International recognition for Dundee maths research

The US based Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and the Mathematical Programming Society have named Dundee mathematician Professor Roger Fletcher as the joint winner of their Lagrange Prize for Continuous Optimization.

Optimization is a branch of applied mathematics that involves developing new mathematical techniques to make a system or design as effective or functional as possible.

Professor Fletcher and his colleagues, Sven Leyffer at the US-based Argonne National Laboratory and Phillippe Toint at the University of Namur in Brussels, designed a mathematical filter algorithm which solves a problem of nonlinear programming and could have use in a range of engineering and design applications.

Nonlinear models are ubiquitous in many applications including advanced engineering design, biotechnology, data analysis, environmental management, financial planning and many others.

Professor Leyffer was at the University of Dundee when the research was carried out.

Professor Fletcher said, "Discovering the filter idea was a real "eureka" moment for me and I am very gratified by the interest that it has generated."

The Lagrange Prize is jointly awarded by the Mathematical Programming Society and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics for outstanding works in the area of continuous optimization. The work is judged primarily on the mathematical quality, significance and originality.

The 2006 Prize was awarded for two papers published by Professor Fletcher and his colleagues which described their filter algorithm.