Integrated software tools for the OR/MS classroom

In recent years, a growing range of software technologies has been deployed in the Operations Research/Management Science classroom, as well as in other business, engineering, and science educational contexts. These technologies enable a more direct, interactive student involvement in model development, symbolic and numerical solution, and project documentation. Within this framework, we see a strong case for using integrated scientific–technical computing systems. To illustrate this point, we review the key features of Maple, with an emphasis on its optimization features. Maple is then used to formulate, solve, and visualize optimization model examples suitable for the classroom.