Victor Pillac-Promotion 2009 (STEM Graduate School)
A thesis co-supervised with the Universidad de Los Andes
During my first two years at the school, I discovered and appreciated software development and I therefore chose the GIPAD option. In my third year as an exchange student at the University of Los Andes (Bogota) I deepened my knowledge of computer science and acquired a taste for operational research. It is at this university that I really had a first contact with the world of research and met my current supervisor. The experience prompted me to reconsider the proposed double degree that I had initially thought of doing, and I decided to pursue my engineering studies for a doctorate.
I did my graduation project at Constraint Technologies (CTI) in Melbourne, Australia, a company developing software packages for decision support for transportation. I developed a prototype to simulate and optimize recruitment policies and training for flight crew in airlines. The work involved design and development as well as research for the development of an optimization engine. I was working with two research teams: one in the company, and the other at Monash University with which CTI conducts different projects. Since my engineering degree enabled me to go on directly to a Ph.D., I made this choice with a view to getting a job as a manager of research projects in a company, preferably abroad. The fact that my thesis is co-supervised with the University of Los Andes reinforces my international profile and is an additional motivating factor.
