Computational Optimization Postdoctoral Researcher

We have an immediate opening for a Computational Optimizer to conduct research in the areas of stochastic, decentralized, and/or multi-level optimization, with specific application to critical infrastructure systems. You will be an integral part of a multi-disciplinary team of researchers, with skill sets ranging from computer and climate science to power and industrial engineering; projects are typically collaborative with partner academic institutions and other national labs. You will be developing advanced models of decision-making under uncertainty and adversarial contexts for critical infrastructure operations, planning, and resilience. The ability to conduct fluid engagement with domain experts and end-users to characterize, analyze, and communicate inputs and solutions is critical in this role. Development of advanced mathematical optimization models (e.g., MIP formulations) and scalable (e.g., via decomposition) solvers will be a primary technical focus. This position is in the Center for Applied Scientific Computing (CASC), which resides within the Computing Directorate at LLNL. The research will be conducted in conjunction with LLNL’s Cyber and Infrastructure Resilience (CIR) program.

In this role you will

• Develop and extend mathematical programming (e.g., MIP, NLP, and MINLP) formulations of core critical infrastructure operations and planning optimization models.
• Design and implement high-performance (parallel) solvers for stochastic, multi-level, and/or decentralized optimization models of critical infrastructure.
• Analyze and mitigate performance bottlenecks in parallel solver implementations.
• Publish research results in external peer-reviewed scientific journals and participate in conferences and workshops.
• Present formal and informal overviews of research progress at group meetings.
• Contribute to grant proposals and collaborate with others in a multidisciplinary team environment to accomplish research goals.
• Pursue independent (but complementary) research interests and interact with a broad spectrum of scientists internal and external to the Laboratory.
• Perform other duties as assigned.