ABOUT ORCA

Our story

The Operation Research and Computational Analytics (ORCA) group is a team of academics within the Department of Engineering Science who specialise in data-driven decision making. They utilise a variety of theory, algorithms, and computational methods to solve real-world problems with real-world data.

Operations Research (OR) is the science of utilising advanced mathematical theory/computational methods to help make better decisions. Also known as the “science of better”, OR utilises ideas from area including as mathematical modelling, optimisation, simulation statistical modelling, decisions analysis, and artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems.

Analytics is the capture, management, organisation, and visualisation of data to inform better decision making. Computational Analytics (CA) embeds this data into a mathematical/statistical model that enables the decisions making process to be automated and/or optimised. Computational Analytics is the science behind data-driven decision making in the real-world.