Committees

Academic–Industry Advisory Council (AIAC)

AMPL’s Academic–Industry Advisory Council brings together volunteers from academia, industry, and the optimization community to share feedback, identify emerging needs, and help strengthen connections between optimization research, education, and real-world practice, as AI reshapes how optimization is taught and used.

What AIAC does

The council meets periodically throughout the year to provide input on AMPL’s products, services, educational initiatives, and community programs.

Its role is advisory. Members share perspectives from their own work in teaching, research, consulting, software, and applied optimization to help AMPL better understand how optimization is being used — and where better tools, resources, and support are needed.

Areas of discussion

Council discussions include:

  • How optimization is taught and used in academic settings, including the growing role of AI tools in learning and modeling
  • Challenges students and researchers face when moving from theory to practice
  • Industry needs around optimization modeling, deployment, and decision systems
  • Opportunities to improve AMPL’s academic programs, learning resources, and community support
  • Emerging trends in optimization, AI, analytics, and operations research
  • Ways to better prepare students and early-career professionals for applied optimization work in an AI-driven industry

Members

2026 Council Members

Academic-Industry Advisory Council

Cristina Radu

Supply Chain Optimization Specialist & Founder | Sage Optimization & Optimization4All

Academic-Industry Advisory Council

Alexandra M. Newman

Colorado School of Mines | Professor, Mechanical Engineering | Director, Operations Research with Engineering Program

Academic-Industry Advisory Council

Anthony Papavasiliou

National Technical University of Athens – School of Electrical and Computer Engineering | Associate Professor

Academic-Industry Advisory Council

Salimur Choudhury

Queen’s University – School of Computing | Associate Professor

Academic-Industry Advisory Council

Yaarit Cohen

Delta Air Lines, Inc. | Senior Operations Research Scientist

Academic-Industry Advisory Council

Ruchi Rajasekhar

ACES | Director of Enterprise Information Management

Academic-Industry Advisory Council

Brian Suhy

ACES | Executive Director of Information Services 

Get involved

Interested in contributing?

AMPL invites educators, researchers, practitioners, and industry leaders shaping the future of optimization and AI to get in touch and explore collaboration opportunities.