师说丨Andre Milzarek：“苦”中作乐方为人生

Andre Milzarek教授

在本期“师说”系列专访中，来自数据科学学院的Andre Milzarek教授与我们分享了在疫情中的学与研，以及在港中大（深圳）教学和生活的体验。

No.1

教授介绍

Andre Milzarek教授在2018年加入香港中文大学（深圳），现为数据科学学院的助理教授，本学期主讲课程“Introduction to Optimization”以及 “Optimization Theory and Algorithms”。他的研究领域是非光滑优化、大规模随机优化、二阶方法和理论。

Andre Milzarek 教授曾在北京大学北京国际数学研究中心担任博士后研究员；在德国慕尼黑工业大学Michael Ulbrich教授的指导下，他分别于2013年和2016年获得硕士学位和博士学位；他亦曾受邀在工业和应用数学学会（AISM）、数学编程国际研讨会（ISMP）等国际会议上发表报告，并在多份期刊上发表论文。

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Prof. Andre Milzarek is an assistant professor at 

School of Data Science(SDS). He joined The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen in April 2019. He currently  teaches the courses “Introduction to Optimization” and “Optimization Theory and Algorithms”. His research field is nonsmooth optimization, large-scale and stochastic optimization, second order methods and theory.

Before joining CUHK-Shenzhen, Prof. Andre Milzarek was a postdoctoral researcher at the Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research at the Peking University. He received his master's degree with honours and his doctoral degree in Mathematics from the Technical University of Munich in Germany under the supervision of Prof. Michael Ulbrich in 2013 and 2016, respectively. He was invited to deliver talks at international conferences such as the AIMS conference on Applied Linear Algebra and International Symposium on Mathematical Programming, and has publications on peer-reviewed top-tier journals. 

No.2

执教港中大（深圳）

Milzarek教授与港中大（深圳）的缘分始于一场在武夷山的最优化讲座。当时，他遇到了许多来自港中大（深圳）的教授，并与副校长罗智泉教授进行了交谈。经过了解，Milzarek教授发现，港中大（深圳）是一所非常独特的学校：她地处深圳，年轻、开放，并有完善的国际化体系；这里还有很多来自跟自己同样领域的顶尖学者，他们可以提供帮助以及合作机会。他觉得这正是自己该来的地方。

Milzarek教授曾主讲为数据科学硕士项目开设的“最优化入门”课程。他认为，这门课引入了许多与数据科学相关的最优化基础理论、技术以及算法，对于解决有关使用算法方法的问题非常有用。据Milzarek教授介绍，这门课为学生提供了必要的基础方法以及数学背景。由于学生们就读于不同的本科专业，对最优化的掌握程度也有所不同，这门课的不仅与本科生课程MAT3007“最优化入门”有一定程度的重合，也涵盖了更多的进阶内容。

在与港中大（深圳）学生们的互动中，Milzarek教授发现学生们的课堂参与度都非常高。在课堂上，他们提出了许多尖锐的好问题；甚至在课下，他们还会进行半小时到一小时的讨论。Milzarek教授直言，在他过去的教职经历中，还没有遇见过对学习和理解知识都有如此高积极性的学生。

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The story of Prof. Milzarek and CUHK-Shenzhen began at a workshop on optimization in Wuyishan. At that time, he met several professors of CUHK-Shenzhen, including Vice President Prof. Tom Luo, with whom he conversed. After visiting CUHK-Shenzhen, Prof. Milzarek found that this University is in a unique and highly attractive position: it is young, open, and has an international system; there are many top researchers in his field with whom he can work and collaborate; it is in Shenzhen, a young and evolving city which nurtures numerous high-end tech companies; the stylish architecture and beautiful natural scenery makes it an even more compelling place. Prof. Milzarek felt that this University was the right place to be.

In the last semester, he was the lecturer for the course“Introduction to Optimization” for Master of Science in Data Science. The course introduces many basic optimization principles, techniques, and algorithms related to data science that are highly relevant and helpful when working with algorithmic approaches and when solving optimization problems arising in learning tasks, machine learning, big data applications, or in data science in general. The course offers the necessary foundations and tools and mathematical background, as Prof. Milzarek explained.

After interacting with the students at CUHK-Shenzhen, Prof. Milzarek found them to be highly motivated and very eager to learn and understand. For instance, when teaching the optimization course, students were very involved and asked many thought-provoking and sharp questions during the lecture. After class discussions were often continued for half an hour or even longer. He admitted that he has not experienced such high motivation and engagement of the students before.

No.3

疫情中的学与研

Milzarek教授在疫情期间一直留在校园。疫情的爆发并没有对他的研究产生过多影响，但在谈及其他方面的影响时，Milzarek教授表示，疫情确实给日常生活和工作上组织结构带来了一些改变和限制：留校期间，他利用视讯软件工作；用微信视频和语音与学生定期联系；用Zoom进行教员会议和面试。

疫情的封闭管理，在一定程度上激励了很多学生展开新领域的了解和学习。在全球多地仍受疫情影响的情况下，Milzarek教授给出的学习的建议仍非常有启发性——如果想要在特定的领域开始研究，或只是想要学习，可以向老师寻求建议或者是进行讨论；在全球疫情爆发期间，线上涌现了越来越多讨论近期研究话题的公开讲座，许多领域内顶尖的研究者都受邀进行演讲，这是一个见识实际研究，体会不同研究领域的良机。在最优化领域，Milzarek教授推荐了One World Optimization Seminar，并且提及了中国运筹学会最近组织的讲座。

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Prof. Milzarek stayed on campus during the whole pandemic. The outbreak of COVID-19 did not affect his research too much. As Prof. Milzarek shared, working on optimization during this time, he only required a laptop with sufficient computing power and internet access to continue his research. Of course, the pandemic regulations and restrictions had a noticeable impact on our daily lives which also led to organizational and structural changes in work. In particular, communication and exchange with colleagues, students, and family almost completely had to take place online during those days. Prof. Milzarek utilized the Wechat Video and Voice Call to hold regular meetings with his students and Zoom was used for larger faculty meetings, talks, and interviews.

Prof. Milzarek also gave some advice for students who were interested in starting research in a particular area or who just want to learn something new during the pandemic, which is still very constructive today, given that many regions of the world are still affected by the COVID-19. Prof. Milzarek thought that the first step is to approach the teacher for advice, recommendations, and to have a small discussion. Also, due to the worldwide outbreak and quarantines, there is now a growing number of online open seminars to discuss research, recent topics, and progress. Often leading researchers in the field are invited to give talks, so it is a great opportunity to see research in action, to learn more about the different areas of research, and to meet experts who otherwise can only be met during big international conferences. 

On optimization, Prof. Milzarek recommended the “One World Optimization Seminar”. He also reminded us that The Operations Research Society of China is also organizing seminars.

No.3

留校生活，其苦也甘

在2020年春季居家隔离的时期，Milzarek教授生活在大学的校园里，这也意味着他需要在有限的空间里“苦中作乐”。除去学者和师者的身份，Milzarek教授还是一个抱石运动（一种不利用绳索的攀登运动）爱好者。“我很喜欢运动，其中最喜欢的是抱石，可惜的是学校附近没有场馆，因此我通常会趁周末的时间到南山。”尽管在疫情期间，许多体育运动都无法进行，但Milzarek教授仍然坚持运动的习惯，在家中创造条件进行小型训练来重获能量。在居家时间里，他的娱乐活动是观看电影和电视剧，同时，他向同学们倾情推荐了韩国电影《燃烧》和HBO电视剧集《守望尘世》。

回想起2020年的春天，严格的控制、隔离和出行限制缩小了Milzarek教授的活动半径，他远在德国的家人也是如此——警察会对出行的人们的数量、原因进行限制，人们也改为在家办公。热衷运动的Milzarek教授表示了对体育馆关闭的遗憾，但在漫长的疫情期间，他也已经习惯通过健身、看剧来排解烦闷。

随着新学期的开始，关闭了大半年的大学室内体育馆、游泳馆和健身房都已向师生开放，Milzarek教授在教学和科研之余，也有了更多的健身去处。

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During the quarantine period this Spring, Prof. Milzarek’s stay on campus was rather bittersweet. In the interview, we learned that, besides his role as scholar and teacher, Prof. Milzarek is also a big fan of bouldering. Bouldering is a special climbing style and he enjoys the physical challenge, trying many different ways and routes to reach the top. As many activities were confined and many facilities had to stay closed, bouldering, as well as other sports, were reduced to some small home work-out for Prof. Milzarek. Besides doing physical exercises, he also enjoyed watching good movies and TV shows as pastimes in this period. He also recommended the Korean movie Burning by Chang-dong Lee and the HBO TV-Show Leftovers. When asked to share his tricks to deal with the stress at work, Prof. Milzarek gave us the answer: a relaxing round of swimming. But given that the pool was closed back then, He admitted he would have to go with Plan B and do some small training sessions at home. From time to time, after a stressful day, he would also enjoys a glass of good Scotch Single Malt whisky to sweep the tiredness away.

As new semester starts, the University Sports Hall, natatorium and gym reopen for faculty and students after a half-year closure. Prof.Milzarek now resume his pre-quarantine work-out.

End 

传讯及公共关系处出品

采访：林洁洁（2017级理工学院、思廷书院）

撰稿：胡曦匀（2018级人文社科学院、逸夫书院）

           林洁洁（2017级理工学院、思廷书院）

排版：方一如（2018级数据科学学院、逸夫书院）

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