Exploring an Artificial Intelligence Model Based on Integer Linear Programming for Allocating Students to Industry Placements

Allocating students to industry placements is a necessary task in certain educational contexts, both in Vocational Educational Training and at the University level. This refers to the process of assigning students to specific work placements within companies, where they can gain practical experience related to their field of study. In such scenarios, preferences may play a crucial role in the allocation process. This article proposes a multi-objective integer linear programming model for allocating students to industry placements. The proposal takes into consideration competence vectors, which allow the expression of aspects such as the current competences that a student has developed, the competences a student wishes to develop in a placement, or the competences required by a company for a specific placement. In this paper we study the scalability of the proposed model and what factors may affect the scalability and time performance of the model.