I work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Multiobjective Optimization Research Group at the Faculty of Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä. I study and develop methods and software for decision support, in which the decision maker steers the optimization process interactively. Steering is needed because in multiobjective optimization all solutions are compromises between conflicting objectives. The best solution cannot be computed in advance; it depends on the decision maker’s preferences and expertise. At the core of my work is the open source DESDEO software framework, developed by our research group and intended specifically for building interactive methods. These methods are applied, for example, to forest management planning and to optimizing industrial processes.
I focus in particular on how optimization can be made explainable. Decision makers need to understand why the tools they use offer them particular solutions and what follows from their own choices. Without explainability, the methods are hard to trust and the decisions they produce cannot be justified to others.
Besides research, I am active in the scientific community. I serve on the board of the Finnish Operations Research Society and have previously been its chair. I am also a member of my faculty council and a deputy member of the university collegium body. Science advocacy matters to me: I believe that research based knowledge and transparent methods help us make better and more sustainable decisions in society.
From my term I expect above all networking across disciplinary boundaries and opportunities for collaboration in both the public and private sectors. I want to improve awareness of multiobjective optimization and operations research in Finnish society, promote the use of open source software particularly in the public sector, and increase understanding of the benefits and possibilities that explainability brings to applications of optimization and artificial intelligence.