveling Santa Problem)—visiting billions of houses on a whirlwind roundtrip journey. And then there’s the diet problem for the reindeer, who must have the sustained strength to pull the sleigh at top speeds. Santa’s backbreaking problems may be fictional, but they got us thinking about some unusual applications, particularly in the world of puzzles, games, and art (that could also take some burden from Santa through digitalization of games and puzzles).

Get a closer look at some of these applications and how they connect to real-world industrial applications and business challenges. This fun and festive event is a great opportunity to explain mathematical optimization to those unfamiliar with it.

Presented Materials

Download the materials here.