Periodic Reporting for period 1 - OPTBIOMAN (Optimal Decision Making under Uncertainty in Biomanufacturing Operations)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2016-03-01 do 2018-02-28
To address these challenges, an inter-disciplinary modelling and optimization framework is developed to reduce operating costs and improve efficiencies in biomanufacturing operations. Stochastic optimization models are developed to economically optimize biomanufacturing decision under high process variability, failure risks, and expensive operating costs. In contrast to the existing techniques, these new mathematical models link the cell-level dynamics of the biomanufacturing processes (i.e. underlying biology and chemistry) with manufacturing system-level dynamics (i.e. trade-offs in terms of yield, quality and costs). In particular, the research project models and analyses the economics of the upstream fermentation operations and downstream purification operations. First, integrated quality and reliability models are developed to provide fundamental insights for bioreactor harvesting decisions when there is uncertainty in bioreactor’s state information. Next, stochastic optimization models are developed to economically optimize chromatography operating decisions based on yield and quality trade-offs encountered in industry practices. At cell-level, styled probabilistic models are investigated to capture the process variability in terms of yield and quality of both upstream fermentation and downstream chromatography operations. At the manufacturing system-level, Markov decision models that convert these cell-level probabilistic models into cost-optimal operating policies are developed. Novel approximations and heuristics are developed based on the unique features of the problem setting in order to solve large size problems typically encountered in industry practices. Optimal policies are theoretically and numerically analysed for both upstream harvesting and downstream chromatography operating decisions.
During the project, several dissemination activities were conducted via industry workshops, online platforms, conferences, and working group sessions. For example, research outcomes were presented at several international conferences (i.e. INFORMS Annual Meeting, POMS Conference, EURO, Winter Simulation Conference), and a video was created to disseminate project results. In addition, the project outcomes received several prestigious awards at international platforms (i.e. Winner of the POMS Applied Research Challenge, First Prize in INFORMS TIMES Award). These awards significantly helped to disseminate and also encourage future work.