Gurobi Optimizer is a

prescriptive analytics Prescriptive analytics is a form of business analytics which suggests decision options for how to take advantage of a future opportunity or mitigate a future risk and shows the implication of each decision option. It enables an enterprise to consid ...

platform and a decision-making technology developed by Gurobi Optimization, LLC. The Gurobi Optimizer (often referred to as simply, “Gurobi”) is a

solver A solver is a piece of mathematical software, possibly in the form of a stand-alone computer program or as a Library (computing), software library, that 'solves' a mathematical problem. A solver takes problem descriptions in some sort of generic ...

, since it uses

mathematical optimization Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfiel ...

to calculate the answer to a problem. Gurobi is included in the Q1 2022 inside BIGDATA “Impact 50 List” as an honorable mention.

History

Dr. Zonghao Gu, Dr. Edward Rothberg, and Dr. Robert Bixby founded Gurobi in 2008, coming up with the name by combining the first two letters of their last names. Gurobi is used for

linear programming Linear programming (LP), also called linear optimization, is a method to achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or lowest cost) in a mathematical model whose requirements and objective are represented by linear function#As a polynomia ...

(LP),

quadratic programming Quadratic programming (QP) is the process of solving certain mathematical optimization problems involving quadratic functions. Specifically, one seeks to optimize (minimize or maximize) a multivariate quadratic function subject to linear constr ...

(QP), quadratically constrained programming (QCP), mixed integer linear programming (MILP), mixed-integer quadratic programming (MIQP), and mixed-integer quadratically constrained programming (MIQCP). In 2016, Dr. Bistra Dilkina from

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

discussed how she uses Gurobi in the field of computational sustainability, to optimize movement corridors for wildlife, including grizzly bears and wolverines in Montana. In 2018,

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

reported that the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

used Gurobi to conduct census block reconstruction experiments, as part of an effort to reduce privacy risks. Since 2019, Gurobi is used by National Football League (NFL) to build its game schedule each year. In 2020, Gurobi has partnered with

GE Digital GE Digital is a subsidiary of American energy conglomerate GE Vernova. Headquartered in San Ramon, California, the company provides software and industrial internet of things (IIoT) services to industrial companies. GE Digital's primary focus ...

GE Grid Solutions, the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, and Cognitive Analytics on a project for planning and scheduling day-ahead electricity supply. In 2021,

DoorDash DoorDash, Inc. is an American company operating online food ordering and food delivery. It trades under the symbol DASH. With a 56% market share, DoorDash is the largest food delivery platform in the United States. It also has a 60% market sha ...

used Gurobi, in combination with

machine learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...

, to solve dispatch problems. In 2023,

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

used Gurobi to power its decision-support tool, which recommends optimal flight and aircraft assignments and can take constraints like fuel consumption and an aircraft’s flying hours into account.

References

{{Reflist Numerical software Mathematical optimization software Linear_programming