Professor Anil Aswani
Professor Aswani received his B.S in Electrical Engineering from University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. For graduate school, he studied Electrical Engineering and Computer Science with an emphasis in computational biology and genomics at our very own UC Berkeley. During graduate school, he started working on optimization theory and statistics. His research began to align with many IEOR topics: modeling, decision problems, and classical graph theory. After his PhD work, Professor Aswani was hired as an IEOR professor.
Professor Aswani studied computational biology and genomics with an interest in gaining a better understanding of cancer, problems that could arise in cells with cancer, and their treatment. In order to gain a better understanding of these systems, he began working on building mathematical models of microbiology occurring within cells, which is when he started delving into the space inbetween EECS and IEOR. He was asking questions that IEOR/ORMS students are frequently asking: How do you construct a model with very little information, and with these models, how do you gain a better understanding of these problems?
Part of professor Aswani’s research has been constructing mathematical models based on the microbiology of cells. Those models were then applied to better understand cancer treatments. Often patients will be given multiple cancer treatments at a time, and these mathematical models helped find optimal combinations to maximize therapeutic effectiveness and minimize side effects.
He has also worked on improving building efficiency to optimize AC in a building to the current occupancy without decreasing comfort. Each person generates about as much heat as a 100 watt light bulb and air conditioning in a building is designed for maximum occupancy, so often buildings are being over-cooled. After analyzing data collected from buildings, Professor Aswani found that energy could be saved and comfort maximized by cooling rooms based on their current occupancy rather than their maximum capacity.
Professor Aswani believes that IEOR/ORMS shows students how to engineer systems, while taking into account uncertainties in the world. This field has numerous applications including manufacturing, supply chain, tech companies, consulting, biomedical. Engineering is becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. The lines between fields are blurring, and the skills you learn studying IEOR/ORMS can be applied to many different fields and engineering disciplines.
The world that we’re in is very computation driven, and computation is almost like literacy. Professor Aswani’s encourages IEOR/ORMS students to build computational skills during your time as a student whether that be through extracurriculars, research, or taking courses. He recommends courses such as Data 8, Data 100, IEOR 115 or any other course that provides great computational background.
In his free time, Professor Aswani has been spending a lot of time with his daughter, going on walks, and family outings. When he isn’t spending time with his family, Professor Aswani enjoys watercolor painting.
