About me

I am a 4th-year PhD student in Applied Math & Operations Research at Rice University. My research focuses on stochastic optimization and mixed integer programming. I am advised by Dr. Sebastian Perez-Salazar and Dr. Andrew J. Schaefer.

Contact info

• Email: rma10 [at] rice.edu
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachael-alfant/

Education

• Ph.D. Computational & Applied Mathematics, Rice University, May 2024 (expected)
• M.A. Computational & Applied Mathematics, Rice University, May 2022
• B.A. Mathematics (General Honors), University of Chicago, March 2018

Research Interests

• Stochastic mixed integer programming & computational discrete optimization
• Theory of mixed integer programming

Research Experience

• Visiting Graduate Student, Argonne National Laboratory: Mathematics & Computer Science Division, Current
• Givens Associate PhD Intern, Argonne National Laboratory: Mathematics & Computer Science Division, Summer 2022
• Research Assistant, University of Chicago: Booth School of Business, Summer 2019
• Research Assistant, University of Chicago: Dept. of Public Health Sciences, Summer 2018

Awards and Honors

• Best Poster Award (tied), AWM-SIAM AN22 Poster Session, July 2022
• Student Chapter Award for Scientific Excellence, Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), June 2022
• Sallyport Award Nominee, Association of Rice Alumni, Apr 2022
• Robert Lowry Patten Award for Service & Achievement, Rice Graduate Student Association, Apr 2021
• Honorable Mention, Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship Program, Mar 2021
• Undergraduate Summer Research Grant, University of Chicago, June 2018

Publications

• R.M. Alfant, T. Ajayi, A.J. Schaefer. Evaluating Mixed-Integer Programming Models over Multiple Right-hand Sides. Submitted for publication. Preprint available on Optimization Online.
• R.M. Alfant (2022). “To My Younger Self”: Bridging the Mentorship Gap for Underrepresented Students. Available on the INFORMS Diversity Community Blog.

Presentations

• Multistage Stochastic Mixed Integer Programming using Decomposition of Structured Programs (DSP)
  • Texas Women in Math Symposium, Mar 2023
  • Rice CAAM Graduate Seminar, Feb 2023
  • Summer Argonne Students Symposium, Aug 2022
• Absolute and Relative MIP Gap Functions & Their Properties
  • INFORMS Annual Meeting, Oct 2022
  • Rice CAAM Graduate Seminar, Sept 2022
• Periodicity of MIP Gap Functions
  • SIAM AN22: AWM Poster Session, July 2022
  • Mixed Integer Programming Workshop: Poster Session, June 2022
• An Intro to Rice CAAM & Mixed Integer Programming
  • Rice CAAM Visiting Student Lecture, Feb 2022
• Evaluating MIP Models over Multiple Right-hand Sides
  • Rice CAAM Graduate Seminar, Oct 2021
• An Introduction to Set Theory
  • Chicago Academic Achievement Program, Aug 2018

Teaching

• Teaching Assistant, Rice University: Industrial Engineering Master’s Program
  • INDE 501: Fundamentals of Industrial Engineering, Fall 2022
  • INDE 597: Revenue Management & Dynamic Pricing, Fall 2022
  • INDE 572: Stochastic Processes & Simulation, Spring 2022
• Teaching Assistant, Rice University: Dept. of Computational & Applied Mathematics
  • CAAM 378: Intro to Optimization & Operations Research, Fall 2021, Spring 2023
• Teaching Assistant, University of Chicago
  • Chicago Academic Achievement Program, Honors Calculus with Proofs, Summer 2016/2018 (Evaluations: 4.8/5.0)
  • College Core Tutoring Program, Calculus & Linear Algebra, Winter 2017
  • Dept. of Mathematics, Math 131-132-133: Introduction to Calculus, Fall 2015-2016

Service

• Forum for Women in Operations Research/Management Science (WORMS)
  • Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Liaison (Jan 2023 - Current)
• Rice Dept. of CAAM
  • Graduate Seminar Chair (Aug 2022 - Current)
  • Graduate Advisory Committee Member (June 2020 - Dec 2022)
• Rice Chapter of AWM
  • Vice President (Feb 2021 - Apr 2022), Secretary (Jan 2020 - Feb 2021)
  • Organizing Committees: Texas Women in Math Symposium (Feb 2020 - Feb 2022), Rice AWM Math Nights & Freshman Math Mentorship Program (Aug 2020 - Jan 2022)
• Rice Chapter of SIAM
  • President (Aug 2020 - Aug 2021), Secretary (Aug 2019 - Aug 2020)
• University of Chicago Young Scholars Program
  • Teaching Assistant Volunteer (Jan 2015 - Mar 2017)