Enhanced Scatter Search

What kind of problems is it mostly used for? Please describe.

Enhanced Scatter Search (eSS) is a metaheuristic used in optimisation of large ODE models cellular signalling networks. It is currently used in the R package CellNopt, where it is mainly used for parameter estimation of the ODE-variant of the logic signalling models.

Describe the algorithm you’d like

The algorithm as implemented in C or the AMIGO2 toolbox. The repository of the C implementation includes a description of the algorithm.

Other implementations to know about

The algorithm is currently implemented in C (https://github.com/amirmasoudabdol/eSS) and part of the AMIGO2 toolbox (https://sites.google.com/site/amigo2toolbox).

References

1. Rodriguez-Fernandez, M., Egea, J. a, & Banga, J. R. (2006). Novel metaheuristic for parameter estimation in nonlinear dynamic biological systems. BMC Bioinformatics, 7, 483. doi:10.1186/1471-2105-7-483
2. Egea, J. a., Martí, R., & Banga, J. R. (2010). An evolutionary method for complex-process optimization. Computers & Operations Research, 37(2), 315–324. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2009.05.003

Start by reviewing the referenced C implementation of Enhanced Scatter Search and its implementation in the AMIGO2 toolbox, then identify where a Julia version would fit in Optimization.jl. Done means a Julia implementation of the described eSS algorithm that supports the optimization use cases outlined in the issue.