Welcome to my homepage!

My name is Matias Villagra and I am a Postdoctoral Associate at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and the MIT Sloan School of Management, where I work with Andy Sun. I earned my PhD in Operations Research from Columbia University, where I was advised by Dan Bienstock and Yuri Faenza.

My research focuses on optimization for power systems. I develop modern optimization methods and models to improve decision-making in power systems, with an emphasis on approaches that are computationally scalable and theoretically sound.

I am particularly interested in tackling key challenges in power grid operations and electricity markets through optimization, including the integration of renewable generation and energy storage, and power system resilience.

Another line of my research concerns the structural role of symmetry in optimization, particularly in integer programming. I study how symmetry affects algorithmic performance and the strength of mathematical relaxations, with the goal of developing symmetry-aware optimization methods.

Reach me at: matiasjv [at] mit [.] edu