Daffodils and Bees

I'm sitting here and waiting for my ants to reach the optimal solution in the 36 city traveling salesman problem. Tomorrow I start working with the Particle Swarm Optimization program. It's similar to Ant Colony, but used for continuous problems as opposed to combinatorial problems. According to our professor, PSO is easier to program.

Today was a most beautiful day! I took the long way in to campus and thoroughly enjoyed my walk. On the way in I came across a young man on the sidewalk with a daffodil in his hand waving it at the bees (I think they were actually carpenter bees) apparently trying to lure them to the flower. I love college!

Dr. Robert Smith, current Program Director for Operations Research at the National Science Foundation and graduate of Harvey Mudd College, spoke at the graduate seminar today. He spoke on the topic of "A Fictitious Play Approach to Complex Systems Optimization." He used game theory combined with dynamic programming and a simulation to model and solve complicated problems in traffic flow analysis. I'd like to have a job working to solve that kind of problem...maybe it's possible. Isn't everything possible?

Last night I had dinner at Good Ole Boys catfish restaurant with my best friend from first grade. Tuesday nights they have a blue grass band which we enjoyed (when they weren't on a break) while we ate catfish, hush puppies and cole slaw. She'll be here until Saturday morning so we'll go out again.

Optimality

Alvin is back this morning stuffing his cute face with sunflower seeds. He and his bird (and pesky squirrel) friends will provide distraction while I spend the next four days studying for Tuesday's Linear Programming (LP) quiz. I need a really good grade on the quiz to couple with my poor showing on the first one for a decent grade going in to the final exam. When the professor reviewed the material yesterday, I could feel adrenaline or my blood pressure or some other biological effect beginning...I used to be such a good test taker.

I finished the Ant Colony program and for the first time, I was able to reach the optimal solution. That is really exciting for me! I've turned a corner in both understanding and programming. Hurray! I like this paradigm for solving combinatorial problems. It has parameters that can be tweaked based on the particulars of the problem which regulate the amount of randomness and deliberateness of the algorithm. I still need to run the program with professor-specified parameter changes and small programming additions before I actually write up the assignment. That will take a few more hours and I'll do that as a break from LP.

Next week we study our final algorithm--Particle Swarm Optimization. It is based on the behavior of schools of fish or flocks of birds. Sounds like it is right up my alley!

Ant Colonies

It's a beautiful morning here--bright blue skies and 45 degrees. There's a new bird at my feeder--I am pretty sure it is a house finch (longer and less purple), but it could possibly be a purple finch. They are brown with some dark streaks, sort of like a sparrow with a reddish purple head and a sturdy bill for cracking seeds. We have lots of them in New Orleans. They are devoted to their mates--one watches while the other eats--and they sing a lovely song, a lot.

Yesterday I got my econ mid-term back and I did fail, but so did many people in the class so he curved the grades and I ended up with a C. I made 90 on the latest homework. That tells me that I do understand the material, the test is just too much for me.

I also got back homework in Adaptive Optimization--98. I'm working on the Ant Colony System(ACS) computer program this morning. It is the latest optimization technique we're studying that is based on something biological. We watched a YouTube video that someone created showing how ants search for food. That got us in the mood to model the ants in constructing a trail. We're solving the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) with this algorithm. In the problem a salesman wants to minimize the distance he travels in visiting "n" cities. To solve the problem with ACS, I've generated "n" ants and they start randomly to build their route. When all of the ants have built their route, I calculate the distance. Each ant deposits pheromone on their route (trail) and I make sure the ant with the best route so far deposits extra pheromone to encourage the other ants to follow his trail. Each ant continues building trails and depositing pheromone until all of them are on the same shortest (I hope) trail. This algorithm is quite complicated and only works on problems that are combinatorial (not continuous).

I find it interesting that the TSP problem (think about routing for airlines, for trucking companies, for network traffic, for telephone lines) is not easily solvable since it is so common and important. People everywhere for years have studied this problem and continue trying to find better (less computer time) solutions. The link I gave you for the TSP is from Scientific American and our teacher said it was a good basic article about the algorithm that people unfamiliar with optimization programs could understand.

I think I'll look at ants in a new light from now on!

Spring is springing!

Daffodils are everywhere in Auburn. This is outside of the Shelby Center--the new building where all of my classes and the ISE department are located. Two new engineering/technology buildings are under construction--that's one in the picture's background. Most of the daffodils are probably var. Ice Follies, big single bright yellow blooms. They naturalize well in this area. We've planted some in Poplarville--only 75--and I thought that was a lot--maybe 1000 here?

Flowering trees are also starting to bloom--redbuds, red maples, viburnum, Japanese Magnolia, and others I don't recognize yet. I heard the towhee while walking to class, "drink your teaeeeeeee". We don't have them in New Orleans--not brushy enough. They like to scratch in leaf litter. They are often under my bird feeder. The male is dark and bright and the female is paler brown all over with similar markings.

And, Sunday at 2AM we spring forward for daylight saving's time. That'll make it dark in the morning when Coma and I get up. I'm still not sure why we do this. If someone needs to have more daylight, they can just get up earlier instead of changing the time. That makes sense to me. I've always been an early riser--it doesn't matter what time it is, if birds are singing it's time to get up!

Econ Midterm

First of all, I need to apologize to my children. I remember telling you that you didn't need to beat yourself up studying the night or even few nights before a big test as long as you'd been going to class, paying attention, and doing homework. Well, I was wrong. I've been to class every day, taken notes, asked questions, done homework and I'll consider myself lucky if I pass the Economics midterm exam. And, I studied for three entire days on top of all of that. I understand that the professor typically curves the grades so I hope that's the case this time, too. It is so frustrating. Sometimes I think I need to talk to student services and see if I can get extra time for being old. I doubt that is one of the disabilities they allow extra time for.

I'm not going to give up; I'll continue to pursue and hope that my test-taking skills improve with practice. On a good note, the class I'm planning to take this summer has take-home tests for both the mid-term and the final...I'll have no excuses!

Spring Break has begun and I'm enjoying a glass of wine.

Use of Genetic Algorithms

I decided to drive to campus this morning so I left here at 7 AM to get a decent parking spot. We had some thundershowers in the early morning and I was nervous about walking in that kind of weather. This evening it looks really rough outside, but we only have periodic sprinkling. I'm seeing flash flood warnings and tornado watches all over the area. I hope the lights don't go out, I'm not prepared and I REALLY need to study some more for the Econ mid term tomorrow.

In our Seminar class this afternoon a PhD grad from last fall presented his dissertation research. His research was in using a Genetic Algorithm (GA)--remember what that is? Using genetics to model optimization of something--to create effective warning signs. I'm always surprised at the ways that these optimization algorithms are used. Usually the computer calculates the success of the algorithm over some number of generations. He used focus groups to evaluate the success of the created signs. It broadened my view of how these techniques can be used. I find this fascinating.

Then late this afternoon I met with Dr. Maghsoodloo about taking his reliability engineering class this summer. He was encouraging, at least in part because he needs 8 students for the class to be taught and he only has 5 that he knows of. At any rate, he's going to help me one-on-one to review the probability and statistics I need to be ready for the class. I have two assignments over the break and he loaned me his copy of the book. How in the world will I add this to what I'm already doing?

AOPi Reunion

I spent the weekend in Fairhope with 52 other sisters from Auburn's chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority--our largest group in the 16 years we've been re-uniting. The weather was perfect; the shopping was productive; Fairhope is charming and the camaraderie among everyone was great! There were more women from my pledge class attending this time and it was fun to reconnect with them...brings back so many memories. Funny how some of us are known by last names (I wonder why) and others by first names.

Fairhope really is a charming town. It is located on Mobile Bay and beautiful! It is a planned community and the founding group set aside much of the land along the bay to belong to the people so it is park-like--old growth pine and hardwood trees, lots of Japanese magnolias in bloom--and enjoyed by everyone. There are flowers, maintained by the town, everywhere. The flowers are seasonally changed, so right now pink tulips and big, beautiful, yellow daffodils are the most prevalent.

Of course, our weekend revolved around socializing. We shared composites, Glomeratas, our personal photos, hugs and laughter in the hospitality room. Many of us had an excellent dinner at the Fairhope Inn Friday night. We shopped most of Saturday and Saturday night dinner was at the Fairhope Yacht Club. The chef, Ronnelle, was overwhelmed by all of the "beautiful women" in one room and the waitresses played War Eagle for us before dinner. Sunday brunch at the Grand Hotel was amazing! Even though it is now a Marriott hotel, it is still grand and the old part is once again grand (rebuilt after each devastating hurricane) with wood and windows everywhere. We walked along the bay and looked at the big old houses with wide inviting screened porches and wooden piers reaching out into the bay.

I think it is safe to say, A good time was had by all!!! Next year in Auburn.

Happy Anniversary, Allan

Today is my 34th wedding anniversary. I can't believe it's really been 34 years since that Sunday in Pensacola. I think we have a really good marriage. We've worked hard to make it that way, learning to live with each other at every stage of life and taking problems in stride when they come--and they do come. It's good to be at a point where being away from each other for weeks at a time is not fun, but it's okay. It's actually how we started our engagement. I took a job with Westinghouse ( when I didn't quite graduate) while he was still in school and it was weeks, sometimes months between visits from July until December when he graduated and went to work for ESC and I quit working for Westinghouse and went to work for the SCORE project at LSU Med School. We weathered being apart without too much trouble then and here we are back again in a similar situation except this time I'm in Auburn instead of him.

I think Allan would agree that the best thing we've done over our 34 years together is to raise 3 adorable and successful children. And, it is so much fun being a family.

Well, here's to many more wonderful years, Allan. I miss you!

COSAM

I had a very good dinner last night at Amsterdam Cafe in Auburn with two women who are actively involved in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program in education. COSAM, the College of Science and Mathematics, is where both of them work. We talked about legos, Pico, and Mindstorms and the importance of exciting young children about math and science. Did you know that by 3rd grade children are beginning to eliminate areas of interest? So, we need to expose them to fun experiential science and math very early. COSAM has several programs to interest children and their families in science, Getting Under the Surface (GUTS), Daughters and Mothers Experiencing Science (DAMES), and AU Explore-a day where close to 2,000 middle school students do hands-on science with about 250 COSAM students to name just a few that we talked about. I had hoped to be volunteering weekends with some of the outreach programs but studying has taken precedence. Maybe later...maybe this summer...either in Auburn or in New Orleans...

Yesterday I spoke with the graduate coordinator of ISE. If I can stay on top of everything, it looks like I'll graduate in December. The requirement of a comprehensive test for the all coursework option has been lifted so all I have to do is finish two more courses. That takes quite a load off of my mind. This old brain isn't good at tests anymore.

It's cold again, 29 degrees, but a beautiful bluebird day--not a cloud in the sky. I look forward to my walk to class. Classes are good, not much change. I'm still reading, studying, working LP problems and Econ problems and coding optimization programs. We're finishing tabu search this week and beginning Ant Colony next week. I'll let you know how that one works when I've had a chance to read about it.