Prof. Noam Goldberg
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Faculty of Engineering Sciences
My Life Before BGU:
I was born in Chicago, in the USA. My family made Aliyah to Israel, and I grew up in Beer-Sheva and Omer before we returned to the US, where I finished high school in Rockville, Maryland. I pursued a bachelor’s degree in business administration and computer science at York University and the University of Toronto, in Canada. My master’s degree in operations research was completed at Tel Aviv University, and I earned my PhD at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Following that, I did postdoctoral research at the Technion, the National Argonne Laboratory (managed by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy), and later at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I then worked as a lecturer and senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University and spent half a year as a visiting associate professor at Rutgers.
Why BGU?
I was drawn to the Faculty of Engineering at BGU. It also feels like coming full circle, returning to the South and to BGU, where I have childhood memories.
My Research:
I specialize in optimization methods, with a particular focus on optimization under uncertainty and sparse optimization. In optimization applications for statistical models (such as regression) and machine learning, sparse solutions help identify simple explanations for complex or poorly understood phenomena using a limited number of factors.
Exciting collaborations include working with physicians, such as oncologists, on optimizing radiation therapy for tumors. This area requires advanced optimization techniques to solve problems involving a large number of variables and constraints, all under uncertain conditions – such as the biological factors affecting the efficacy of radiation and patient movement during treatment.
A key insight from my research:
I enjoy opportunities to combine theoretical work with practical applications. There’s always a challenge in defining a problem that blends computational and theoretical interest with the needs of those working on applications. It’s highly rewarding when you find a way to bridge both worlds.
Something you won’t find on my CV:
Most of my free time is spent with my family. My personal indulgences include high-quality coffee, hummus, and wine. I’m open to traveling long distances to find exceptional hummus, a winery, or even a great cup of coffee – though with the constraints on my time, this happens less often these days.
A source of inspiration:
Egon Balas, and his biography Will to Freedom. He was a leading researcher in mathematical optimization (specifically integer programming) who completed his PhD and began his academic career at the age of 45, after being denied a university education during the Holocaust. During World War II, he escaped imprisonment and joined the partisans. After the war, he briefly entered politics as part of the Communist Party in Romania, but was later accused of treason and sentenced to a lengthy imprisonment by the Communist regime. While incarcerated, he taught himself mathematics and went on to complete two PhDs in mathematics and economics.
When I grow up...
As a child, I thought I’d become a “businessman” or investment manager. But after growing up having gone through a medical crisis I felt a renewed call to research and science.
If I wasn’t a researcher, I’d be...
probably working in systems engineering, communications, or information systems – a field I was involved in for several years before pursuing my PhD.
In brief:
- MasterChef or Kupa Rashit (Checkout)? Laughter is important, and so is food, but I prefer food in 3D. So, Kupa Rashit.
- Instant coffee or espresso? Rhetorical question.
