This session will feature a 40-minute talk by Yongjia Song, followed by discussion.
Title: A Robust Bilevel Network Interdiction Problem
Abstract: In this talk, we present a robust bilevel network interdiction problem motivated by applications in human trafficking disruption. In this problem, the follower, who we assume to be rational, will solve a minimum cost network flow problem on a network whose arcs may be interdicted/removed by the leader. The leader, who interdicts the network, optimizes their own objective computed using the optimal flow obtained in the follower’s problem. We consider the case where the leader does not know the follower’s cost vector, but only that it belongs to a given uncertainty set, while the follower has complete knowledge about their own parameters. We present a column-and-constraint generation (C&CG) method to solve the optimistic version of this problem. We discuss the difficulties in solving the standard subproblem from the C&CG method and propose a method to solve the subproblem by exploiting the structure of the uncertainty set. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach through computational experiments with synthetic human trafficking networks.
Bio: Dr. Yongjia Song is currently a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Clemson University. Dr. Song received his Ph.D. degree in industrial and systems engineering from University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013. Dr. Song’s research interests include optimization under uncertainty, integer programming, and applications of optimization in transportation and logistics, networks, and energy systems. Dr. Song is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2021, and his research has been supported by several federal funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Naval Research (ONR), among others.