Mathematical Optimization
LP, MIP, MINLP, network flows, stochastic & robust optimization, NP-hard combinatorial problems.
About
I'm an Operations Research scientist. My PhD is in mixed-integer nonlinear optimization, and at SAS Institute I lead a team that turns that math into production software for Fortune 500 companies: supply chain networks, manufacturing processes, transportation assignment, and lately quantum-classical hybrid solvers.
My work runs across the whole applied OR process: building MINLP and MIP models, embedding machine learning into the optimization, deploying on SAS Viya and the cloud, and presenting results to executives who have to act on them. Three of these projects became US patents, covering ML-integrated manufacturing optimization and quantum-classical hybrid methods. A long-running partnership with a Fortune 50 consumer goods company was named an Edelman Prize semi-finalist.
These days I spend as much time growing teams as building models. As a manager in SAS's Applied AI & Modeling group, I lead data scientists from early experiments to deployed products. I launched the company's first standalone Strategic Supply Chain Optimization offering and co-led a quantum computing partnership with a Fortune 50 consumer goods company. The work I like best sits right where a hard optimization problem meets a decision someone has to make.
Expertise
ML + Optimization Integration
Embedding machine learning models into prescriptive analytics pipelines for production-grade decision systems.
Supply Chain & Manufacturing
Strategic supply chain planning, mixture optimization, production cost minimization under quality constraints.
Quantum-Classical Hybrid
Applying quantum computing to NP-hard optimization problems, integrated with classical solvers.
Team Leadership & Product
Hiring, mentoring, and growing data science teams. Product roadmap ownership, Scrum delivery, executive communication.
Technical Tools
Python, Pyomo, CPLEX, Gurobi, AMPL, GAMS, SAS Viya, PROC OPTMODEL, Git, CI/CD.
Selected Work
Strategic Supply Chain Optimization
2024 – PresentSAS's first standalone model offering: a recommendation system for strategic supply chain decisions. I built it from concept to production launch as development manager, project manager, and technical lead.
CPG Mixture & Pooling Optimization
2017 – PresentMulti-year Fortune 50 partnership: designed and maintained pooling-process MINLP engines across several production releases, with sustained cost savings. Later modernized the customer environment to cloud-native SAS Viya.
Quantum-Classical Hybrid Optimization
2023 – 2025Co-led an R&D initiative pairing quantum annealing with the SAS Optimization classical solver on an NP-hard business problem. The method became US Patent 12,373,720.
Transportation Assignment Optimization
2021 – 2022Built a bus-driver-route assignment optimizer using network optimization and constraint programming to clear a serious scheduling bottleneck. Delivered end to end on SAS Viya 4.
Manufacturing Process Optimization
2018 – 2021Built production cost-minimization models under quality constraints for global manufacturing clients, embedding ML-based KPI prediction directly into the MIP. The integration method became US Patent 11,055,639.
Patents & Publications
Patents
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US 12,373,720 (2025) —
Hybrid quantum/nonquantum approach to NP-hard combinatorial optimization.
Cay, S.B., Wisotsky, W.L., Crain, C.K., Yi, J., Cay, P., et al. -
US 12,271,688 (2025) —
Systems, methods, and GUIs for secure execution of analytical tasks using natural language.
Moreno, J., Prabhudesai, K.S., Liang, F., Valsaraj, V., Cay, P., et al. -
US 11,055,639 (2021) —
Optimizing manufacturing processes using one or more machine learning models.
Cay, P., Karmakar, N., Summerville, N., Valsaraj, V., Cooper, T., Gardner, S., & Griffin, J.
Publications
- Cay, P., Mancilla, C., Storer, R.H., & Zuluaga, L.F. (2019). Operational decisions for multi-period industrial gas pipeline networks under uncertainty. Optimization and Engineering, 20(2), 647–682. DOI
- Cay, P., Esmali, A., Mancilla, C., Storer, R.H., & Zuluaga, L.F. (2018). Solutions with performance guarantees on tactical decisions for industrial gas network problems. IISE Transactions, 50(8), 654–667. DOI
- Savasher, S., Kinay, O.B., Kara, B.Y., & Cay, P. (2018). Organ transplantation logistics: a case for Turkey. OR Spectrum, 1–30. DOI
Education
PhD, Industrial & Systems Engineering
2012 – 2019Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Dissertation: Solution methodologies for mixed integer nonlinear optimization problems in gas networks and
railroad service agreements.
P.C. Rossin Doctoral Fellow (2014–2019); Dean's Doctoral Fellowship (2012–2013).
P.C. Rossin Doctoral Fellow (2014–2019); Dean's Doctoral Fellowship (2012–2013).
MS, Industrial Engineering
2010 – 2012Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey
Thesis: Organ Transplantation Logistics — Turkey Case. MIP models and discrete-event simulation for
intra-regional organ flow optimization.
Full scholarship; Graduate Education Scholarship, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.
Full scholarship; Graduate Education Scholarship, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.
BS, Industrial Engineering
2005 – 2010Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey