Although greedy algorithms are important, nowadays it is well assumed that the solutions they obtain can be used as a starting point for more sophisticated methods. This paper describes an evolutionary approach which is based on genetic algorithms (GA). A constructive heuristic, so-called fuzzy...

This paper presents mathematics of the so-called fuzzy greedy evaluation concept which can be integrated into approaches for hard combinatorial optimization problems. The proposed method evaluates objects in a way that combines fuzzy reasoning with a greedy mechanism, thereby exploiting a fuzzy...

This article presents mathematics of a generic polynomial-time heuristic which can be integrated into approaches for hard combinatorial optimization problems. The proposed method evaluates objects in a way that combines fuzzy reasoning with a greedy mechanism, thereby exploiting a fuzzy solution...

We formulate the multiple knapsack assignment problem (MKAP) as an extension of the multiple knapsack problem (MKP), as well as of the assignment problem. Except for small instances, MKAP is hard to solve to optimality. We present a heuristic algorithm to solve this problem approximately but...

Course timetabling is an important and recurring administrative activity in most educational institutions. This article combines a general modeling methodology with effective learning hyper-heuristics to solve this problem. The proposed hyper-heuristics are based on an iterated local search...

Using a simple, annealed model, some of the key features of the recently introduced extremal optimization heuristic are demonstrated. In particular, it is shown that the dynamics of local search possesses a generic critical point under the variation of its sole parameter, separating phases of...