A Seminar for Solving Client Problems in Project Teams

We describe the course “Seminar on Case Studies in Operations Research” in which teams of four or five students work on real problems posed by firms and governmental research institutions. In this course, which is taught at Aalto University School of Science, students use operations research to solve these problems and also develop teamwork, communication, and project management skills. Since 2001, the student teams have carried out more than 60 projects of which many have had significant business and societal impacts. We discuss experiences from this course and consider implementation details that have contributed to the attainment of learning objectives.