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Virtual Technical Training

You are invited to join us at Gurobi Days Digital Academic, which will be taking place on August 26, 2025.

Theme: Gen AI & Optimization

Explore the cutting edge where Generative AI meets Mathematical Optimization. Join leading researchers, students, and academics from around the world for a day of discovery, innovation, and insight.

This year’s free 1-day event for academic and commercial users will feature some great sessions:

Event Highlights

9:45 AM ET – Welcome from our CEO & Gurobi Academic Program Overview

  • Kick off the day with the Gurobi team as we introduce our academic initiatives and set the stage for a day of learning and inspiration.

 

10:00 AM ET – Live Panel: Generative AI in Teaching and Research: How Academia Is Adapting

  • Explore the evolving role of Generative AI in optimization education and academic research. A small group of leading academic voices will share their observations, strategies, and best practices as AI tools continue to transform how we teach, advise, conduct research, and engage with optimization.

 

11:00 AM ET – A Front Row Seat on the AI Revolution – with Dr. Yuri Balasanov & Dr. Mike Watson

  • A lively, reflective discussion on how AI has evolved in education and industry, and where optimization fits in the next wave.

 

12:00 PM ET – Explaining Optimization Problems Using Large Language Models – with Dr. Can Li

  • Discover how LLMs are being used to formulate, interpret, and explain optimization problems—including a preview of the OptiChat platform.

 

1:00 PM ET – Cracking the Vault with Gurobot: GenAI and the Future of Mathematical Modeling – with Dr. Steven Edwards

  • A hands-on demo of AI-assisted modeling through a gamified “museum heist” challenge—perfect for educators, students, and practitioners.

 

Don’t miss this special virtual event! 

Register Now

Meet the Experts

View Bio

Dr. Can Li

Assistant Professor
Purdue University

Dr. Can Li

Assistant Professor
Purdue University

Can obtained his bachelor’s degree from Tsinghua University, China, in Chemical Engineering. He completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. His PhD research is focused on stochastic mixed-integer nonlinear programming and long-term expansion planning of power systems. Can did a one-year Postdoc at Polytechnique Montreal on using machine learning techniques to accelerate optimization algorithms. He joined the Davidson School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University as an assistant professor in the Fall of 2022. His research group is focused on optimization, machine learning, and applications in sustainable energy systems. His group won Air Liquide’s global scientific challenge on data sharing for decarbonization in 2023 and the Amazon Research Award in 2024.

View Bio

Dr. Michael Watson

Associate Professor of Instruction
Northwestern University

Dr. Michael Watson

Associate Professor of Instruction
Northwestern University

He was the co-founder and CEO of Opex Analytics, an AI firm that grew from 0 to 140 data scientists from 2013 to 2019.  Their clients included many Fortune 500 companies.  In 2019, it was acquired by LLamasoft and by Coupa in 2020. At Coupa, he led the AI Center of Excellence until December 2021. He is now a full-time faculty member at Northwestern University in the Department of Industrial Engineering.  He teaches master’s and undergraduate level courses in Supply Chain, Operations Excellence, Managerial Analytics, and Optimization.  He also runs a capstone course where students do projects for companies. He has a Ph.D. from Northwestern, is the lead author of the books “Supply Chain Network Design” and “Managerial Analytics,” and writes at https://MikeTalksAI.substack.com/.

View Bio

Dr. Yuri Balasanov

Professor of Instruction
Northwestern University

Dr. Yuri Balasanov

Professor of Instruction
Northwestern University

Yuri Balasanov, Ph.D. is Professor of Instruction and Deputy Director of the MS in Machine Learning and Data Science (MLDS) program at the McCormick School of Engineering, Northwestern University. He earned his M.S. in Applied Mathematics and Ph.D. in Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics from Lomonosov Moscow State University, where he studied under Andrey Kolmogorov and other prominent members of his school. His expertise spans stochastic modeling, advanced data analysis and AI, digital transformation, risk evaluation, and decision-making under uncertainty. Dr. Balasanov has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry, where he has served as a data scientist, lead quantitative researcher, risk manager, and quantitative trader at major financial institutions. He was a member of the Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Energy–funded project, Developing a Deep Learning–Computer Vision Framework to Monitor Avian Interactions with Solar Energy Facility Infrastructure, and has advised several other industry initiatives. In parallel with his industry work, Professor Balasanov has more than 25 years of academic experience. As Deputy Director of the MLDS program, he leads industry engagement and teaches a wide range of courses including Data Science, Bayesian Decision Making, Financial Engineering, and Generative AI. He previously taught at the University of Chicago in the programs MS in Financial Mathematics (MSFM) and MS in Applied Data Science (hosted by Data Science Institute), where he also served as Curriculum Director. He has provided professional training to organizations such as the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and Philadelphia, PwC, and Chicago Trading Company.

View Bio

Dr. Laura Albert

Professor Industrial and Systems Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Laura Albert

Professor Industrial and Systems Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Laura Albert, Ph.D., is a Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a thought leader in operations research and analytics. She served as the David H. Gustafson Department Chair from 2021-24 and the President of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) in 2023. Dr. Albert’s research focuses on mitigating risks in the public sector through optimization and operations research methodologies, with applications in critical infrastructure protection, public safety, and emergency response. She is a Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). Her work has been recognized with numerous accolades, including the INFORMS Impact Prize, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, and a Fulbright Award. An advocate for public engagement, Dr. Albert has penned several op-eds for national news outlets, and she authors the engineering blogs “Punk Rock Operations Research” and “Badger Bracketology.” 

View Bio

Dr. Naser Nikandish

Associate Professor of Practice
Johns Hopkins

Dr. Naser Nikandish

Associate Professor of Practice
Johns Hopkins

Naser Nikandish holds a PhD and MA in Operations, Technology, and Information Management from Cornell University. He received a bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering from Tehran Polytechnic and MSc in Industrial Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran. His research interests include Inventory Management and Capacity Planning.

View Bio

Dr. Steven Edwards

Product Manager
Gurobi Optimization

Dr. Steven Edwards

Product Manager
Gurobi Optimization

Dr. Steven Edwards completed his PhD at Monash University in the field of discrete optimization. His thesis was motivated by the scheduling of automated pathology testing systems used for the diagnosis of cancers and infectious diseases. As part of his research, he developed a modeling framework for efficiently solving large-scale optimization problems using constraint programming inspired by existing techniques in boolean satisfiability and mixed-integer programming. After completing his thesis, Steven worked briefly at the Australian Bureau of Statistics on optimization problems in data security before commencing as a Research Fellow in Operations Research at the University of Melbourne. 

View Bio

Duke Perrucci

Chief Executive Officer
Gurobi Optimization

Duke Perrucci

Chief Executive Officer
Gurobi Optimization

Mr. Perrucci has more than 30 years of experience in roles spanning sales, marketing and analytics. He joined Gurobi in 2018 as the CRO, heading both sales and marketing. He then moved into the COO role and ultimately the CEO position in 2023. Prior to Gurobi, he held the position of CRO at Cambridge Analytica – a predictive analytics firm. Here he built the commercial practice in North America by helping companies drive better advertising through the use of artificial intelligence. Before Cambridge he spent 8 years in the MarTech space with FocusVision. Here he built a global sales organization across 6 continents and 10 offices. Prior to FocusVision, Mr. Perrucci spent a total of 9 years at Information Resources Inc. (IRI) working in various analytic consulting roles across the entire PepsiCo enterprise. After the first 4 years at IRI, he decided to gain experience on the brand side and moved into analytics at Unilever. Before long he secured a position in brand management working on the Bertolli business – a $400 million brand in the United States. When IRI came calling again, it was an offer too good to pass up – running the Pepsi Cola and Quaker businesses out of PepsiCo’s world headquarters in Purchase, NY. Before this journey, Duke earned a BA in Classical Civilization from Fordham University. While en route, he earned his MBA from Cornell University.

View Bio

Lindsay Montanari

Senior Director of Academic Programs
Gurobi Optimization

Lindsay Montanari

Senior Director of Academic Programs
Gurobi Optimization

Lindsay brings over 13 years of experience working at the intersection of technology and education. Prior to Gurobi, Lindsay worked as an Operations leader at Opex Analytics, a product and services firm dedicated to solving complex business problems using the power of Artificial Intelligence. While there, she focused on growth and business development, product launch, and marketing. Lindsay spent 10 years working in various leadership capacities at Universities including Columbia University, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago. From 2013 to 2017, she worked to establish and grow the Master of Science in Analytics degree at Northwestern University’s School of Engineering, the program was one of the earliest MS degrees focused on an applied data science curriculum. During her time with Northwestern, she managed external relations and corporate relations, helped hire and onboard new faculty and subject-matter experts in various disciplines of analytics, directed recruiting efforts/admissions/student advising, and managed a team of administrative professionals. Prior to Northwestern, she spent over 5 years working in Advancement at Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.   She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in English and Fine Art at Sewanee: The University of the South and her Master’s Degree in Nonprofit Management at Columbia University.

View Bio

Thomas Braam

Senior DevOps Engineer
Gurobi Optimization

Thomas Braam

Senior DevOps Engineer
Gurobi Optimization

Thomas Braam studied Bioinformatics & Systems Biology at the University of Amsterdam. It was here, and at the University of Oxford where he utilized linear optimization to simulate cellular metabolism through a process named Flux Balance Analysis. He has since worked as a Data Engineer in Taiwan and as a CI/CD Engineer in ASML, The Netherlands. In August 2021 he joined the development team at Gurobi as a CI/CD Engineer. Thomas enjoys a good light roast coffee, history and reading.

Agenda

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