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IE 401 / IE 802 in July - November 2024

IE 401 / IE 802 : Topics in Operations Research 

This course is proposed to be offered in the July - November 2024 semester.  IE 401 is the version that interested students of B.Tech/B.S./M.Sc. should register for.  IE 802 is the version that interested M.Tech/Ph.D. students should register for.

Instructors: Narayan Rangaraj (IEOR), J.V.Prasad (Visiting faculty)

No pre-requisites

Topics: The following topics are planned.

Part 1 (J.V.Prasad): Insurance models and risk management

This will cover the design and analysis of insurance products (both life and non-life insurance), survival models, lifetime distributions and other concepts needed for analysis, including joint distributions and copulas, structure of insurance products, measures of risk, risk management principles, simulation and other techniques for analysis, pricing of reinsurance.  This part will involve working with sample data on some aspects above. 

Part 2 : (Narayan Rangaraj) Operations Research and analytical models applied to sports and other areas

Game design (different kinds of sports, individual games and team games), tournament design and tournament scheduling, outcome analysis (deterministic and predictive), team selection and player value in team games, player/team strategy in different sports.  Some principles of board game design will also be discussed.

Some references: 1. Loss models from data to decisions by Klugman, Panjer and Willmot

2. Actuarial Mathematics for life contingent risks by Dikson, Hardy and Waters

 

3. Curve Ball : Baseball Statistics and the Role of Chance in the Game by Jim Albert and Jay Bennett

 

4. Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football, Princeton University Press

 

Course notes

 

Evaluation: Students will be evaluated on a mix of quizzes, exams and  assignments.  IE 802 students will have an additional course project.  Class participation is compulsory.