ISYE6644 (Simulation) Midterm 1 Exam Study
Questions and 100% Correct Verified Answers
What was the main development in the simulation field in the 1960s? - ✔✔Industrial
applications
-manufacturing
-queueing models
Who was Harry Markowitz? - ✔✔He was one of the first guys to develop a language called
SIMSCRIPT. He also won a nobel prize for some of the work he did in optimizing financial
portfolios (portfolio theory).
In terms of simulations origins in manufacturing, what are some of the ways that simulation
was/is used? - ✔✔1. Calculated the movement of parts and interaction of system
components.
2. Evaluates part flow thru the system
3. Examines conflicting demand for resources
4. Studies contemplated changes before their introduction
5. Prevent design blunders
YES or NO? Has anyone closely related to the field of computer simulation ever won a Nobel
Prize? - ✔✔Yes - Harry Markowitz won the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in the
field of portfolio optimization. He is highly regarded in the simulation community for his
conception and development of the general-purpose simulation language SIMSCRIPT.
Who is Dr. Harold Shipman? - ✔✔He killed his patients using heroin overdoses
Caught after carelessly revising a patient's will, leaving all her assets to himself
,Doctored his records to show his patients had needed morphine but the software recorded the
dates of these modifications
hung himself in prison
Which of the following are areas where simulation has found substantial applica- tion? (More
than one answer below may be correct.)
A) Inventory and Supply Chain Analysis
B) Financial Analysis
C) Manufacturing
D) Health Systems
E) Transportation Systems - ✔✔All of em
Why might simulation be a good tool to analyze supply chains? (More than one answer below
may be correct.)
A) Supply chains are always deterministic systems.
B) Supply chains often have complicated network structures, making exact analysis difficult.
C) Supply chains are stochastic systems, with random travel times, lead times, and order
patterns.
D) Supply chain simulations can be programmed in a matter of minutes. - ✔✔B) Supply
chains often have complicated network structures, making exact analysis difficult.
C) Supply chains are stochastic systems, with random travel times, lead times, and order
patterns.
Suppose there are 40 random people in a room. What is the probability that at least two of
them will have the same birthday?
, A) Close to 0
B) A bit less than 1/2
C) Almost exactly 1/2
D) Somewhat greater than 1/2 - ✔✔D) Somewhat greater than 1/2
In fact, you only need 23 people in the room to achieve a probability of 1/2.
Inscribe a circle in a unit square and toss 1000 random darts at the square. Suppose that 800 of
those darts land in the circle. Using the technology developed in this lesson, what is the
resulting estimate for 𝜋
A) -3.2
B) 2.8
C) 3.0
D) 3.2
E) 4.0 - ✔✔D) 3.2
Since the estimate 𝜋̂ = 4 x (proportion in circle). Note that (a) is the University of Georgia
answer, and is completely incorrect.
What is a characteristic of a bad random number generator? - ✔✔It must generate a random
number distribution for every seed imaginable.
What is a random walk simulation? - ✔✔Take a normal step up or down every time unit and
plot where you are as time progresses.
This "random walk" converges to Brownian motion
Einstein and Black+Scholes won nobel Prizes for this research.
Questions and 100% Correct Verified Answers
What was the main development in the simulation field in the 1960s? - ✔✔Industrial
applications
-manufacturing
-queueing models
Who was Harry Markowitz? - ✔✔He was one of the first guys to develop a language called
SIMSCRIPT. He also won a nobel prize for some of the work he did in optimizing financial
portfolios (portfolio theory).
In terms of simulations origins in manufacturing, what are some of the ways that simulation
was/is used? - ✔✔1. Calculated the movement of parts and interaction of system
components.
2. Evaluates part flow thru the system
3. Examines conflicting demand for resources
4. Studies contemplated changes before their introduction
5. Prevent design blunders
YES or NO? Has anyone closely related to the field of computer simulation ever won a Nobel
Prize? - ✔✔Yes - Harry Markowitz won the 1990 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work in the
field of portfolio optimization. He is highly regarded in the simulation community for his
conception and development of the general-purpose simulation language SIMSCRIPT.
Who is Dr. Harold Shipman? - ✔✔He killed his patients using heroin overdoses
Caught after carelessly revising a patient's will, leaving all her assets to himself
,Doctored his records to show his patients had needed morphine but the software recorded the
dates of these modifications
hung himself in prison
Which of the following are areas where simulation has found substantial applica- tion? (More
than one answer below may be correct.)
A) Inventory and Supply Chain Analysis
B) Financial Analysis
C) Manufacturing
D) Health Systems
E) Transportation Systems - ✔✔All of em
Why might simulation be a good tool to analyze supply chains? (More than one answer below
may be correct.)
A) Supply chains are always deterministic systems.
B) Supply chains often have complicated network structures, making exact analysis difficult.
C) Supply chains are stochastic systems, with random travel times, lead times, and order
patterns.
D) Supply chain simulations can be programmed in a matter of minutes. - ✔✔B) Supply
chains often have complicated network structures, making exact analysis difficult.
C) Supply chains are stochastic systems, with random travel times, lead times, and order
patterns.
Suppose there are 40 random people in a room. What is the probability that at least two of
them will have the same birthday?
, A) Close to 0
B) A bit less than 1/2
C) Almost exactly 1/2
D) Somewhat greater than 1/2 - ✔✔D) Somewhat greater than 1/2
In fact, you only need 23 people in the room to achieve a probability of 1/2.
Inscribe a circle in a unit square and toss 1000 random darts at the square. Suppose that 800 of
those darts land in the circle. Using the technology developed in this lesson, what is the
resulting estimate for 𝜋
A) -3.2
B) 2.8
C) 3.0
D) 3.2
E) 4.0 - ✔✔D) 3.2
Since the estimate 𝜋̂ = 4 x (proportion in circle). Note that (a) is the University of Georgia
answer, and is completely incorrect.
What is a characteristic of a bad random number generator? - ✔✔It must generate a random
number distribution for every seed imaginable.
What is a random walk simulation? - ✔✔Take a normal step up or down every time unit and
plot where you are as time progresses.
This "random walk" converges to Brownian motion
Einstein and Black+Scholes won nobel Prizes for this research.
