Covering Optimization Models for Emergency Response, Security, and Resilience

Abstract: Covering models are used in a broad spectrum of applications. This talk will first overview various covering models and then focus on covering models and algorithms for emergency medical services. These emergency medical service models reflect multiple partial coverage. Lastly, I will also talk about covering formulations for security and disaster applications.

About the Speaker

Laura A. McLay is an Associate Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests are in the field of operations research, with a particular focus on discrete optimization with application to homeland security and emergency response problems. Dr. McLay’s research has been supported by NSF, DHS, and the Department of the Army, Sandia National Laboratory, and she has been awarded an NSF CAREER award. She has authored or co-authored 40 publications in archival journals and refereed proceedings. Her research has been awarded several honors, including four best paper awards. Dr. McLay is President of the INFORMS Section on Public Programs, Service and Needs (SPPSN). She is a Department Editor for IIE Transactions, and an Associate Editor for Risk Analysis and International Transactions on Operational Research. Dr. McLay is a member of INFORMS, IIE, the Society for Risk Analysis, Tau Beta Pi, and Alpha Pi Mu. She is the author of the blog “Punk Rock Operations Research” and is a mother of three.

Event Topic

Discrete Applied Math Seminar