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  • Dec
    2

    Deterministic Benchmarks to Inform Sequential Decisions Using Lookahead - Itai Gurvich

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

    11:00 AM L440, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    Abstract: Dynamic programming is a canonical tool for solving complex sequential decision problems in operations. Yet, because it suffers from the curse of dimensionality, one often must rely on approximations. Among these, deterministic—or “fluid”—approximations have long served as tractable benchmarks that reveal key structural properties of optimal or near-optimal policies in dynamic resource allocation problems across service operations and revenue management.

    While such fluid approximations have been widely—and often ad hoc—applied, this talk presents a systematic framework for leveraging them to design high-quality control policies through what we call fluid lookahead. I will illustrate the approach in a family of finite-horizon revenue management problems, showing how fluid lookahead captures key structural properties of the true optimal policies and, perhaps surprisingly, achieves near-optimal performance with only a few lookahead steps. I will also discuss how the same principles extend naturally to infinite-horizon settings.

    This is joint work with Daniel Loredo Duran (PhD student) and Jan A. Van Mieghem.

    Bio: Itai Gurvich is a Professor at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business in 2008 and joined Kellogg the same year. From 2016 to 2020, he was on the faculty of Cornell University’s campus in New York City (Cornell Tech) before returning to Kellogg in 2021.

    Professor Gurvich’s research focuses on the performance analysis and optimization of processing networks, as well as the theory of stochastic-process approximations. His work has been recognized with the INFORMS Applied Probability Society’s Best Publication Award. He has served as the Stochastic Models Area Editor for Operations Research and as Chair of the INFORMS Applied Probability Society.

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    TIME Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION L440, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Kendall Minta    kendall.minta@gmail.com EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

  • Dec
    11

    MLDS Online Information Session

    Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science (MLDS)

    10:00 AM

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Thursday, December 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

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    CONTACT Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science Program    mlds@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Master of Science in Machine Learning and Data Science (MLDS)

  • Dec
    13

    Northwestern Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Recognition Ceremony

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    4:00 PM Pick-Staiger Concert Hall

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Saturday, December 13, 2025 at 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

    LOCATION Pick-Staiger Concert Hall    map it

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Jan
    27

    IEMS Seminar 1/27 Bryon Aragam Winter 2026

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

    11:00 AM TBD, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Tuesday, January 27, 2026 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION TBD, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Kendall Minta    kendall.minta@gmail.com EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

  • Feb
    3

    IEMS Seminar 02/03 Kibaek Kim Winter 2026

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

    11:00 AM TBD, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Tuesday, February 3, 2026 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION TBD, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Kendall Minta    kendall.minta@gmail.com EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

  • Feb
    10

    IEMS Seminar 2/10 Feng Ruan Winter 2026

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

    11:00 AM TBD, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION TBD, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Kendall Minta    kendall.minta@gmail.com EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

  • Mar
    3

    IEMS Seminar 03/03 Shane Henderson Winter 2026

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

    11:00 AM TBD, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Tuesday, March 3, 2026 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION TBD, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Kendall Minta    kendall.minta@gmail.com EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

  • Mar
    10

    IEMS Seminar 3/10 Nabarun Deb Winter 2026

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

    11:00 AM TBD, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION TBD, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Kendall Minta    kendall.minta@gmail.com EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)