Time: 2026 APR 30, 10:30-11:30

Venue: Room 317, E&F Hall, East Campus

Title: Large Language Models for Optimization Modeling

Abstract: This talk presents recent advances in the application of large language models (LLMs) to mathematical optimization modeling, with a focus on industrial and operational research contexts.

We introduce ORLM (Operations Research Language Model) — the first open-source LLMs fine-tuned specifically for optimization tasks. To mitigate the scarcity of domain-specific training data, the proposed framework includes OR-Instruct, a semi-automated pipeline designed to generate instruction-style datasets across a broad range of problem types. OR-Instruct employs two core strategies: Expansion and Augmentation. Expansion leverages advanced LLMs to generate new problem scenarios and question types from seed data, while Augmentation diversifies the dataset by modifying objectives and constraints, rephrasing problem statements, and incorporating varied modeling techniques. ORLMs trained under this framework achieved superior performance on public benchmarks such as NL4OPT and MAMO, surpassing most of the leading LLMs. We also develop the IndustryOR benchmark, encompassing real-world optimization scenarios from 13 industries, spanning five categories and three levels of complexity.

Bio: Dr. Wang Zizhuo is currently Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Data Science at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. He is also Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Shanshu Technology. Dr. Wang earned his bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Tsinghua University and his PhD in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University in 2012. He previously served as a tenured professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Minnesota. At present, he acts as Director of the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mathematical Foundations for Artificial Intelligence. He is a recipient of the National Young Overseas High-level Talents Program and the National Distinguished Young Scholars Fund. Professor Wang’s core research focuses on machine learning and operations management. He has published more than 60 papers in top international journals of operations research and management science, and serves on the editorial boards of leading operations management journals including Management Science (MS), Operations Research (OR), Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (MSOM), and Production and Operations Management Society (POMS). Since 2016, Dr. Wang has co-founded Shanshu Technology and held the position of CTO. Over the past nine years, his team has provided intelligent decision-making consulting and services to more than 400 enterprises across China, with leading clients such as JD.com, SF Express, Didi, Huawei, and China Southern Airlines.