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July 9, 2024
Miklós Krész, research group leader at InnoRenew CoE; Main area(s) of research/activities: Industrial optimisation, network analysis, data science
I was growing up in a tiny East-Hungarian town Gyula. It is a historical site, with the unique medieval castle built of brick, and a popular tourist destination. Now I live with my family in Koper.
I studied Mathematics and Computer Science. Actually I decided to pursue my university studies in Szeged, as I did not want to move to Budapest and that time Szeged was the most significant “university city” in Hungary. It was also clear that I would study something related to mathematics, but I was interested in the practical applications. At the University of Szeged engineering study was not available, but they had a prestigious joint degree program of applied mathematics and computer science.
Both in the working and human environment numerous processes are going on and generally we would like to control them in an optimal way. In order to determine the optimum we need a quantitative model. Our task is to develop quantitative models for these processes and to develop efficient methods finding the optimal solutions with respect to the model.
It is hard to identify a “typical working day”, but typically I have quite many meetings related to ongoing projects and projects to be developed. Since most of these meetings are online and between the meetings I am working at my computer, generally speaking most of the time I am sitting at my desk.
Understanding other fields, developing realistic models for their problems and providing solutions are all quite fascinating tasks for me.
Actually it is the same what makes me excited 😊 It is nice to understand and learn other fields, but to develop a “common language” is quite time consuming.
I believe that John von Neumann was the most relevant scientist of the XXth century. Probably it is not well known that he was born and growing up in Budapest, The computers we are using have “Von-Neumann architecture” and several modern technologies like robotics are using game theory initiated by him. On the other hand he had fundamental results in mathematics and physics as well, thus his achievements proved that revolutionary practical innovations are based on excellent theoretical mindset.
The movie “Casablanca” is more than 80 years old, but I am sure it will be influential in the next 80 years as well. And of course, the director of the movie, Michael Curtiz is Hungarian … 😊
I was watching a classical Hungarian movie “Flowers of Reverie”. The premiere of this movie was in my childhood, but that time I have missed it. Recently I learned that it is available in the streaming platform of the National Film Institute.
I went to a conference in Ljubljana in 2004 and immediately fell in love with the city. I remember I had a feeling that one day I would live there. However, I visited the Slovenian coast first time in 2006 as an Erasmus lecturer and realized that it would be my place one day … 😊
I like the wonderful nature and I like that the country is similar and different from my homeland at the same time – just like the food which is sometimes very similar, but the spice is different. I miss my family and my friends from my homeland.
For more than 15 years the centre, the old town and the coast of Izola is my favourite place…
In the work developing solution models for practical problems which have the “mathematical beauty”. In the personal life so many things…
I have experienced many times that if you know what you want to achieve and you do about it, the opportunity will come your way. Just remember what was my first thought about Slovenia …
Relaxing in a traditional wooden house, like sitting in a wooden guesthouse and having a drink…