Dynamic Programming and Reinforcement Learning (動態規劃和強化學習)

• Course objective: This course introduces dynamic decision-making under uncertainty, with an emphasis on dynamic programming and reinforcement learning. Drawing on applications in business and engineering, students will learn key theories and algorithms for solving multi-stage decision problems, both with and without explicit models of the environment. Assignments and a final project provide practical experience in problem formulation, algorithm evaluation, and Python-based implementation.

Nice talks on AI, geopolitics, optimization, SCM, and more

Jeff Dean, 2026 Frontier & Pioneer Symposium, Asian American Scholar Forum, 2026/8/18

• 20:50 -- 26:20: It is better to skim 10 papers than to read one in detail because you kind of then get 10 points in your cloud of like what might be possible. Or even skim a 100 abstracts because what you want to be able to do is connect you know important idead that have not yet been connected.... Try lots of things that might not work. Some of them will.
• Taking fundamental courses in a field is important so you have a solid background to engage in research or development. For beginners in research, thoroughly reading a high-quality paper is essential to master the research problem and understand the technical presentation.
• You can track researchers in your research field using Google Scholar. Best paper awards in top journals or conferences are also excellent sources. You can also search for "classic or famous paper[s] in [your field]" to find the fundamental papers in that field.
• The engineers need to read one paper per week, and five persons need to present their experiments in one AI department with 100 persons at TSMC.
• Reading history books to understand human nature and society can be highly useful.
• 45:42 -- end: Good question and answer
• Jeff Dean and Sanjay Ghemawat, Performance Hints, Original version: 2023/07/27, last updated: 2025/12/16

Subject to: Dimitris Bertsimas

Subject to: Dimitris Bertsimas

References for graduate students and my laboratory members

Knowledge to master for a better foundation (and future)

Tools and general: 

•  Adi Ignatius, “We Want to Make Ourselves Better”: The HBR Interview with Bob Sternfels, Harvard Business Review, January–February 2026. 

下廚 (歐貝拉，Cooking)

對我而言，煮飯是離開螢幕、讓腦袋放空和眼睛休息的好方法、也可以半蹲切菜以活動筋骨。久坐也不好，起身煮飯時，至少是站着。當然，用料也比較健康。

整個過程也和做研究是一樣的，從開始的流程設計、火候的觀察與修正、觀察結果、再持續改善；菜色和配料也要持續變化，想辦法創新。煎魚的時候，為了避免想要一直翻面的缺點，就設定鬧鐘，避免人為疏失。

煮菜最花時間的，莫過於備菜和收尾，內人在家時，這些工作大多她包了，我只負責下鍋。最重要的是，夫人不斷地鼓勵與正向回饋，令人有成就感。有一次和上課的同學聊天，同學們說：「師母提供滿滿的情緒價值」，說得真貼切！

迷迭香雞腿排 (Rosemary chicken fillet)