Zbigniew Michalewicz

Zbigniew Michalewicz
Education Master of Science Applied mathematics
PhD Computer science
Alma mater Polish Academy of Sciences
Occupation Chairman & chief scientific officer at SolveIT Software
author
professor[1]
Organization SolveIT Software
Known for Optimization
Website
Michalewicz Personal Page at Adelaide University
Solveit Software

Zbigniew Michalewicz, PhD, is an entrepreneur, author and professor who is recognised internationally as an mathematical optimisation and new technologies expert.[2] He is the author of over two-hundred-fifty articles and twenty-five books which have been cited by over 10,000 authors.[3] He is the co-founder of NuTech Solutions[4] and the co-founder of SolveIT Software where he currently serves as the chairman and Chief Scientific Officer.[5]

Early life and education

Michalewicz attended Warsaw University of Technology where he earned a Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics in 1974. In 1975, Michalewicz joined the faculty of the Institute of Computer Science at the Polish Academy of Sciences as a researcher. While there, he obtained a PhD in Computer Science in 1981; and a Doctor of Science (Habilitation) degree in Computer Science in 1997.[6]

Professional career

In 1982, Michalewicz left Poland and moved to New Zealand with his wife Ewa and son Matthew Michalewicz. He took a position with Victoria University in Wellington and left behind all of his possessions in Poland with the exception of a few personal items. In an interview, he stated that he left Poland for many reasons including the difficult economy at that time and the lack of access to scientific publications to conduct research.[6] He emigrated to Charlotte, North Carolina in July 1989, just prior to Hurricane Hugo. He began working for UNC Charlotte where he received an offer of employment one year prior while he was still at the Victoria University.[6] He taught at UNC Charlotte in the Department of Computer Science through 2004.

In 2004, Michalewicz accepted a position with the University of Adelaide as well as the Polish-Japanese School of Information Technology. Michalewicz is currently a professor at the University of Adelaide,[1] the Polish-Japanese School of Information Technology, and the Institute of Computer Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences.[2]

Michalewicz has consulted for many Fortune 500 companies where he has led data mining and optimisation projects. He has also consulted for governmental agencies in the United States, Australia, and Poland. He served as the Chairman of the Technical Committee on Evolutionary Computation and also as the Executive Vice-President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Neural Network Council. He was the general chair of the First IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation held in Orlando in June 1994.[7]

NuTech Solutions

Michalewicz co-founded NuTech Solutions, Inc. in 1999 with his son Matthew Michalewicz. NuTech offered technology solutions to predict business changes and helped companies prepare for these changes. In September 2003, Matthew Michalewicz left the company after resigning from the board of directors.[8] Towards the end of 2004, he moved from Charlotte to Adelaide, Australia.

During his time at NuTech, he helped secure over $11 million in private equity investments, secure over 100 Global 1000 companies, and help the company grow to over 130 employees. Michalewicz also helped NuTech attract Bill Gaither, former CEO of Heafner Tire Group in Lincolnton, Hugh McColl, former CEO of Bank of America, and Lech Walesa, Nobel laureate and former president of Poland, to its board of directors.[9]

In 2005, Michalewicz sold his shares of NuTech back to the company to make way for new investments into the company.[10] NuTech was acquired by Netezza Corporation in 2008 and in 2010, IBM Corporation acquired Netezza and became the licensor of the technology licensed by NuTech.[11]

SolveIT Software

Michalewicz is the co-founder of SolveIT Software which was founded in 2005, a few months after his arrival in Australia. The other co-founders are Matthew Michalewicz, Martin Schmidt, and Constantin Chiriac. All were the co-authors of the book Adaptive Business Intelligence.[12]

Main article: SolveIT Software

The company develops advanced planning and scheduling business optimisation software, which helps manage complex operations using artificial intelligence. Most of the products were initially developed around the key South Australian industries of wine and grain handling, and today SolveIt has a specialist mining division due to early adoption of the companies solutions within the mining market.[13] The software helps companies accurately predict and plan their production, supply chain, shipping and currency hedging.[14][15]

Publications and lectures

Michalewicz has published over two-hundred-fifty articles and has been the author or editor for twenty-five books. In addition to his published works, he has given numerous lectures throughout the world. Michalewicz has been the keynote speaker for numerous major events throughout the world. More recently he was the keynote speaker for the Integrated Planning and Optimization Summit 2012 in Adelaide, the BbSummit Australasia in 2011, and the IEEE CEC'12 in Brisbane, Australia on 10–15 June 2012.

Select articles

Michalewicz has been published in numerous journals including the IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation – TEC.[16] His works have also been cited by over 10,000 different authors.[3][17]

Bibliography

Year Title Publisher ISBN
2012 Variants of Evolutionary Algorithms for Real-World Applications Springer Publishing ISBN 3642234232[18]
2010 How to Solve It: Modern Heuristics Springer Publishing ISBN 3642061346
2010 Parameter Setting in Evolutionary Algorithms (Studies in Computational Intelligence) Springer Publishing ISBN 3642088929[19]
2008 Puzzle-Based Learning: Introduction to Critical Thinking, Mathematics, and Problem Solving Springer Publishing ISBN 1876462639
2008 Simulated Evolution and Learning: 7th International Conference, SEAL 2008, Melbourne, Australia, 7–10 December 2008, Proceedings Springer Publishing ISBN 3540896937
2008 Design By Evolution: Advances In Evolutionary Design (Natural Computing Series) Springer Publishing ISBN 3540741097[20]
2008 Advances in Metaheuristics for Hard Optimization Springer Publishing ISBN 3540729593[21]
2007 Winning Credibility Hybrid Publishers ISBN 1876462523
2006 Adaptive Business Intelligence Springer Publishing ISBN 3540329285
2004 How to Solve It: Modern Heuristics Springer Publishing ISBN 3540224947
2002 Theoretical Surface Science: A Microscopic Perspective Springer Publishing ISBN 354043903X
2001 Evolutionary Algorithms in Engineering Applications Springer Publishing ISBN 3642082823
2000 Advanced Algorithms and Operators IOP Publishing ISBN 0750306653
1993 Genetic Algorithms + Data Structures = Evolution Programs Springer Publishing ISBN 3540606769
1990 Statistical and Scientific Database Management: Fifth International Conference Springer Publishing ISBN 3540523421

Awards and recognition

Michalewicz was awarded the title of Professor in 2002 by then Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.[2] He was appointed as a Business Ambassador for South Australia in 2006 by then Premier Mike Rann.[22] He was also named as a finalist for South Australia's Science Excellence Awards for the commercialisation success of Adapative Business Intelligence in 2008[23] as well as a 2010 DSI Instructional Innovation Award Competition Finalist.[24]

He was the recipient of the prestigious Pearcey Award which recognises young entrepreneurs in the ICT space that have made significant contributions and taken entrepreneurial risks. He was given the award in 2011 for his founding of SolveIT Software.[25]

Personal life

Michalewicz is married to Ewa Michalewicz, an artist[26] who also did the cover work for Michalewicz's book How To Solve It and numerous other of his books.[27] Michalewicz has a son, Matthew Michalewicz who is the co-author of some of Zbigniew Michalewicz's books, including Winning Credibility, Puzzle-Based Learning and Adaptive Business Intelligence . Matthew also co-founded SolveIT Software with his father Zbigniew.[28]

Michalewicz enjoys adventurous activities including scuba diving and skydiving.[6] He also enjoys travelling and has visited numerous countries worldwide.[29]

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Adelaide University. "University Staff Directory". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Adaptive Business Intelligence. "Author Info". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Microsoft Academic Search. "Academic Authors – Zbigniew Michalewicz". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  4. Inside View. "NuTech Solutions, Inc.". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  5. Logistics Weekly. "SolveIT Software Wins National IAward". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 WRAL Techwire. "Life Is an Adventure for NuTech's Zbigniew Michalewicz". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  7. JICAN. "Zbigniew Michalewicz". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  8. WRAL Tech Wire. "Founding CEO Matt Michalewicz Is Out at NuTech Solutions". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  9. Great Charlotte Biz. "Building An International Legend". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  10. Charlotte Business Journal. "Deal ends founders' ties to NuTech". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  11. NuTech Solutions. "Company Overview". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  12. Zbigniew Michalewicz, Martin Schmidt, Matthew Michalewicz, Constantin Chiriac (10 November 2006). Adaptive Business Intelligence®. Springer Publishing. ISBN 3540329285.
  13. "Mine optimisation and mining solutions". SolveIT Software. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  14. Cameron England (9 January 2012). "SolveIT Software is wining and mining". The Advertiser. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  15. "About Us". SolveIT Software. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  16. Microsoft Academic Search. "Journals Related To Zbigniew Michalewicz". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  17. Microsoft Academic Search. "Citing Authors Relating To Zbigniew Michalewicz". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  18. Good Reads. "Variants of Evolutionary Algorithms for Real-World Applications". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  19. Good Reads. "Parameter Setting in Evolutionary Algorithms". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  20. Amazon.com. "Design By Evolution: Advances In Evolutionary Design (Natural Computing Series)". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  21. Springer Publishing. "Advances in Metaheuristics for Hard Optimization". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  22. Adelaidean. "Business ambassador". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  23. SolveIT Software. "SolveIT Founder Named Finalist for Science Excellence Awards". Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  24. Decision Sciences Institute. "2010 DSI Instructional Innovation Award Competition Finalist". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  25. Adelaide University. "School staff win SA Pearcey Award Again!". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  26. Ewa Michalewicz. "About Ewa". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  27. Google Books. How To Solve It. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  28. Amazon.com. "Winning Credibility". Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  29. Adelaide. "Michalewicz's Travels". Retrieved 26 July 2012.