In 1960, Australian mathematician AG Doig co-authored a paper titled ‘An Automatic Method for Solving Discrete Programming Problems’. This became a seminal paper in the field of linear programming. The paper created a tool that allowed computers to do something they were uniquely good at: solving optimisation problems. As computing has become more and more powerful, this tool has become widely used in transport logistics, shift rostering, and even to assist in cancer radiotherapy decisions.
In this episode Kate Lowry speaks with the author of this paper, AG Doig, or as most people know her, Alison Harcourt about her life as a mathematician in Australia.
The Random Sample is a podcast by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical frontiers. In this show, we share stories about mathematics, statistics and the people involved. To learn more about ACEMS, visit https://acems.org.au.
For further resources, visit the shownotes at https://acems.org.au/podcast/episode2-alison-harcourt

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