Nature Inspired Optimisation for Delivery Problems

Neil Urquhart is a lecturer in the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University. After qualifying in Computer Science he worked as a software developer and systems administrator. He returned to academia and completed a PhD in 2002 which examined the use of nature inspired techniques and software agents to construct and optimize delivery networks. Since 2002 he has worked as a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier where he is currently the program leader for Computing Science. His main research interests are algorithms, visualization, evolving systems, bioinspired computing, and modeling.

• Part I, Simple Yet Complex Problems.- The Traveling Salesman Problem.- Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs).- More Complex VRPs.- Multi-objective Problems.- Part II, Data and Routing.- An Introduction to Geospatial Data.- Routing Algorithms.- Linking to Data Sources.- Visualising Data.- Part III, Real-World Problems.- Food Deliveries in Rural Areas.- Delivering Milk.- Postal Deliveries.- Mobile Workforce Routing.- Urban Logistics.