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Frans Schalekamp received his Ph.D. in Operations Research from Cornell University in 2007. He has worked in academia and industry across multiple continents, focusing on areas such as plant breeding, genetics, and logistics. Frans has held academic positions at the Institute of Theoretical Computer Science at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, and the Department of Mathematics at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Currently, he is with the Computer Science Department at Cornell University. His industry experience includes positions as a research scientist at NatureSource Genetics in Ithaca, New York, and as a senior analyst at CarMax in Richmond, Virginia. His research interests involve optimization and practice theory, with particular focus on designing approximation algorithms for NP-hard problems and understanding the limitations of finding good solutions. He has developed practical algorithms at NatureSource Genetics aimed at finding effective plant breeding strategies. In teaching, Frans has instructed courses in operations research and computer science. Notable courses include Optimization II, Engineering Applications of Operations Research, Simulation Modeling and Analysis, and Introduction to Analysis of Algorithms, alongside teaching calculus and linear algebra at William & Mary.
Department of Architecture