Manuel Lopez-Ibanez

University of Manchester
Manchester, United Kingdom

Full Professor of Optimization

Bio

Dr. Manuel López-Ibáñez is Full Professor (Chair) of Optimization in the Decision and Cognitive Sciences Research Centre at the Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, UK. He received a M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Granada (Spain) in 2004 and a Ph.D. from Edinburgh Napier University, U.K. in 2009.

His research focuses on mathematical optimization, particularly mixed-integer programming, metaheuristics, evolutionary algorithms, ant colony optimization, Bayesian optimization, and the intersection between optimization and machine learning. He is highly cited with over 8,708 citations and is considered one of the leading experts in computational optimization research.

Key Contributions

  • Automatic Algorithm Generation: Pioneering approach for automatically designing metaheuristics using flexible algorithmic frameworks
  • Multi-objective Optimization: Extensive contributions to experimental analysis and automatic configuration of stochastic optimization algorithms
  • Algorithm Configuration: Leading research in hyper-parameter optimization (HPO) and automatic tuning of optimization algorithms
  • Hybrid Methods: Development of novel approaches combining different optimization paradigms

Awards

  • SEIO – BBVA Foundation Award 2021: For the paper “Construct, Merge, Solve & Adapt: A new general algorithm for combinatorial optimization”
  • IJCAI-21 AI for TSP Competition: 1st place winner (with Martin Zaefferer and Ekhine Irurozki)
  • Recognition as one of the most influential researchers in optimization and metaheuristics

Publications

  • “On the automatic generation of metaheuristic algorithms for combinatorial optimization problems” (European Journal of Operational Research, 2024)
  • Numerous high-impact publications in metaheuristics, multi-objective optimization, and algorithm configuration
  • Contributions spanning continuous, combinatorial and multi-objective optimization problems

Interests

Metaheuristics | Multi-objective Optimization | Evolutionary Algorithms | Ant Colony Optimization | Bayesian Optimization | Algorithm Configuration | Machine Learning