Operations Research in Belgium: Research, Environment & History

Belgium, the Land of the Battlefields, is famous for its chocolates and waffles. It has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German. Its capital, Brussels, is the de facto capital of the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO headquarters. Throughout history, Belgium has made significant contributions to science, literature, and art.

In this article, I explore Belgium from an operations research (OR) perspective. To do so, I would like to introduce the Belgian context briefly. Then, I dive into the beautiful city of Leuven. After that, I discuss the research and the environment. Lastly, I highlight the history and contributions.

The Belgian Context

Belgium's geography between the French-speaking Wallonia region and the Dutch-speaking Flanders region is marked by a significant cultural and landscape transition.

Flanders, located in northern Belgium, is characterized by flat terrain, rich agricultural land, and a dense network of cities and towns. It includes major cities like Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges. The region is known for its vibrant cultural scene, historical cities, and strong economic ties.

In the southern part of Belgium, Wallonia features more varied terrain, including the Ardennes forest and rolling hills. While it has industrial centers such as Liège and Charleroi, it also offers countryside and outdoor recreational opportunities. Wallonia has historically been associated with heavy industry, particularly coal mining and steel production.

While French and Dutch are spoken throughout Belgium, the language border between the two regions roughly delineates the linguistic divide, with Dutch predominant in Flanders and French predominant in Wallonia. This linguistic boundary impacted cultural, political, and social dynamics in Belgium.

Leuven City

Leuven, a vibrant city in the Flemish region of Belgium, is renowned for its prestigious university, rich history, and lively atmosphere. While the city is historically rich and has several interesting spots, I was particularly impressed by the following.

KU Leuven: The city is home to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), one of the oldest universities in Europe, founded in 1425. It attracts students worldwide and represents one of the backbones of the city's academic and cultural life.

KU Leuven Library: The KU Leuven's oldest library is the University Library, which has a rich history dating back to the establishment of the university itself. The library was founded in 1425 along with the university, making it one of the oldest university libraries in the world.

Student Life and Nightlife: I like qualifying Leuven as an ''Academic City" with most population being students. With such a large student population, Leuven has a vibrant nightlife scene. The Oude Markt (Old Market) is famous for its numerous restaurants and coffees.

Overall, Leuven offers a perfect blend of history, culture, academia, and a lively social atmosphere, making it a charming destination and an enriching place to live for students.

Research

My arrival in Belgium coincided with the 38th Annual Conference of the Belgian Operational Research Society (ORBEL38), organized in Antwerpen from Thursday 8 to Friday 9 February 2024. The ORBEL Conference is a well-established event in the OR field and optimization. It was a unique opportunity to meet top OR researchers in the country.

Environment

In Leuven, I was a visiting scholar at the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) of KU Leuven under the supervision of Prof. Roel Leus. The FEB has a strong reputation in OR, among other areas within economics and business studies. The university professors specialize in various OR topics, including scheduling, integer programming, and stochastic optimization.

My choice of KU Leuven was mainly driven by the supervisor's profile. I have been doing so for several years and found out the great value of learning when the supervisor is available, committed, and passionate about the same topics. As a visiting scholar, I explored the design and development of a primal version of the L-shaped method for the two-stage stochastic programming problems.

History

Visiting Leuven was a unique opportunity to get an idea about OR in Europe. This visit adds to my experiences in Japan, Canada, and Australia. All these countries provide great research environments, where students can flourish, learn, and evolve rapidly. Leuven is definitely a great and unique place that deserves a try. Life is too short and these education/research/learning-based trips are a great way to make the most of it. For undergraduate students still thinking about their next destination, KU Leuven is a choice to consider.

Given that I did not know about the beauty of Leuven before my visit, I tried through this blog to highlight some aspects of this stunning academic city that deserves a visit, at least once in our lives. All the thanks to my host supervisor Pr. Roel Leus, my Ph.D. friends in Leuven, my supervisors at Polytechnique Montréal, my lab Gerad, the IVADO Institute, the FRQNT, and all the ones that contributed either directly or indirectly to making this experience: an everlasting memory :-)!

Would you love to live/study/visit in Leuven? I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.