Network design is currently one of the most challenging optimization problems. Networks carry many different commodities throughout the world, such as vehicles (road, rail and marine networks), data (telecommunications and computer networks), and energy (electricity, gas and hydroelectric networks). The design of each network has major impact on the cost, effectiveness and reliability of the network.

The Network Design and Simulation Group (NDSG) is a research group at the University of Auckland whose core research focus is the use of optimization techniques and simulation for the design and evaluation of networks. Recent applications of this research include automatic design of storage area networks (SANs), and simulation of transport and computer networks.

We use state-of-the-art software for our design and simulation work including AMPL, CPLEX, SYMPHONY, Bcp, OPNET Modeler and ACE.

Our research is based upon a philosophy of advanced network management encapsulated in The Network Management Cycle.