Recent Publications

  1. Fravel, J. & Hildebrand, R. (2026). Automating Idealness Proofs for Binary Programs with Application to Rectangle Packing. arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.15252.
  2. Fravel, J., Hildebrand, R., Goedert, N., Travis, L., & Pierson, M. (2026). Optimizing representation in redistricting: dual bounds for partitioning problems with non-convex objectives: J. Fravel et al.. Mathematical Methods of Operations Research.
  3. Goedert, N., Hildebrand, R., Pierson, M., Travis, L., & Fravel, J. (2025). Black representation and district compactness in Southern congressional districts. Politics, Groups, and Identities.
  4. Fravel, J., Hildebrand, R., & Travis, L. (2024). Continuous Equality Knapsack with Probit-Style Objectives. Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications.


Student Projects

Masters Theses

  1. Co-advisor—Optimizing Propaganda using a Graphical Model and Mathematical Programming, Aryan Kumar. June 2026. Charles University MFF, Prague, Czech Republic. Grade: Excellent link
  2. Computing Winner Robustness via Counting and Integrations, Aleš Prokop. June 2026. Charles University MFF, Prague, Czech Republic. Grade: Good link

Bachelors Theses

  1. Graph Algorithm Visualizers in the Classroom (working title), Phone Khant Lu. Ongoing. Charles University MFF, Prague, Czech Republic. Grade: Pending
  2. Automated hard instance search via black-box optimization, Pavlo Tsitsei. September 2026. Charles University MFF, Prague, Czech Republic. Grade: Excellent
  3. Optimizing Outbound Shipments for Devils Backbone Brewing Company, Sam Barnes, Will Carlyle, Ashley Girod, Drew Martin, Zach Schwinger. Virginia Tech ISE, Blacksburg, VA. link
    • Winners of the 2023 Application of ISE Tools Award: link
    • 4th place winners of the 2023 IISE Outstanding ISE Capstone Senior Design Project: link