ORMS Today December 2015

AWARDS GALORE: INFORMS honors its best and brightest

December 2015

Volume 42 • Number 6 ormstoday.informs.org

Agriculture & Analytics Farming provides fertile ground for innovation

Protecting Our Protectors New study: Improving VA and veterans’ care

Roundtable: BNSF Railway O.R. team puts down tracks to the future

Grand Challenges:

Sustainability How O.R. can help secure an environmentally sound and energy-efficient future

Meet the ‘Member in Chief’ Interview with incoming INFORMS President Ed Kaplan

Contents December 2015 | Volume 42, No. 6 | ormstoday.informs.org

28 On the Cover Energy & the environment The second in a series of articles on operations research’s possible role in solving grand challenges focuses on sustainability.

Image © boscorelli | www.123rf.com

F e at ure s 18 22 28

Profile: BNSF Railway

By Amy Casas An inside look at Roundtable member’s operations research team that helps lay tracks for the future.

Opportunities in sustainability

By Suvrajeet Sen, et al.

Second in a series of articles on “Grand Challenges” focuses on O.R.’s role in energy and the environment.

de partm e nt s

6 Inside Story

8 President’s Desk

10 Issues in Education

12 INFORMS in the News

14 Forum

16 PuzzlOR

56 Classified Ads

64 ORacle

Agriculture & analytics

By Joseph Byrum Fertile ground for analytics and innovation: Does O.R. hold the key to feeding billions of people?

18 2 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

12 ormstoday.informs.org

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December 2015 | Volume 42, No. 6 | ormstoday.informs.org

INFORMS Board of Directors

President L. Robin Keller, University of California, Irvine

President-Elect Edward H. Kaplan, Yale University

Past President Stephen M. Robinson, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Secretary Brian Denton, North Carolina State University

Treasurer Sheldon N. Jacobson, University of Illinois

Vice President-Meetings Ronald G. Askin, Arizona State University Vice President-Publications Jonathan F. Bard, University of Texas-Austin

32

F e at ure s 32 36

Vice President- Esma Gel, Arizona State University Sections and Societies

Vice President- Marco Luebbecke, Information Technology RWTH Aachen University

Vice President- Jonathan Owen, CAP, General Motors Practice Activities Vice President- Grace Lin, Institute for International Activities Information Industry

Vice President-Membership Ozlem Ergun,

Professional Recognition Georgia Institute of Technology

Protection for our protectors

By Douglas A. Samuelson In recommending priorities for veterans’ care, new study presents opportunities for quantitative analytics.

Meet the ‘member in chief’

By Peter Horner Interview with Ed Kaplan, the next president of INFORMS who plans to lead by example in 2016.

n ews

Vice President-Education Jill Hardin Wilson, Northwestern University Vice President-Marketing, E. Andrew “Andy” Boyd, Communications and Outreach University of Houston Vice President-Chapters/Fora David Hunt, Oliver Wyman

Editors of Other INFORMS Publications

Decision Analysis Rakesh K. Sarin, University of California, Los Angeles Information Systems Research Ritu Agarwal, University of Maryland I NFORMS Journal on Computing David Woodruff, University of California, Davis

INFORMS Online Kevin Geraghty, 360i

INFORMS Transactions Armann Ingolfsson, on Education University of Alberta

Interfaces Srinivas Bollapragada, General Electric Global Research Center

Management Science Teck-Hua Ho, National University of Singapore Office of the Deputy President (Research and Technology)

Manufacturing & Service Christopher S. Tang, UCLA Operations Management

Marketing Science Preyas S. Desai, Duke University

Mathematics of Operations J. G. “Jim” Dai, Cornell University Research

43 Analytics Conference

50 von Neumann Prize

43 Election Results

51 Teaching Practice Prize

44 Call for Nominees

51 Nicholson Student Paper

Service Science Paul P. Maglio, University of California-Merced

44 INFORMS Healthcare 2017

52 Team wins Wagner Prize

Strategy Science Daniel A. Levinthal, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

45 International Conference

52 Undergraduate Prize

45 Recap: INFORMS 2015

53 Doing Good with O.R.

Transportation Science Martin Savelsbergh, Georgia Institute of Technology

47 President’s Award

53 Moving Spirit Awards

47 Dantzig Dissertation

54 In Memoriam: H. E. Scarf

48 Kimball Medal winners

55 Welcome New Fellows

49 Trio wins Lanchester Prize

55 Meetings

49 Expository Writing Award

4 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

Operations Research Stefanos Zenios, Stanford University

Organization Science Zur Shapira, New York University

Tutorials in Operations J. Cole Smith, University of Florida Research

INFORMS Office • Phone: 1-800-4INFORMS

Executive Director Melissa Moore

Headquarters

INFORMS (Maryland) 5521 Research Park Dr., Suite 200 Catonsville, MD 21228 USA Tel.: 443.757.3500 Fax: 443.757.3515 E-mail: informs@informs.org

ormstoday.informs.org

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Inside Story

Peter Horner, editor

peter.horner@mail.informs.org

OR/MS Today Advertising and Editorial Office

O.R. mindset magi

Send all advertising submissions for OR/MS Today to: Lionheart Publishing Inc. 506 Roswell Street, Suite 220, Marietta, GA 30060 USA Tel.: 888.303.5639 • Fax: 770.432.6969

President John Llewellyn, ext. 209 john.llewellyn@mail.informs.org

I first met Ed Kaplan nearly 25 years ago, at an INFORMS Conference when he was part of a team representing the New Haven (Conn.) Health Department that had just won the 1992 Franz Edelman Award for outstanding achievement in applied operations research and management science. As the fairly new editor of OR/MS Today, I wanted to congratulate Ed as the lead “O.R. guy” on the prize-winning team and perhaps get a few quotes for an article in the magazine.

I liked him immediately for his obvious passion for his work, for his interest in making the world a better place through operations research, for his ability to explain complex mathematical modeling so even a non-O.R. guy such as myself could understand and appreciate it, and for his sense of humor.

Several INFORMS’ “elders” (technically, it was ORSA and TIMS back then; the two organizations merged to create INFORMS in 1995) advised me that Ed was a young O.R. star on the rise, someone I should keep an eye on.

So I did.

Of course, you couldn’t help but keep an eye on Ed. Every time I turned around, he seemed to be turning up in the mainstream media for his data-based research on vital public policy issues that covered everything from HIV and AIDS prevention to homeland security to anti-terrorism. Along the way, he received practically every award INFORMS had to offer, as well as other honors and accolades from numerous organizations, universities and governments around the world.

Over the years, Ed and I have exchanged countless emails and

phone calls on various topics, and he’s contributed many, many news items, articles and story ideas to OR/MS Today, for which I can’t thank him enough.

Of course, it’s always a pleasure to see Ed at INFORMS conferences, and he always seems to have some interesting project he’s working on. What I admire most about Ed is his uncanny ability to see the chaotic world we all live in from his self-described “O.R. mindset” and to somehow not just make sense of it, but to recognize, structure and solve O.R. problems amongst the madness to make the world a little more safe, more efficient, more livable and more enjoyable, one project at a time.

At the most recent INFORMS Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Ed and I sat down again to chat, only this time I recorded the conversation for a Q&A in this issue of OR/MS Today (see page 36). Ed, the president-elect of INFORMS, will become president of INFORMS on Jan. 1, 2016, and I wanted to get his take on a wide range of topics, including the state of the Institute from his viewpoint. We were supposed to talk for 45 minutes, but we went twice that long. Engaging, entertaining and enthusiastic, once Ed starts talking about operations research and INFORMS, there’s no stopping him (at least until the next appointment he had on his incredibly busy conference schedule).

I couldn’t include in the published Q&A half of the ground we traversed in Philadelphia, but I think you, the INFORMS membership, will get a good glimpse into the “Member in Chief ” (long story) who will lead the Institute for the next year. ORMS — Peter Horner, editor peter.horner@mail.informs.org

6 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

Editor Peter R. Horner peter.horner@mail.informs.org Tel.: 770.587.3172

Assistant Editor Donna Brooks

Contributing writers/editors Douglas Samuelson, Barry List, Matt Drake, John Toczek

Art Director Alan Brubaker, ext. 218 alan.brubaker@mail.informs.org

Online Projects Manager Patton McGinley, ext. 214 patton.mcginley@mail.informs.org

Assistant Online Projects Manager Leslie Proctor, ext. 228 leslie.proctor@mail.informs.org

Advertising Sales Managers Sharon Baker sharon.baker@mail.informs.org Tel.: 813-852-9942 Aileen Kronke, ext. 212 aileen@lionhrtpub.com

Reprints Kelly Millwood, ext. 215 kelly.millwood@mail.informs.org

OR/MS Today Committee James Cochran, chairman

INFORMS Online http://www.informs.org

Lionheart Publishing Online http://www.orms-today.org OR/MS Today (ISSN 1085-1038) is published bimonthly by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). Canada Post International Publications Mail (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 1220047.

Deadlines for contributions: Manuscripts and news items should arrive no later than six weeks prior to the first day of the month of publication. Address correspondence to: Editor, OR/MS Today, 506 Roswell Street, Suite 220, Marietta, GA 30060. The opinions expressed in OR/MS Today are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of INFORMS, its officers, Lionheart Publishing Inc. or the editorial staff of OR/MS Today.

Membership subscriptions for OR/MS Today are included in annual dues. INFORMS offers non-member subscriptions to institutions, the rate is $62 USA, $79 Canada & Mexico and $85 all other countries. Single copies can be purchased for $10.50 plus postage. Periodicals postage paid at Catonsville, MD, and additional mailing offices. Printed in the United States of America. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to OR/MS Today, INFORMS-Maryland Office, 5521 Research Park Dr., Suite 200, Catonsville, MD 21228. OR/MS Today copyright ©2015 by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences.

All rights reserved.

ormstoday.informs.org

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President’s Desk

L. Robin Keller

INFORMS President president@informs.org

Forward progress “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades” In this, my last President’s Desk article, I focus on the future, so the lyrics of the 1986 song came to mind. With apologies to Timbuk 3, I have changed “nuclear science” to “management science,” and I interpret the song as a graduation anthem: I study management science I love my classes I got a crazy teacher, he wears dark glasses Things are going great, and they’re only getting better I’m doing all right, getting good grades The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades

I like my Grandma Mary’s advice to commit to each volunteer activity for three years, then take on another role. On New Year’s Eve I graduate to my “past president” role.Time flies, so it is important to pay attention to planning for the future, rather than just being swamped by specific tasks to be done in the present. A new committee on the Board, chaired each year by the president-elect, has as one of its tasks to work on how INFORMS does succession planning for identifying and building experience for the future leaders of INFORMS and our profession.

Within each of the endeavors we are all involved in, I encourage you to keep the future in mind. Consider the following questions: • What new areas are emerging that need representation or development?

• Can you add a newer member representative when planning conferences, assigning editorial tasks, forming awards committees, etc.?

• Is the representation balanced across different groups (practice/academic, geographic, topic area, etc.)?

• Is there a way to “climb a volunteer ladder” so a person is first doing small 8 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

• • • • •

tasks, then builds up to higher levels of responsibility?

Should there be a co-chair rotating to the chair in the next term?

How long should terms of service be? Are consecutive terms allowed?

Is it time to encourage an existing leader to move on to a new role and nominate successors?

Is the “volunteer power” balanced?

Are some people taking on too many roles and some doing too few roles?

Are workloads reasonable and balanced, or can more work be delegated or shared?

Here is a possible NewYear’s resolution: Volunteer to work on activities you are interested in by contacting committee chairs, elected INFORMS Board members or subdivision officers or INFORMS staff [1].

I have laid out some examples of volunteer ladders in two areas below. At the end of each ladder, you could run for the elected position of an INFORMS Board member.

If you are interested in running or in nominating someone for a position, contact me (president@mail.informs.org) or the past president (past_president@mail.informs.org).

Volunteer ladder for conferences: • Submit a contributed paper.

• Contact the cluster chair in a sponsored (by a subdivision) or invited (by the conference organizers) track of sessions and say you’d like to give an invited paper.

• Volunteer to be a session chair in a sponsored or invited cluster.The sky is the limit on how you organize a session.You can invite the usual four talks in a 90-minute session, or perhaps have discussants as well as original papers, or have some short papers followed by a panel discussion.

• Serve as a cluster chair or volunteer to help the cluster chair before or during the conference. Perhaps you could set up some informal get-togethers at conferences for

the track’s speakers and audience.

• Volunteer your services to the general chair or program chair of an upcoming INFORMS conference [2].

• Serve as program chair or volunteer for a stand-alone conference in your area.

• Volunteer to the INFORMS VP of Meetings (vp_meetings@mail.informs.org) to help with an upcoming conference or serve on the Meetings Committee.

Volunteer ladder for journals: • Read articles in the journal of interest.

• Contact authors with comments or questions on their papers.

• Send your resume and interests to the journal editor, saying you’d like to be added to the list of potential referees that is in the online Scholar One reviewing system.

• When asked, accept referee assignments, and complete them in a timely way with constructive comments for authors.

• Submit papers to the journal.

• Tell the journal editor of your interest in serving as an ad hoc or associate editor.

• Serve as associate editor, then departmental editor or area editor.

• Volunteer to the INFORMS VP of Publications (vp_publications@mail. informs.org) to serve on the Publications Committee.

Similar volunteer ladders could be laid out for subdivisions, awards, etc.The general idea is to start with some entry-level and short-term tasks and build up to greater responsibilities. Ask people now in leadership roles how they worked up their ladder.

Happy New Year! ORMS REFERENCES 1. https://www.informs.org/About-INFORMS/ Committees, https://www.informs.org/AboutINFORMS/Governance, https://www.informs.org/ About-INFORMS/INFORMS-Office.

2. https://www.informs.org/Attend-a-Conference/ Conference-Calendar

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Issues in Education

Matthew J. Drake drake987@duq.edu

Designing the effective OR/MS classroom Any time that I design a course that is either completely new or new for me, I first try to understand the course’s position in the overall curriculum. This helps me to establish the appropriate focus and objectives for the course. It is also important to understand the students’ objectives in the course and the program as a whole.

I would teach a course for Ph.D. students significantly differently than I would teach one for undergraduates or MBA students.

I teach in both an undergraduate and an MBA program at a medium-sized university with class sizes of approximately 25-35 students. The courses I teach are primarily quantitative modeling courses for supply chain management majors.

While I want them to understand how to develop and solve the models and tools that I present, my first goal is that they understand when to apply each model.

That is always the first step in any form of analysis. Considering a decision scenario and knowing which type of model or form of analysis to apply is not necessarily innate. For analytical tools and techniques to be useful on the job, students must be able to recognize the situations to which they apply.

I also want the students in my courses to gain the confidence in their analytical abilities as well as their mastery of available software tools. Most of us have heard the common refrain that a student “has never been good at math.” While there certainly is a spectrum of mathematical competence that students possess, I have found that the vast majority of my students possess the analytical capabilities that my courses require. Some just need to gain the confidence in these abilities.

But no matter how capable someone is, including professors, we all reach the upper limit of our analytical abilities. I tell my students that their managers will not tolerate responses such as “I don’t know 10 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

how to do that,” or “That’s too difficult for me.” They want answers and recommendations. This is where technology comes in. For example, when we are determining the optimal shipment size in a transportation mode selection exercise, I show the students the analytical way to minimize the total cost function using calculus. Whenever I start talking about derivatives, utter panic starts to enter some of their faces. To calm their fears, I ask them what they would do if they did not remember how to solve for the optimal size using calculus. They usually do not have an answer for that question, so I tell them that we can use the technology that is available to us (in this case, Excel).

In a manner that would probably horrify their high school calculus teachers, I show the students how to solve for the optimal shipment size using brute force, otherwise known as complete enumeration. While that method would be untenable to implement by hand, it can be done in a matter of seconds in Excel no matter how large the domain of values may be.The key here is that students gain the confidence that they can use the tools available to them to perform the analysis rather than throwing their hands up in the air and surrendering.

As far as class instruction goes, my courses are largely still lecture-based on the surface when I present new material.

However, I do try to turn the class into active problem-solving sessions wherever possible to keep the students engaged.

Whenever I present example problems to the students, I sometimes get feedback that I go too quickly for some of them to keep up with me. This is especially true when I am solving the problem on a spreadsheet. This is a dynamic that I consistently struggle with because going slower would mean sacrificing some other material in the course. As a compromise,

I always post the Excel files that I build during class afterwards on our course management system website so that students can download the files and compare their notes to mine.

I also try to use at least a few cases in each course. In my experience, students enjoy and appreciate considering the real-world decision scenarios that cases offer. This is especially true for math and engineering students because they often do not get this experience in their other courses.

In conclusion, I have several additional thoughts and recommendations for designing effective courses: • Be understanding and flexible with deadlines and attendance, especially with part-time students.We all might like to think that our courses should be the most important considerations in students’ lives, but they have many other concerns and responsibilities. I always accept late assignments with a point deduction to be fair to other students.

• Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”

No one person can be an expert in everything. Professors often need to teach courses containing material on which they are not experts. If students ask questions to which I do not know the answer, I tell them that I do not have an answer off the top of my head. I then try to follow up during a later class after I have had the chance to research the issue.

Students seem to appreciate this honesty.

• Students appreciate rapid feedback to their questions and to their work on assignments. I try to return all graded assignments within a week or 10 days at the most, and I reply to emails as soon as I can. ORMS Matt Drake (drake987@duq.edu) is the Harry W. Witt Faculty Fellow in Supply Chain Management and associate professor in the Palumbo-Donahue School of Business at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. This article is based on a presentation Drake gave at a recent Teaching Effectiveness Colloquium in Philadelphia that was organized by Eric Huggins from Fort Lewis College.

ormstoday.informs.org

What’s Your StORy? Gerard Cachon Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, University of Pennsylvania INFORMS member since at least 1994, and Class of 2015 INFORMS Fellow Tell us about your role as editor-in-chief and how it has impacted your career.

My job as editor was to set the strategic direction for the journal and to manage dayto-day operations, with the former being much more interesting than the latter. The best part of being editor of a broad interest journal like Management Science is that it enabled me to meet scholars from many disciplines beyond my own.

What has been your best INFORMS experience thus far?

My first time/paper with Management Science.

If we were sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year it's been for you, what would we be celebrating?

Academic job offers for my PhD students.

What interest do you have outside of work that might surprise us?

Diving and underwater photography What is the best advice you can give to students in your field?

Pick another field. One with big, important problems, like economics, or computer science, or climate science.

Tell us something that not many people know about you.

I can’t speak French, I have perfected the art of cooking black beans, and shouldn’t always be taken seriously.

What is something you learned in the last week?

Some Republican presidential candidates are even more stupid, ridiculous, and dangerous than I thought.

More questions for Gerard?

Ask him in the Open Forum on INFORMS Connect!

http://connect.informs.org

INFORMS in the News

Sports, prisons and farewell US Airways Former Operations Research Editor-in-Chief Larry Wein’s incisive research into American prison reform and Matthew Liberatore’s use of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to recast top sports records are just two examples of INFORMS news that reached a broader audience.

Visit the INFORMS Newsroom at www.informs.org for news about analytics and INFORMS press releases regarding intriguing scholarship appearing in INFORMS journals.

Following are excerpts from INFORMS in the news: New Light on Top Sports Accomplishments Peyton Manning could break Brett Favre’s NFL record for most career passing yards if he throws for at least 284 yards against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

But in the universe of sports’ greatest feats, is this record really that impressive?

A study published in October in the Journal of Sports Analytics suggests otherwise.

The study, by Villanova professors Matthew Liberatore, Bret Myers and Robert Nydick and Temple professor Howard Weiss, attempts to quantify and rank the best MLB, NBA, NHL and NFL records of all time.

It includes single-game, season, career and consecutive-streak records.

The best record of all belongs to Barry Bonds – but it’s not for hitting home runs.

- Wall Street Journal, Nov. 6

Why a College Football Win is Worth millions In a forthcoming paper in the journal Management Science, Harvard profes-

Big-time college football produces big bucks.

12 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

sor Doug Chung puts a dollar figure on the value of each additional win for big-time college football programs. He finds that each additional win creates a bump of about $3 million, through increases in revenue streams like ticket and merchandise sales, television contracts, and booster donations.

- Boston Globe, Nov. 5

Operations Researcher’s Farewell to US Airways In mid-October, US Airways ceased to exist as an independent entity. Many passengers will doubtless say “good riddance,” for they voted the carrier a twostar rating from J. D. Power and ranked it below average on almost every dimension.

But US Airways deserves a much fonder farewell than that.

I study aviation safety, and paid particular attention to the airline in the early 1990s, when it experienced a series of accidents culminating in a 1994 Boeing 737 crash near Pittsburgh that killed 132 people. Had US Airways suffered a temporary spasm of bad luck, or was the problem more systematic? We now know that bad luck was the main culprit. The 737 crash (which killed more passengers than the others in the series combined) was caused by a subtle defect in the rudder controls, which could have struck any airline that operated the plane. Moreover, US Airways experts were instrumental in uncovering the defect before it could cause further tragedies.

A final send-off for US Airways.

Since 1994, US Airways has achieved a safety record that was not only flawless but magnificent.

– Arnold Barnett in the Charlotte Observer, Oct. 31

What’s the Greatest Record in Sports History?

In 1987, Bruce Golden and Edward Wasil attempted to find the greatest record in sports by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process to 22 records.At the time,AHP was emerging as a leading formula in addressing complex, multi-criteria problems.

Through AHP, bias could be reduced, if not eliminated, and equations solved with elements of both mathematics and psychology.

When Golden and Wasil’s calculations were complete, at the top of the legendary list sat Chamberlain’s 100-point game.

Since then, AHP has evolved and become more refined, while new sports records have been set.

- Pacific Standard Magazine, Oct. 29

What’s the Value of a Win in College Sports?

As the debate continues over whether college student-athletes should be paid for their on-field performances, a new study from Harvard Business School reveals just how much intercollegiate football and basketball programs contribute to a school’s bottom line.

The quantitative link between game day and payday is courtesy of Assistant Professor Doug J. Chung, who reviewed 117 schools with Division I football and basketball teams, matching athletic performance with revenue flow covering an 11-year period. ormstoday.informs.org

The findings were jaw-dropping – winning just one more football game in a season, for example, could bump revenues by as much as $3 million for a high-powered program like Alabama or Michigan.

Chung details the correlation between wins on the field and wins for a school’s piggy bank in his paper, “How Much Is a Win Worth? An Application to Intercollegiate Athletics,” forthcoming in Management Science.

- Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, Oct. 26

O.R. Analysis on Reducing Prison Population Our analysis of data from the Los Angeles County jail system, which is the world’s largest, suggests that split sentencing is much more effective than pretrial release at making the best of the trade-off between the size of the jail population and public safety.

- Lawrence Wein in the New York Times, Oct. 23

Tweeting and Customer Service: No Good Deed...

While responding to complaints on social media can help develop a rapport with customers, it can also trigger new complaints, according to a study from professors at the University of Maryland, Carnegie Mellon University and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, in China.

The study, which was published in Marketing Science, a journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), explains the side effect of customers coming to expect help and giving them more of a reason to speak up in the future.

“People complain on Twitter not just to vent their frustration,” said one researcher, Liye Ma. “They do that also in the hope of getting the company’s attention. Once they know the company is paying attention, they are

more ready to complain the next time around.”

- Public Relations Strategist, Oct. 15

Best Definition of Analytics What is analytics? INFORMS defines analytics as the scientific process of transforming data into insights for the purpose of making better decisions. Analytics is always an action-driven approach. There is always a decision to be made when we look at doing analytics. Coming from a data science background and working with a lot of statisticians, data scientists love to analyze data just for the sake of analyzing it. However, it is important to ensure our analysis is driving business action.

Ultimately, we want analytics to empower an organization’s vision. ORMS - Great Places to Work, April 15 Compiled by Barry List, associate director of communications for INFORMS. To share your news-making research, contact List at barry.list@informs.org or 1-800-4INFORMs.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION AND REGISTRATION - NOW OPEN 2016 INTERNATIONAL

HAW II YOU SHOULD ATTEND THE INFORMS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: 1) Network, Connect, and Reconnect with Colleagues 2) Learn from One Another and Develop Professionally 3) Refresh and Recharge 4) Location, Location, Location!

meetings.informs.org/international2016 December 2015

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FORUM

Sheldon Jacobson

A call for arms:

How INFORMS can help in ‘Making Value for America’ Earlier this year, the National Academy of Engineering hosted a briefing in Washington, D.C., to discuss the report “Making Value for America,” summarizing the outcomes of a study it undertook to identify new opportunities for creating value in U.S. manufacturing and service sectors. The three primary objectives of the study included: identify best practices, identify educational approaches and provide recommendations to add value in these sectors within the United States (https://www.nae.edu/129940.aspx).

One observation from the study is that strategic, rather than tactical, engineering solutions will be the driver for changes in the coming decades. This places a focus on system solutions rather than problem-solving. The report does not call for incremental adjustments to existing approaches, nor does it seek to return to past eras of activity (such as

14 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

There are no boundaries in how INFORMS

1950s and 1960s manufacturing), but rather, encourages bold initiatives and steps to be taken that will catapult the United States into positions of global leader ship, developing human capital and enhanced economic and social well-being.

Analytical approaches were widely discussed in the report; this is an area w h e re I N F O R M S m e m b e r s c a n contribute to this “call for arms” in reshaping the U.S. manufacturing and service sectors. Given that the report contains many “shoulds” but few “hows,” the expertise offered by the members of INFORMS can fill in many of these gaps.

Just as INFORMS is spearheading the analytics revolution, we can also become leaders in the “Making Value for America” campaign, showing the pathway for

The manufacturing sector is a key target for “Making Value for America.”

achieving the “shoulds” by defining the “hows” for such transformative objectives.

What can INFORMS members do to become a part of this revolution?

Our sections/societies structure provides an ideal means to facilitate such activities. Our national meetings and our section/society-focused meetings provide a convenient forum for discussion and dialogue. To get involved requires INFORMS members to gather around a particular “should” and define the “how,” and demonstrate the value

can contribute to this important national initiative. Share your ideas. that can be gleaned from our contributions. INFORMS members are already conducting research to fulfill this objective. What is lacking is a means to communicate such findings. Writing an article for OR/MS Today focusing on a particular facet of the report is one step that INFORMS members can take. Organizing a session at one of our meetings to discuss aspects of the reports where operations research and analytics research has or can take a leadership role is yet another vehicle for communicating value.

Is there research funding available for such activities? The simple answer is “no.”

However, like all good ideas, when packaged with the right mix of innovation and impact, anything is possible.

There are no boundaries in how INFORMS can contr ibute to this important national initiative. If you have an idea, share it with INFORMS Director of Communications Jeff Cohen (jeff.cohen@informs.org). Such opportunities do not come along often.

Let us seize the moment with this lowhanging fruit and showcase the value that INFORMS members can bring to this dialogue. ORMS Sheldon Jacobson is a professor of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign and treasurer of INFORMS.

ormstoday.informs.org

KING ALL ABOU

T

W H AT I S UP- A

PE

OP

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TA L E R A

ND -CO MING

PRESIDENT始S

Thank you for supporting your profession in 2015 with your INFORMS membership.

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PuzzlOR

John Toczek

puzzlor@gmail.com

Crazy cake It’s your birthday. Four of your closest friends are with you to help you celebrate. Unfortunately, as a joke, one of your friends has cut the cake into 15 different pieces each of varying sizes.

The weights of the slices are as follows (in grams): 18, 48, 19, 59, 46, 72, 67, 57, 49, 80, 50, 69, 10, 48 and 83.

Question: How can you pass out all of the slices of cake so that everyone gets an equal amount among the five of you?

Send your answer to puzzlor@ gmail.com by Feb. 15, 2016. The

winner, chosen randomly from correct answers, will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card. Past questions and answer s can be found at puzzlor.com. ORMS John Toczek is the assistant vice president of predictive modeling at Ace Group in the Decision Analytics and Predictive Modeling department. He earned his BSc. in chemical engineering at Drexel University (1996) and his MSc. in operations research from Virginia Commonwealth University (2005).

Figure 1: Cut the cake: Make sure everyone gets an equal share.

Introducing

Editor’s Cut Healthcare in the Age of Analytics & Analytics in Sports INFORMS New Online Multimedia Portal These volumes of Editor’s Cut examine the impact of analytics in all areas of healthcare and sports.

Open-Access Content for All INFORMS Members. http://pubsonline.informs.org/editorscut/healthcareanalytics http://pubsonline.informs.org/editorscut/sports

16 | ORMS Today

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ormstoday.informs.org

What’s Your StORy? Harrison Schramm Operations Research Analyst, US Navy Headquarters Staff INFORMS member for 8 years Briefly, what is the state of the military OR profession?

“In demand.” In military OR, the distance from the analysis to the decision is extremely short.

Continued budgetary pressure means that our advice is frequently sought out, and we have to consistently give sound analysis on complex problems with aggressive timelines. So you roll up your sleeves and you give the best answer you can with the time and data available. Our office has one of the most in-depth, no-punches-pulled internal review processes anywhere and it’s the key to our success.

If you had to work on only one project for the next year, what would it be?

I prefer to have 99 problems! It’s topical, because I’m retiring from active duty in the spring and am therefore looking for new problems. I’ve always had a side interest in epidemiology, wrote a couple of papers based on it, and would really like to help find optimal policies and strategies to help eradicate preventable diseases around the world.

What was your best INFORMS experience so far?

Being the “Five Minute Analyst” in Analytics Magazine has been a real joy. It lets me dip a toe into problems that I would never otherwise get to think about. Peter Horner and the professionals that put the INFORMS media together are top-notch. I always get interesting – and frequently unexpected – feedback from the articles.

What is your favorite OR application?

OR to me is all about problems, and I think it’s professionally limiting and perhaps even dangerous to have a single ‘favorite’ methodology. I keep from falling too in love with any particular technique by having a variety of diverse projects. Having said this, I think Logistic Regression and Data Envelopment Analysis are two great tools that can be brought to bear against a surprisingly large number of problems.

More questions for Harrison?

Ask him in the Open Forum on INFORMS Connect!

http://connect.informs.org

Roundtable profile:

BNSF Railway Railway’s operations research team helps lay tracks for the future

By Amy Casas 18 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

When people think of railroads, what often comes to mind are thoughts of the American West with steaming locomotives chugging along endless miles of track interrupted only by the occasional train station.

While railroads are not settling the Wild West anymore, they are continuing to break into new frontiers of trade, efficiency and innovation that find them pioneering and on the cutting edge of research and technology. Such is the case for today’s BNSF Railway, which is the product of nearly 400 different railroad lines that merged or were acquired during more than 160 years.

The Fort Worth,Texas-based BNSF has more than 47,000 employees spread across its 32,500 miles of rail network operating in 28 states and three Canadian provinces. As one of the largest freight railroads in North America, BNSF serves more than 10,000 customers by transporting goods and commodities that make people’s lives better.The coal hauled by BNSF powers one out of every 10 homes in the nation. BNSF also transports enough grain to supply 900 million people with a year’s supply of bread, enough asphalt in a year to lay a single lane road four times around the equator, and last year it moved more than 5 million containers of conormstoday.informs.org

sumer products that were sold by big box retailers and specialty shops alike all across America.

According to the most recent Commodity Flow Survey, railroads carry more than 40 percent of freight volume in the United States – more than any other mode of transportation – and provide the most fuel- and cost-efficient means for moving freight over land. In fact, BNSF is able to move a ton of freight almost 500 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel thanks to the technological advancements achieved in operating today’s locomotives.

Unlike other forms of freight transportation, BNSF trains operate on an infrastructure built and financed mostly by the railroad. BNSF has created one of the most advanced rail networks in the world by better utilizing existing rail capacity and making record investments in new infrastructure and equipment directly connected to its operations. Since 2000 BNSF will have reinvested more than $50 billion by the end of this year to improve the safety and reliability of its rail network and accommodate expected growth.

Driving Solutions with O.R. & Analytics Behind the scenes helping equip BNSF leaders with the research necessary to make decisions on everything from capital investments to improving train efficiency is the company’s Operations Research and Advanced Analytics team. The team is led by Pooja Dewan, BNSF’s general director of decision support systems, who provides analytical consulting and decision support throughout the company. Dewan has led the team for the past 12 years and has been with BNSF for 17 years.

Through the years the team has grown to include more than 20 full-time team members with advanced degrees in a variety of fields including operations research, industrial engineering and applied math and statistics.

“We use advanced analytics to help drive and enhance the decisions made by BNSF’s leaders,” Dewan says. “With a network of thousands of miles of tracks and tens of thousands of train movements to move millions of containers and railcars, we have vast amounts of data. Our team works to make sense of all that data.That analysis then gives business leaders insight into how we can increase efficiency and grow our business.”

Every day Dewan and the Operations Research and Advanced Analytics team help the company bridge the gap between practice and academia. Over the years the team has grown to play an integral part of the decision-making process at BNSF in projects such as creating the most efficient and safest train routes, the availability of train crews, building trains at rail terminals, equipment ordering, train dispatching, fueling and inspecting trains, and so much more.

All About the Roundtable The Roundtable consists of the institutional members of INFORMS with member company representatives typically the overall leader of O.R. activity. The Roundtable is composed of about 50 organizations that have demonstrated leadership in the application of O.R. and advanced analytics. The Roundtable culture is peer-to-peer, encouraging networking and sharing lessons learned among members.

The Roundtable meets three times a year. Roundtable goals are to improve member organizations’ OR/MS practice, help Roundtable representatives grow professionally and help the OR/MS profession to thrive. Further information is available at http:// roundtable.informs.org.

The Roundtable also has an advisory responsibility to INFORMS. According to its bylaws, “The Roundtable shall regularly share with INFORMS leadership and advise the INFORMS Board on its views, its suggested initiatives and its implementation plans on the important problems and opportunities facing operations research and the management sciences as a profession and on the ways in which INFORMS can deal proactively with those problems and opportunities.” The Roundtable meets with the INFORMS presidentelect each spring to discuss practice-related topics of interest to him or her, and with the entire INFORMS Board each fall to discuss topics of mutual concern.

This series of articles aims to share with the INFORMS membership at large some information and insights into how O.R. is carried on in practice today.

INFORMS member Pooja Dewan (sitting, third from left) leads BNSF’s Operations Research and Advanced Analytics team.

“Considering the complexity of railroad operations and the speed with which business, technology and government regulations can change, it is important for us to be able to use scientific thinking to help us solve problems,” says Rollin Bredenberg, BNSF’s vice president for capacity planning and operations research.

The team always looks to spend quality time with its internal clients and whenever possible even shadow them so they can gain additional insights that help them frame and solve problems. They often put together cross-functional teams to develop solutions that their internal clients can understand and find useful.

When certain tools aren’t being used, they reach out to their stakeholders to learn why.This helps ensure that the tools are still relevant and when necessary improve upon the models and insights.

“I believe our recipe for success has been our ability to hire technically strong team members, who help December 2015

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Roundtable Profile determine the most efficient frequency and timing of trains, which has reduced the amount of time it takes for each railcar to reach its final destination. The team’s efforts to develop these tools have been recognized with the Daniel H.Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice and being named a semi-finalist for the Franz Edelman Award from INFORMS. Crew Planning & Time Prediction Tools In the railroad industry, like many industries with large workforces, labor costs are the businesses’ biggest expense. For decades, experienced crew planners have, for the most part, manually assigned train One of the largest freight railroads in North America, BNSF’s 32,500-mile rail network spans 28 crews. Planning train crew assignments is states and three Canadian provinces. a complex process that involves the conus deliver quality solutions that solve the right probsideration of a large number of factors in a very lem,” Dewan says. “To be effective we have to take limited amount of time. The train crew planner is these technically strong individuals and educate them tasked with assigning crews located across a vast about the railroad industry and help each person cultigeography in the most efficient and cost-effective vate strong relationships within the organization.” manner possible so trains are not delayed or cantrain crew celed. The task is made more complicated by the Designing a Train Transportation Plan large number of rules the crew planners must obIn 2014, BNSF handled more than 10 million shipserve to maintain safe rail operations. is a ments. Roughly 19 percent of those shipments were Partnering with operations leaders, the BNSF’s moved in what are known as “merchandise” trains. Operations Research and Advanced Analytics team Those are trains made up of rail cars that contain a developed an application to assist in the crew planvariety of mixed freight.They include lumber, paper, ning process. Launched in 2013, the Crew Decision machinery and various industrial parts, as well as Assist (CDA) application uses a formal optimizathat involves tank cars containing various types of chemicals used tion algorithm that suggests, in real time, effective in manufacturing. crew plans to dispatchers. The implementation of the consideration The merchandise train business is complex.Those this application has helped reduce the overall cost rail shipments move between 2,300 railway stations and of positioning crews to operate trains within a terof a consist of small groups of railcars ranging from 1 to 40 ritory. The CDA application is currently being used railcars, which are added together to make full-length in approximately 60 percent of BNSF’s train crew trains.To facilitate efficient movement of these shipdistricts with plans to expand it even more. ments, railcars with similar destinations are grouped at Timing is everything, especially when customfreight yards for movement on trains. Each group of ers are relying on the railroad to get their shipments railcars, known in the rail industry as a block, moves towhere they need to be on time. It is especially critgether from one rail yard to the next, where the cars are ical for BNSF’s intermodal business, which moves in a re-sorted into new groups with railcars more closely containers and trailers carrying the consumer prodmatching their destination.The objective of grouping ucts people use every day. Working with BNSF’s together railcars with similar destinations is to miniintermodal group, the Operations Research and amount of mize the miles and amount of sorting that has to hapAdvanced Analytics team is developing a model that pen before the shipment reaches its final destination, all more accurately predicts train arrival times. while taking into consideration each rail yard’s capacity.

The Train Travel Time Prediction tool will help Working closely with their BNSF colleagues, BNSF further enhance the information that it prothe Operations Research and Advanced Analytics vides its customers. The development of this tool team developed a series of tools to help improve the will enable BNSF to provide customers with inforflow of merchandise trains across BNSF’s network mation that more accurately tracks their shipments by assigning the right railcar groups to the right in real time.There are also plans to expand the use of trains. Those tools allow service design planners to this tool to other parts of the business to assist with

Planning

assignments complex process

large number of factors

very limited time.

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planning for train crew operations and inspections, as well as equipment and track maintenance.

tool will enable BNSF to better dispatch trains and improve the utilization of its tracks.

Projects Currently Underway In today’s data rich environment everything creates an electronic trail, and the Operations Research and Advanced Analytics team can use that information to generate better inputs for the models they develop.

Whether it’s GPS tools that help track the exact location of BNSF’s assets or sensors and gauges that monitor and assist in determining when would be the best time to schedule railcars and locomotives for inspections and maintenance, these tools analyze data that enable the team to delve deeper and create effective solutions.

With thousands of sensors across its network, BNSF produces large amounts of data daily. These data sets are so large and complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate.The Operations Research and Advanced Analytics team is currently looking into how to best process and synthesize all that information more effectively for use throughout the organization.

Another tool currently on the horizon is Movement Planner.When complete this tool will improve the movement of trains across BNSF’s entire network instead of just certain segments. Having this

What the Future Holds Over the years the Operations Research and Advanced Analytics team has helped BNSF save millions of dollars with their work.As computing powers continue to advance and the data that is generated and gathered increases exponentially, the team will continue to play an increasingly valuable role in developing decision tools that help BNSF leaders manage and operate trains in the most effective and efficient way possible.

“To continuously improve the way your rail operations work, you have to evolve the way you make operational decisions,” says David Freeman, BNSF’s senior vice president for transportation.“The recommendations and programs that our Operations Research and Advanced Analytics team has developed have resulted in solutions that have positively impacted our bottom line and the way we run trains today and into the future.” ORMS

With

thousands of sensors across its network,

BNSF produces large amounts of

data daily.

Amy Casas (Amy.Casas@BNSF.com) is the director of corporate communications for BNSF Railway. During her career in communications she has led the creation and successful implementation of comprehensive communications plans, lead media relations efforts and provided strategic communications and public relations counsel to leadership.

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December 2015

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ORMS Today

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Image © Rafomundo | 123rf.com

O.R.: Catalyst for Grand Challenges

Opportunities in sustainability

By Suvrajeet Sen, Cynthia Barnhart, John R. Birge, Warren B. Powell and Christine A. Shoemaker

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles based on a report to the National Science Foundation titled, “O.R. as a Catalyst for Engineering Grand Challenges.”

22 | ORMS Today

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The Earth is a planet of finite resources, and its growing population currently consumes them at a rate that cannot be sustained. Utilizing resources (like fusion, wind and solar power), preserving the integrity of our environment and providing access to potable water are the first few steps to securing an environmentally sound and energy-efficient future for all of mankind. Analyzing these challenges includes using data and models to choose among alternative strategic decisions, forecasting the effect of decisions on the future, and quantifying the uncertainty associated with this analysis. While O.R. methods certainly support many individual features (e.g., nonlinear, dynamic, stochastic or discrete), combinations of these features are often necessary in many of the research questions that arise under the “sustainability” banner. Combining these features will require significant extensions of the O.R. methodology available today. ormstoday.informs.org

What makes O.R. vital for the future of sustainability?

O.R. methodology such as applied probability, decision analysis and optimization have been central to oil and gas exploration, blending and transport since the inception of our discipline. The same has been true of the role of O.R. for operational problems arising in planning electric power generation and transmission, natural gas transport and others. Similarly, the use of O.R. in water resources, and environmental planning are well documented in the literature. However, the growing evidence of global warming is not only shifting the emphasis on green technologies (e.g., higher fuel efficiency standards), but also Figure 1: Framework for integrated analytics. in our fundamental understanding of processes to curb the increasing Energy volatility of global climate. For instance, the recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration In order to become less reliant on fossil fuels, (NOAA) report, “The State of the Climate in 2012,” significant attention is being paid to increasing noted that the year 2012 was one of the 10 hottest the percentage of renewable energy from a variety years on record (global average), and moreover, a vast of sources. This transfor mation will require majority of the top 10 hottest years have been reinnovations ranging from devices and processes corded since the 1990s [1]. for high efficiency photonic crystals to improved In connection with this report, NOAA’s acting integration of renewable resources into the administrator, Kathryn Sullivan, mentions that “many power system. O.R. methodology is beginning of the planning models for infrastructure rely on the to appear in a variety of settings, ranging from future being statistically a lot like the past, and certainly new devices (e.g., photonic crystals using band the data should lead one to question if that will be so.” gap optimization) and manufacturing processes, In other words, future planning models ought to recto novel ways of operating large systems with ognize on-going changes due to human activity.This significant renewable penetration. calls for a framework that seamlessly integrates data and decisions, and ultimately sheds light on one or more Integrating storage with wind and solar Most states in the U.S. have mandated that hypotheses through a validation exercise.This interplay at least 20 percent of power supplied by a utilleads directly into the emerging world of integrated analytics, which is envisioned in Figure 1. Because of its ity must be generated by renewable energy by core competencies in all facets of integrated analytics, 2020. In some cases, such as California, the law INFORMS is in a unique position to lead such thrusts will require utilities to supply at least 50 percent of power generation from renewable sources by to enhance sustainability.

This integrative orientation is particularly rele- 2030. In order to achieve these mandates, it will vant for meeting sustainability challenges. Because be important to manage the variability using a balanced portfolio that combines careful use of environmental phenomena (e.g., temperature, hudispatchable fossil generation, potential use of midity, pressure systems, tides, wind, etc.) exhibit significant spatiotemporal correlations, stochastic in- biofuels, demand response and storage.

Renewable energy offers the best potential termittency and nonlinearity, our attempts to harness natural resources must be undertaken with great care. for zero CO2 emissions, but considerable research is being devoted to the challenge of solving the Fortunately, the growth of inexpensive sensors, in conproblem of dispatchability, which refers to our junction with communications networks, provides inability to control wind and solar production. a massive data infrastructure that can be leveraged at Considerable attention has also been devoted to the various levels of granularity, ranging from streaming idea of using storage to smooth the variations, but regional data to worldwide data at coarser granularity.

December 2015

Most

states mandate that at least

20 percent of power … must be

generated by renewable energy

by 2020.

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Grand Challenges the tools of operations research have highlighted some problems with this simple solution.

Storage behind the meter (that is, in a residence, commercial building or microgrid) is very expensive on the margin, since the last unit of investment is only used a small amount of time (grid operators are well familiar with this problem and have devised numerous strategies to help mitigate peak usage). Grid level storage (in front of the meter) is even more problematic; even if it were free, the conversion losses make it more economical to ramp dispatchable sources such as gas generators than to incur the 15 percent to 20 percent conversion losses to charge and discharge batteries. It is the tools of operations research that have identified these issues and are helping to inform the debate over how to handle the variSolutions for long-term sustainability will no doubt include solar- and ability of renewables by designing and wind-powered energy sources. controlling portfolios of energy genImage © Vaclav Volrab | www.123rf.com eration, demand response and storage, tuned for each region of the country. characteristics that are beyond the reach of existA major problem faced by battery operators is ing tools: a) realistic battery chemistry, b) batteries monetizing the ability of storage to smooth the varicognizant of the “state of the world” (temperature, ations from wind and solar over larger time scales. loads, prices, etc.), c) batteries coupled as subsystems Surprisingly, finding optimal policies for managing within a larger portfolio of storage devices, and d) energy storage resources is beyond the state of the batteries timing their charge/discharge policies to art of modern algorithms for all but the most trivcoordinate with the market. ial systems. Real battery systems have to deal with dynamic energy generation from the wind and sun, Environment stochastic prices, time varying loads and complex In the interest of brevity, we will focus on two issues: battery chemistry that affects the efficiency of engeological carbon sequestration and managing water ergy conversion and battery lifetimes. Particularly availability and quality. challenging is optimizing generation and storage Geological carbon sequestration over multiple time scales, from responding to freThe rate of increase in carbon dioxide emission quency regulation signals every few seconds to the may be the single biggest culprit among all greenhouse hourly and daily variations that characterize diurnal gases.

It is predicted that if these levels continue to rise, and weekly cycles. the consequences could be severe: rising sea levels, disWe do not yet have the tools to obtain optimal ruptions in agriculture and other natural disasters (e.g., policies for realistic battery systems. Standard prachurricanes, tornadoes) may begin striking with greater tice in engineering is to live with various heuristics, force and frequency.

Some possibilities for geological but these can perform well below optimality. Proper carbon sequestration (GCS) include storing the gas in battery management, especially for affordable techdeep saltwater aquifers or depleted oil reservoirs. Hownologies such as lead-acid batteries, can dramatically ever, there are potential problems, both economic and extend the lifetime of the device. The best policies environmental, with GCS. The environmental risks are can outperform “good” policies by 100 percent. that injected CO could increase subsurface pressure to Furthermore, it is likely that these algorithmic ad2 the point that CO or saltwater would move upward vances would benefit both existing and future stor2 through fractures or defective well casings. Such moveage technologies.

The next generation of optimal storage control ment could result in pollution (including increased metal concentrations) of freshwater aquifers used for algorithms needs to handle a number of problem

Finding

optimal policies for managing

energy storage resources is beyond the

state of the art of modern

algorithms.

24 | ORMS Today

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human drinking water or in the escape of CO2 into the atmosphere, which, at worst, could cause deaths and, at best, represent a waste of the large amount of money spent to sequester the CO2.

O.R. methods can assist in promoting safe geological sequestration of carbon by helping to design monitoring systems and using optimization and statistical methods to estimate the current and future spatial distribution of CO2 and pressure in the injection region.

Note that these injection regions are expected to be at least 1,000 meters below the surface. Because the injection site is so deep, the monitoring wells also need to be very deep and are therefore extremely expensive.As a result, a practical monitoring system might consist of only a few strategically located monitoring sites, some of which may be in regions outside the CO2 plume to monitor pressure without increasing the risk of CO2 escape. Since the CO2 will take the shortest path upwards, knowing the location of the CO2 plume is very important, and sensor locations should be chosen to identify leaks reliably.

Recent work has demonstrated that a combination of a three-dimensional simulation model of CO2 can be used with nonlinear optimization methods and uncertainty quantification method to obtain credible estimates of current spatial

Most

distribution of the CO2 and even produce good predictions of its future migration. This is a very difficult problem because the simulation models for a reasonably sized CO2 geological storage site (and other multiphase subsurface fluid problems) are highly nonlinear and can take many hours – or days – for one simulation.

environmental

studies of pollution

Managing water availability and quality

and

Approximately one in six people living today do not have adequate access to water, and more than double that number lack basic sanitation. Indeed, lack of clean water is responsible for more deaths worldwide than war. Providing access to clean water is an engineering challenge of the highest priority.

The goals are to protect water from pollution so that it can be used to meet human and ecological needs and to ensure that the quantity of water is adequate.

Insufficient quantity of unpolluted water leads to disease, agriculturally and industrially devastating drought, and loss of valuable renewable hydropower.

Such questions involving social welfare, especially the interface with technology, have provided fertile grounds for O.R. applications in the past, and we expect their impact to continue in the context of this worldwide challenge.

ecological health are

based on either mathematical or

computer simulation models.

!

INEble L N la

i S Oials avambers!

S E R e

C O M AC015 TutORMS 2

for

INF

The Operations Research Revolution

Dionne M. Aleman and Aurélie C. Thiele, Tutorials Co-Chairs and Volume Editors J. Cole Smith, Series Editor INFORMS 2015 edition of the TutORials in Operations Research series available online to members.

Access the 2015 TutORials at:

http://pubsonline.informs.org/series/educ

December 2015

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ORMS Today

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Grand Challenges

O.R. methodology

can help in

assessing the value of policies to

encourage investment.

Most environmental studies of pollution and ecological health are based on either mathematical or computer simulation models known as “flow and transport” models. One instantiates such models by fitting parameters to data (e.g., soil characteristics, weather, pollutants), and using the output of the model to predict the dynamic and spatial distribution of water and water-borne pollutants. These predictive models can then be used in a variety of ways, including flow and transport models, as well as trade-offs between alternative remediation policies.

While such methodology is not foreign to the water resources community, the large scale and computationally demanding nature of these models make them worthy of collaboration. To give a sense of some of the challenges, consider a case of designing a network for water purification and delivery. Given that such processes can cost more than a billion dollars to set up, they must be placed strategically, and the network itself must also be designed to be cost effective. The question of delivering clean water can be posed as a decision (optimization) model to make some discrete choices (e.g., location and network design) so that adequate quantities of clean water (modeled by continuous variables) can be delivered cost effectively.

Such models, leading to nonlinear mixed integer programs, can be notoriously difficult, and O.R. expertise is needed to solve what is currently an intractable problem. Ultimately such advances will

Contributors to the Report “O.R. as a Catalyst for Engineering Grand Challenges,” a report to the National Science Foundation, was compiled by a team of contributors led by Suvrajeet Sen of the University of Southern California. Other contributors, all of them prominent members of INFORMS and the worldwide O.R. community, included: •

Cynthia Barnhart, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

•

John R. Birge, University of Chicago

•

E. Andrew Boyd, PROS

•

Michael C. Fu, University of Maryland

•

Dorit S. Hochbaum, University of California, Berkeley

•

David P. Morton, Northwestern University

•

George L. Nemhauser, Georgia Institute of Technology

•

Barry L. Nelson, Northwestern University

•

Warren B. Powell, Princeton University

•

Christine A. Shoemaker, National University of Singapore

•

David D. Yao, Columbia University

•

Stefanos A. Zenios, Stanford University

REFERENCE 1. For more recent climate data, see https://www.climate.gov/maps-data

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reduce costs while increasing the quantity of clean water available for use.

A major challenge and recurring theme in this setting is the need to solve, design and control problems in the presence of different forms of uncertainty. Design of water purification technologies, the location of purification facilities, the allocation of sensors and metering devices and the management of water reservoirs all represent different forms of stochastic optimization problems that have to be solved in the presence of different forms of uncertainty.

Social and Economic Sciences for Sustainability Much of the emphasis in sustainability efforts relates to social interactions for which O.R. models can provide guidance. Basic economic reasoning suggests, for example, that solar energy prices will decline relative to the prices of other energy resources if new solar technologies allow for greater efficiency than currently exists or if the capital cost of producing energy with current solar technologies is reduced. Either of these outcomes requires investment in new conversion technologies or in the devices and manufacturing processes for current technologies. Given these alternatives, solar energy should become more economical if investment increases in developing new technologies of either form.

O.R. methodology can help in assessing the value of policies to encourage such investment. In particular, O.R. models of interactions between the economy and the energy sector can be used to assess the effectiveness of policy alternatives by evaluating overall social costs measured, for example, in changes in GDP growth, effects on specific industries or trading imbalances. Such O.R. models have a long history of informing government policy. Similarly, equilibrium models for energy production and consumption have a long history from the late 1970s and have evolved into more recent policy questions such as the economic impact of greenhouse gas emissions.

The second sustainability challenge of improvement in the power grid can be most effective if individual consumers can learn to modify behavior to shift consumption in response to current conditions.

O.R. models can be used to evaluate responses to policies such as dynamic pricing.

Finally, O.R. models can help provide access to clean water by aligning policies with long-term goals. The allocation of water rights and policies to manage those rights again raises the issue of balancing the preferences of individuals with those of society as a whole. O.R. models can analyze these decisions through representations of preferences and the mechanism of coordination. ORMS ormstoday.informs.org

CROP CHALLENGE

More than 17 million acres of farmland are lost to soil erosion every year. Many people who produce the world’s food are living in poverty. Biodiversity is disappearing fast. And the challenge won't get any easier: by 2050, for example, 4 billion people will be living in countries with water scarcity.

THE CHALLENGE:

Using supplied data, determine which variety or varieties farmers should choose to plant next year (and in what proportions if multiple varieties are chosen).

CHALLENGE LAUNCH - Data Available Sunday, November 1, 2015

• Deadline for submissions January 15, 2016 • Selection of finalists March 4, 2016 • Finalist presentation (live or via telepresence) at INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and OR April 10–12, 2016

Agriculture:

Fertile ground for analytics and innovation

By Joseph Byrum Photos courtesy of Syngenta

The most fertile ground for operations research today is agriculture. That may seem like a surprising claim, considering data analytics continue to help save companies billions of dollars and move billions of packages and passengers around the world – and there’s no lack of opportunity in these arenas. While advanced mathematical techniques have proved invaluable across diverse industries, operations research has yet to move in and dominate the field of agriculture, where it can play a leading role in feeding billions of people who may otherwise lack food security.

That’s no exaggeration. Within the next few decades, the global population will grow by nearly two billion. Although the world produces a tremendous amount of food today, it’s nowhere near enough to feed everyone. By 2050, caloric demand will increase by 70 percent and crop demand for human consumption and animal feed will double according to the World Resource Institute.The problem isn’t just that we need more food.This food must be produced in the context of formidable resource constraints, providing better nutrition for more people in the face of rapid environmental change while also cutting back

A barley farmer inspects his crop: Food and agribusiness comprise a worldwide $5 trillion industry.

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our overuse of natural resources, ecosystems and the climate.

Consider, for instance, that crops require irrigation, and that more crops will require even more water – water we do not have. By 2030, an estimated 40 percent of water demand is unlikely to be met.

On top of that, one out of every five acres of arable land is already degraded.

Food and agribusiness comprise a $5 trillion industry that accounts for 10 percent of global consumer spending, 40 percent of employment and 30 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions. This massive industry does not change easily, but change – transformative innovation – is precisely what’s needed.

Meeting the future population’s entire demand for food will require disruption of the current trends. Over the last 50 years, agricultural technology has evolved largely along the lines of bigger and faster. New plows, better tractors, superior combines.

Even recent advances in genetics require greater inputs to take advantage of superior yields.

In the next 50 years, we must be smarter by taking advantage of the operations research and analytics revolution and its capability for making easier and more precise decision-making. Data analytics can increase the efficiency of food production by optimizing the entire agricultural ecosystem. This quantified approach would use sensing, input modulation and analytics to enhance the efficiency of producing the world’s food.

Analytics and Agriculture Today To better understand where operations research and analytics can take us in the future, it’s worth exploring the current state-of-the art innovations in analytics and agriculture, where the focus is on expanding access to – and making more sophisticated use of – information. For example, granular data for every 10-meter-by-10-meter square of a field combined with the analytical capability to integrate various sources of information such as weather, soil and market prices has the potential to increase crop yield and optimize resource usage, thus lowering cost.

A wealth of agricultural information is gathered and distributed by means of smartphones, portable computers, GPS devices, RFID tags and other environmental sensors. Already, automation technologies such as GPS steering are being used to operate balers, combines and harvesters. RFID technologies track livestock to enhance food safety. Since 2010, European sheep farmers are required to tag their flocks, and the European Commission has suggested the extension of this practice to cattle. RFID technologies also provide new possibilities for harvest asset management. By adding RFID tags, bales can be associated with measured properties such as

Data analytics can increase efficiency of food production by optimizing the entire agricultural ecosystem.

weight and moisture level. Mobile communication networks and technologies, which are now commonly deployed in many areas around the world, have become a backbone of pervasive computing in agriculture.

Agriculture is thus becoming a knowledge-intensive industry.As farmers need to obtain and process financial, climatic, technical and regulatory information to manage their businesses, public and private institutions cater to their needs and provide corresponding data. The U.S. Department of Agriculture supplies information as to prices, market conditions or newest production practices. Internet communities, such as e-Agriculture, allow users to exchange information, ideas or procedures related to communication technologies in sustainable agriculture and rural development.

So far, however, much of the research and development in this regard has focused on sensing and networking rather than on computation, analytics and optimization.

Therein lies the opportunity.

Contributions to analytics in agriculture have mainly applied off-the-shelf techniques available in software packages or libraries without developing specific frameworks and algorithms. This state of affairs has only recently begun to change. While early work in analytics in agriculture focused on the design of relational databases, more recent approaches consider semantic Web technologies, for example, in pest control, farm management or the integration of molecular and phenotypic information for breeding.

Others consider recommender systems and collaborative filtering to retrieve personalized agricultural information from the Web or the use of Web mining in localized climate prediction.

December 2015

We must

be smarter by taking

advantage of

analytics’ capability for

making more precise

decisionmaking.

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Analytics & Agriculture

Practitioners “out in the fields”

need tools that

yield results, ideally

on mobile devices that run in

real time.

30 | ORMS Today

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Geo-information processing plays an important role in computational agriculture and precision farming. Research in this area considers mobile access to geographically aggregated crop information, region-specific yield prediction or environmental impact analysis.

Applications like these require advanced remote sensing or modern sensor networks.

This includes distributed networks of temperature and moisture sensors (deployed in fields), orchards and grazing land that monitor growth conditions or the state of pasture. Space or Syngenta has seen the power of customized O.R. tools for delivering results in airborne solutions make use of its plant breeding work. technologies such as thermal emission and reflection radiometers or advanced synthetic aperture radar to track exploding amounts data recorded in dynamic and land degradation or to measure and predict levels uncertain environments where there are typically of soil moisture. Other agricultural applications inmany interacting components. clude plant growth monitoring and automated map We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what building. A particularly interesting sensing modalcan be done with artificial intelligence techniques ity consists in airborne hyper-spectral imaging that in agriculture. Most work in this area so far has not records spectra of several hundred wavelengths per involved specifically trained data scientists. From pixel. With respect to plant monitoring, this makes the point of view of analytics, more efficient and it possible to assess changes of pigment compositions accurate methods are surely available.Yet, computer due to metabolic processes. This in turn allows for scientists entering the field must be aware that remotely measuring phenotypic reactions of plants methods they bring have to benefit researchers and due to biotic or abiotic stress. That’s important, bepractitioners in agriculture. cause this allows a grower to both detect a stress The Need for Practicality such as disease or insect pressure and optimize the use rate of chemicals for control in a sustainable Practitioners “out in the fields” need tools that yield manner. results they can work with, ideally on mobile deHyper-spectral imaging is being increasingly vices that run in real time to assist in their daily used for near-range plant monitoring in agricultural work. From the perspective of farming professionals, research. It enables basic research into the molecular purely theoretical concepts or mathematical abstracmechanisms of photosynthesis, but is also used in plant tions are of little use. They face real problems that phenotyping, which can help as an approach toward can be addressed using scientific methods and adunderstanding phenotypic expressions of drought vanced computing, but the tools need to be adapted stress. Classical image analysis and computer vision to their needs in a way that produces tangible results. techniques are being used in agriculture, too. Examples The world’s food producers are technology-oriinclude automated inspection and sorting in producented people, but practicality for them remains a tion facilities, the detection of the activity of pests in core value. They know their business, and if a new greenhouses or the recognition of plant diseases. technology does not fit into their workflows, they Finally, artificial intelligence techniques are inwill either ignore it or wait until it meets their creasingly applied to address questions of compuneeds.Thus, there is a great need for more informatational sustainability. Work in this area considers tion technology training in the industry. algorithmic approaches toward maximizing the Advanced technology, properly harnessed, utility of land, enabling sustainable water resource creates the ultimate in practicality. In our own management and the learning of timber harvestplant breeding work at Syngenta, we have seen ing policies. Thanks to the increased use of modern the power of customized operations research sensors, corresponding solutions have to cope with tools for delivering concrete results. We’ve used December 2015

ormstoday.informs.org

data mining and pattern recognition to breed elite varieties of seeds that deliver higher yields, and the results speak for themselves. Before we took full advantage of the power of analytics, we realized an average annual increase in yield across our portfolio of about 0.8 bushels per acre. That average is now closer to 2.5.

We will realize more than $287 million in cost optimization for Syngenta Seeds Product Development during the period from 2012 to 2016 from our operations research tools.What that means is, we would have had to invest an additional $287 million to achieve the same level of genetic gain that we are realizing with the tools. Our goal is to do more with less, which helps fulfill our Good Growth Plan commitments of reducing agriculture’s impact on the environment and people that produce the crops we need, while helping to ensure a growing global population will have enough food for future generations.

Scale of Opportunities in Agriculture This offers just a glimpse of the future potential for analytics in our industry. We expect that, with the availability of more computational power combined with sensing and networking technologies, new forms of farming may emerge thanks to operations research and data analytics.

The opportunities brought about by data collection and analytics have touched every market, from health care to retail. While the agricultural supply chain may not at first seem to be a prime target for optimization, it should be. From early stage research to farms and end-user customers, the agricultural supply chain is heavily reliant on small improvements in operational efficiencies and processes in order to increase crop yields, manage risk and create greater profit. This is particularly true for large-scale agribusiness where commodity crops are involved and small process adjustments have large impacts in terms of production.

The key to success is figuring out a business model that captures value from data at scale. In part, that is because the data are captured by disparate players in different parts of the value chain, such as seed companies, equipment manufacturers, traders and software developers. Managing and capitalizing on the critical data points is likely to require strategic partnerships and acquisitions, and potentially a reshaping of the industry structure.

Meanwhile, emerging markets still lack high-quality, reliable data on production and demand. Establishing a systematic mechanism to capture the data could offer additional value-creating opportunities.

In particular, rapid expansion of mobile technologies in rural populations could allow farmers in

Syngenta Crop Challenge Each year farmers have to make decisions about what crops to plant given uncertainties in expected weather conditions and knowledge about the soil at their respective farms. A new competition from INFORMS asks: How can a farmer make seed variety decisions that optimally reduce risk and increase yield?

Syngenta, a leading innovator in plant genetics, and INFORMS have teamed up to present the Syngenta Crop Challenge, a new competition administered by INFORMS that focuses on using analytics to address the problem of world hunger.

The case competition challenges participants to develop a model to predict what varieties farmers should use in the next planting season to maximize yield, using provided data on soil property, weather and seed variety tests. Experts in analytics and operations research are invited to compete in the innovation challenge.

Teams must submit their report by Jan. 15, 2016, and finalists will be announced in March 2016. Finalists will make their presentation in person or via teleconference on April 12, 2016, at the INFORMS Practice Conference in Orlando, Fla. The winner of the first competition will be announced at the 2016 INFORMS Annual Meeting and receive a $5,000 prize. The runner-up will receive $2,500, and the third place winner will receive $1,000.

Contestants must be 18 years or older to participate.

Each contestant will be provided the following data: • soil property information for the particular farm that must choose which varieties to plant; • daily weather data for the past 15 years (focused on the growing season) for the farm; and • test data for the seed varieties at various soil types and weather types for the past four years (note that not all varieties are tested in all soil and weather types) indicating the yield for each variety at each growing season.

Selecting varieties involves a combination of seeking the best yield and hedging against challenging environments (such as disease or unusual weather). Contest entries will be evaluated based on the rigor and validity of the process used to determine which variety or varieties are selected for planting.

An extension of the Good Growth Plan, six commitments from Syngenta to address global food security, the contest broadens its reach to include input from stakeholders the world over. More information and case details are available online at ideaconnection.com/ syngenta-crop-challenge. INFORMS is the sponsor and administrator of the contest.

these areas to greatly improve productivity based on access to better information.

This is where the operations research community can have a big impact. Getting involved in agriculture is much more than just a ripe business opportunity. It’s lending a hand to solve one of the toughest challenges that humanity faces. Billions of lives depend on the coming analytics revolution in agriculture, and we hope the INFORMS community will rally around the cause. ORMS Joseph Byrum (joseph.byrum@syngenta.com) is head of soybean seeds product development at Syngenta, a global Swiss-based agribusiness. Byrum was a leader on the Syngenta team that won the Franz Edelman Award from INFORMS earlier this year.

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Improving protection for

our protectors

Receiving timely healthcare remains a concern for many veterans.

In recommending priorities for veterans’ care, new study presents opportunities for quantitative analytics.

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December 2015

As the nation moves into the 2016 presidential election cycle grappling with multiple military engagements, a large and growing veterans population and problems in the Veterans Administration, a group of experts have presented a comprehensive overview of issues and a plan with substantive recommendations for how the next president can best serve the veteran and military community. This work, by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS [3]), follows up on earlier work reported in OR/MS Today [5] and reflects the progress – and, in some areas, lack of progress – on the recommended courses of action. Systems analysis will continue to play a vital role, but more attention to institutional impediments will be required.

The new report is cast as a set of recommendations for the next president, but careful reading indicates that the authors would welcome initiation or intensification of these actions by the current administration as well. Key recommendations of the report include: • Continued focus by the next administration on immediate issues such as access to healthcare, transition to civilian employment and support to veterans in crisis (such as those facing homelessness or legal problems). ormstoday.informs.org

• Structural reform of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to better serve veterans, including better alignment of the VA’s resources and requirements.

• Expanded data sharing between the government, private and nonprofit sectors that enables needs assessment, resource allocation and future planning.

• Elimination of barriers to public-privatenonprofit partnerships that could help veterans better succeed in civilian life.

• Identification of normative outcomes, and rigorous evaluation of how public, private and nonprofit programs perform against these outcomes.

“The 2016 elections will mark a watershed moment for the veteran and military community,” says Phillip Carter, CNAS Senior Fellow and one of the report’s authors.“This report outlines the critical issues and strategic issues facing this community as the nation ends two major wars, wrestles with an age of fiscal austerity, and enters a presidential election that will set the course of policy for this community and the nation.”

“Policies related to the care of our military, veterans and their families have far-reaching effects, not only on the government agencies providing care, but the entire private/public sector which must address any gaps in services,” adds Anne Marie Dougherty, executive director of the Bob Woodruff Foundation which helped fund the report. “This report not only creates a dialogue as we look to elect our next commander in chief, it’s the first of its kind to comprehensively break down the demographics and issues facing today’s veterans.”

According to the report, “The next president, like those before, will have to grapple with a military that remains forward-deployed and engaged in myriad theaters against a broad array of threats. The needs of the active and reserve force, their families and the veteran population continue, even as an age of fiscal austerity grips the federal government and affects the ability of federal agencies to serve the veteran and military community. At the same time, demographic, social, economic and geographic change within the veteran and military community will continue, or even accelerate in some cases, changing the profile for this community.”

Urgent and Immediate Issues Some critical concerns facing the military and veteran community have attracted mostly political consensus, both on the problems and solutions.These concerns include support for transition back to civilian life, economic opportunity, healthcare access and mental health provision, as well as support to veterans in crisis

such as homelessness.The report’s authors urge “immediate action (or effective continuance of current efforts) and signaling of dedicated oversight from the first day of the next administration.”

The report noted that many of these areas are being addressed but also pointed out that deficiencies remain. Support for transition, for example, includes employment counseling, but this counseling and related networking are usually provided at the service member’s last duty station. Typically this is not the service member’s intended civilian destination, so the benefit is diminished. Even veterans who are initially employed tend to spend several years under-employed compared to their non-veteran counterparts. The reasons for this phenomenon are not clear, but comparative disadvantages in networking and in obtaining information about one’s opportunities appear to play a role.

Support for transition via educational opportunities is reportedly less cohesive. The report recommended more training and education programs beginning months before separation, preparing the way for employment later, rather than having the choice of such programs wait until the person leaves military service.

Also, transition support for the service member’s family tends to be more sporadic and less well focused, and – again – often not connected to the area where the family will live. (Colin Powell, in an interview shortly after his military retirement, said that the biggest adjustment for his wife was learning how to find out which plumber to call when one was needed.)

The transition from provision of healthcare by the Department of Defense (DoD) to the Veterans Administration (VA) is better organized, but these support efforts downplay private-sector options.

This gap is important because the vast majority of returning veterans take jobs in the private sector, with employer-provided health plans. Many veterans report considerable difficulty in finding out what coverage will work best for them.

Crisis intervention is perhaps the most problematical and troubling area of immediate need. Homelessness and suicide are persistently higher among veterans than among their non-veteran counterparts.A number of programs and organizations have addressed these issues with some success, but the report’s authors urge continuing effort and more effort are needed.

The report also identified, in addition to substance abuse, homelessness and suicide problems, less prominent areas of need for crisis support including deployment and transition support for families, assistance to wounded and ill veterans, assistance to caregivers, and assistance with legal and housing issues.

The report elaborated, “These kinds of support are very different, often requiring public and private action December 2015

needs of the … veteran population The

continue,

even as an age of fiscal austerity grips the federal

government.

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ORMS Today

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Veterans’ Care tailored to the facts of individual cases.The difficulty of offering such bespoke support and the urgency of the situations for the individuals involved make these issues challenging for even the best-functioning public and private bureaucracies. Because of that, these issues merit inclusion in this agenda and for the next administration.”

The

Operational Issues According to the report, “A combination of factors – from demographic change within the veteran community to pressure from federal budget fights – has exposed fissures, gaps and tension points within the system that serves the veteran and military community. These include such issues as access to veterans’ healthcare reform and benefits support, reform of the military personnel system and connection of the military to society. On these matters, some agreement exists as to the nature or scope of the problems, but there is sharp disagreement on how to address them. These issues deserve attention from the next president; however, the election will likely determine their priority and what answers the next administration favors.”

As reported previously in OR/MS Today [4], the integration of care, especially medical records, among multiple providers, crossing government-private sector lines, has been a persistent challenge. In turn, lost information is a critical driver, perhaps the most important one, of both lower quality of care, including tens of thousands of preventable deaths and higher cost. Even the most enthusiastically adopted innovations can be surprisingly slow to take effect. In September 2014, Analytics magazine [6] reported on Aneesh Chopra (the nation’s first chief technology officer) and the system improvement initiatives he had started and promoted in that capacity. One of the accomplishments he discussed was the improvement in the VA’s information technology and resulting improvements in patient care.

Ironically, the public uproar about long delays and quality problems in the Phoenix, Ariz.,VA hospital occurred in April 2014, as Chopra’s book, “Innovative State,” was between final proofs and publication.The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, ended up resigning because of these problems.

The lesson here for OR/MS analysts and other systems improvers is that various kinds of organizational inertia can bog down even strongly supported system changes; a persistent strong push from the top of the organization is needed. This is a major reason why the authors of the recent CNAS report focus mostly on policy-level leadership and actions.

Among the most important of these actions are supporting and facilitating better data exchange among providers and creating more public-private

lesson

here for

OR/MS analysts is that organizational

inertia can bog down

strongly supported

even

system

changes.

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partnerships, to provide better continuity of care and to give veterans more choices of providers. The Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, passed in August 2014 in response to the outcry, mandated more use of private-sector providers and public-sector partnerships to ease VA overloading, but the funds have been under-utilized. Wait times have actually increased, as more veterans sought health care through VA. The report added that, “VA health care remains one of the areas of ‘high risk’ across the federal government, as rated by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which cited five key areas of concern: ambiguous policies and inefficient processes, inadequate oversight and accountability, information technology challenges, inadequate training for VA staff and unclear resource needs and allocation priorities.”

Also required is a better set of performance metrics, so that comparisons of different care settings and approaches to care can be properly compared.

Such comparisons have become more important because of the increasing quality of battlefield protection and battlefield medicine, so that more people with serious, long-term injuries survive. Acute care choices make a huge difference in long-term outcomes for ailments such as spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury, but acute care improves only when its providers are kept aware of findings from the long-term care providers.

The report also noted that the VA is the largest provider of mental health care and research in the world, but “both the DoD and VA have struggled to fully leverage alternative and innovative therapies, even when such therapies have a base of evidence to support their use. ... The entire sector continues to work to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health problems, which often inhibits treatment and translates into bias against those who have sought help. However, surveys suggest that stigma remains a prominent challenge for the veteran and military community and that more can be done by all to further reduce the social barriers to seeking help for mental health issues.”

Strategic Opportunities “Beyond the specific policy choices to be made by the next administration,” the report states, “there are a number of steps that can be taken by public-, private- and nonprofit-sector leaders to continue momentum from the past 15 years of support for the veteran and military community. These include opportunities to better share data inside and outside of government, use data to make better decisions affecting this community, and expand public-private-nonprofit partnerships to better serve the nation.” Here the emphasis shifts from primarily ormstoday.informs.org

medical information to many other areas in which veterans, especially the newest ones, may need assistance: employment, career decisions, financial decisions, housing, education options and decisions about which communities to join, among others.

In the healthcare industry, policy-makers confront a long-standing (source unclear) adage: “We all want the best available medical technology, promptly, at low cost.You can have two out of three.” In VA, given the intense congressional scrutiny, pressures to adopt new technology and to keep costs down tend to dominate. Hence VA is most frequently criticized for delays in providing care. Improved scheduling methods have alleviated some of these problems and can do more, but possibly some policy-level re-evaluation of priorities is needed as well.

The primary areas of strategic importance, according to the report, are better coordination of benefits programs among relevant agencies; better data sharing; near-real-time needs assessment; future planning and resource allocation; effective cooperation with the private sector, nonprofits and public-private partnerships; and identifying and measuring outcomes. Clearly there is a role for quantitative analytics, embedded into and trusted by the policy-making hierarchies, in all these areas.

A ‘First 100 Days’ Agenda In addition to the operational and strategic issues, the report outlined a “a first 100 days” agenda for the next president to signal immediately his/ her commitment to the veteran and military community and take those necessary first steps to enable subsequent success.” These steps include establishment of White House priorities and staff for this area, appointment and confirmation of key agency leaders, development of budget submissions to support this community fully, and early statements of administration policy on key issues such as funding priorities and the value of public-private partnerships. The importance of these steps is greater than might be obvious to readers unfamiliar with the policy process: The earliest policy-level appointees have an advantage in pushing their budget requests and subordinate appointees through a crowded congressional calendar, as well as in preparing a strong statement for the president setting goals and affirming commitment. Conversely, a subtle but effective way to undercut a policy area is to delay appointing the people responsible for it.

Conclusion The report concluded, “Effective support for the veteran and militar y community matters for many reasons. National security depends on the United States’ ability to recruit, retain, manage

The VA operates one of the largest healthcare systems in the world.

and support its service members and their families.

Most veterans do well after service, but some struggle, often needing support to tackle health, economic and wellness challenges that impede their transition to civilian life. The government has a sacred trust with its veterans to help with these challenges and support private- and nonprofit-sector efforts to help, too.The nation benefits from the successful transition and future success of veterans in myriad ways, including the contributions these veterans make to society after service and the example they set for future generations weighing whether to join the all-volunteer force.”

OR/MS analysts can continue to support these efforts, perhaps with greater focus on the policy and political decisions that enable or hinder analytics-based improvements. ORMS Doug Samuelson (samuelsondoug@yahoo.com) is president and chief scientist of InfoLogix, Inc., in Annandale, Va. The author gratefully acknowledges Barbara Mader for editorial review and assistance.

REFERENCES 1. Phillip Carter, “Expanding the Net: Building Mental Health Care Capacity for Veterans,” Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Policy Brief, November 2013.

2. Phillip Carter, Jason Dempsey, Katherine Kidder, and Amy Schafer, “Passing the Baton: A Bipartisan 2016 Agenda for the Veteran and Military Community,” Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Policy Brief, November 2015.

3. Center for a New American Security, www.cnas.org.

4. Brent James and Douglas A. Samuelson, “Change We Can Live With: Building the Data Capabilities and Analytics to Make Critical Improvements in Patient Safety and Wellness,” OR/MS Today, October 2013.

5. Douglas A. Samuelson, “Caring for America’s Veterans: New Initiatives Highlight Need for Systems-Based Approaches,” OR/MS Today, February 2014.

6. Douglas A. Samuelson, “Can Government Drive Information Innovation?,” Analytics, September-October 2014.

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Q&A

Meet the ‘member in chief’

INFORMS President-Elect Edward H. Kaplan, Yale University

Interview with Ed Kaplan, the next president of INFORMS who plans to lead by example.

By Peter Horner

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December 2015

When nominated for president-elect of INFORMS, Ed Kaplan, professor of operations research, public health and engineering at Yale University, said he aspired to be “member in chief” rather than “president” of the organization. When asked recently what that meant, Kaplan said he wasn’t into giving orders; rather his goal was to be the “best INFORMS member he could be” and to inspire the membership to unearth and address important operations research problems, and that he would lead by example.

Anyone familiar with Kaplan’s research knows he has done exactly that for more than 30 years. Starting with his work on a tenant relocation problem on behalf of a huge public housing redevelopment project in Boston while earning his Ph.D. at MIT in the early-1980s to his more recent work on homeland security and anti-terrorist policy and decision-making in both the United States and in Israel, Kaplan has demonstrated a remarkable knack for finding critically important O.R. problems, approaching them with a uniquely “O.R. mindset,” and producing not only useful, but in some cases, life-saving results.

Perhaps the best-known example is Kaplan’s groundbreaking work regarding HIV infections among a population of intravenous drug-users during the early 1990s on behalf of the New Haven (Conn.) Health Department. With virtually no reliable data and barred from gathering any data from the drug-using “clients,” Kaplan came up with the idea of “interviewing” and tracking the needles, and with mathematical modeling and his well-honed O.R. chops, he was able to build a fact-based case (against considerable political opposition) that a publicly funded needle exchange program would curtail the spread of the disease. The program was implemented and succeeded, drastically reducing the rate of infections.

Kaplan and the rest of the New Haven Health Department team subsequently won the 1992 Franz Edelman Award from TIMS (which later merged with ORSA to form INFORMS), the first of many honors and accolades INFORMS would bestow on him. For those keeping score at home, the list includes the Lanchester Prize, President’s Award, Expository Writing Award, Philip McCord Morse Lectureship, multiple Koopman Prizes, Omega Rho Operations Research Honor Society and INFORMS Fellow. Elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, Kaplan received many other awards from public agencies, governments and universities the world over. Suffice to say he didn’t run for president of INFORMS to pad his resume. ormstoday.informs.org

So why did Kaplan, who will assume the reins as president of INFORMS on Jan. 1, 2016, throw his hat into the presidency ring?

From his viewpoint, what is the state of INFORMS and what does the future hold? What are his goals as president? How did a college geography undergrad major from Canada wind up in operations research and a member of INFORMS? And what do folk dancing, sports and barbeque have in common with the next president of INFORMS? We sat down with the “member in chief” during the recent INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia to get answers to those and other questions. Following are excerpts from the interview.

From your perspective as a board member and about to be president, how would you describe the current state of INFORMS? The state of INFORMS is very healthy. The finances are good.We have more members than we’ve ever had, just under 12,000. We have a healthy flow of new members coming in, and we’re doing a good job of retaining them. The conferences are going quite well. Here in Philadelphia we have well over 5,000 attendees, which is terrific. The section and society structure is working quite well. We have 14 journals that are publishing cutting-edge research and are well respected around the world. As far as a professional/academic association goes, I think we are in very good shape.

What are your goals for your year as president?

Of course, the real goal is to become past president [laugh]. In one year, you can only move the ship five degrees this way or five degrees that way, so it’s really a matter of emphasis, inspiration and direction. I’ve been a member of this organization for 30 years, and over that time I have really come to be a believer in this field. I see myself very much a product of operations research; I owe allegiance to it. My main goal is to inspire the members and represent this discipline in a good way to people inside and outside of INFORMS. We need to engage with government agencies and nonprofits, so that these agencies know who we are and see what we can do.

I think the greatest attribute of the operations researcher is not any specific mathematical method, although the methods are extremely important and I love math and theory as much as the next guy.

To me, what is important is what I call the O.R. mindset. What’s the O.R. mindset? Well, the world is this sea of problems. Operations researchers think in terms of problems.The real skill is going out into the world where you have this amorphous bunch of stuff – angst, things are bothering people, or maybe people think there’s an opportunity or something but it’s not really well structured. How do you take that and structure it and turn it into something that

you can analyze and then apply all those great O.R. tools to it and maybe develop some new ones.That’s what I find exciting.

We’re pretty smart.What happens if we all take a little time to think really hard and asks ourselves, “Is there something I can contribute to help the refugee situation in Syria or to address hunger in the United States?”The idea that you can use operations research to make things better, to improve the lives of people, to make things safer, to reduce the burden of disease, to make the world a better overall place is not some abstract pie in the sky thing.There are plenty of people in the organization who have done and continue to make contributions in this way.We have a fantastic new initiative, Pro Bono Analytics, where our members can get involved and help some of these nonprofit organizations. All of this is an area that I’m very eager to talk about and support during my year as president.

Looking further out, what does the future hold for INFORMS? I think the future of operations research is most dependent on the continual identification of new and important O.R. problems to work on. New methodology goes hand in hand with these problems. Sometimes the development of a new methodology or a breakthrough in technology such as increasing computing power or the ubiquitousness of mobile devices enables you to do things you couldn’t do before. To me, the problems come first, and then it’s how do we address them? How do we think about them? How do we formulate them? How do we solve them?

I think

the future of

operations research is most

dependent on the

continual identification of new and

important O.R. problems to work on.

New

methodology goes

hand in hand

As opposed to running around with a solution in search of a problem?

As opposed to, “Hey, I got this technology over here, and operations research is nothing more than a bunch of things on a shelf, and you just come and pick the right one, and it will solve your problem for you.” I’ve never subscribed to that view, and I never will. My feeling is we have to keep thinking about how to find new problems. Why does that describe the future of the organization? The point is, what is INFORMS? It’s the Institute for Operations Research and December 2015

with these

problems.

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Q&A

the Management Sciences. The Institute and the professional field go hand in hand. If by some horrible act of God the field of O.R. should disappear, it wouldn’t make any sense to have INFORMS.

We have

always been an opportunistic

profession, and the

pendulum swings in different

directions.

Someone, somewhere long ago opined that all of the good O.R. problems were already solved.

It’s not true. It’s absolutely not true that all the good O.R. problems are solved. It’s true there were many good O.R. problems that were solved, and there were lots of people that were thinking hard about it, but things develop at different times.

We have always been an opportunistic profession, and the pendulum swings in different directions. Sometimes someone comes up with a new technique or is able to come up with new algorithms, which when combined with the new and improved computer power, gives us all sorts of things we couldn’t do before.And sometimes people are coming up with brand new problems for which that technology may or may not be appropriate. Not every good operations research problem requires analyzing a 50-gigabyte database, but there are problems that absolutely do require that.What I think is most important is to continue coming up with new and important things to work on and study.

You took a somewhat unusual undergraduate track to operations research. Tell us about it.

I was a geography student as an undergraduate at McGill University in Montreal. Geography in British countries and Canada is not the same field of study as it is in many American schools. It’s not about how long is the Amazon River or what’s the capital of Japan. It’s much more of a science, and there’s both a physical and a human side to it. On the human geography side, in my particular case, it was urban and economic geography.Why do people do what they do where they do it? Why do cities have the characteristic shapes that they do? Why is it that every city has all the big buildings downtown, and why do you have the industries out on the fringe? Why do people live where they live? That’s the kind of geography I was studying.

That sounds a lot like operations research.

At the time I had no idea what operations research was, even though I was solving what I would later recognize as location problems: Where’s the optimal place to locate facilities if you want to minimize travel time or maximize customers, depending upon if you were locating a fire station or a shopping mall.

That was one of the many things I studied in urban geography. My original idea was that I was going to be a city planner. I was going to try and stop Calgary

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from turning into Los Angeles. I grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, eh? But I was lucky enough to get very good advice from people who said, “You’re the kind of guy who should think of a more technical place to go for graduate school.”

So you didn’t have a “traditional” mathematics background?

I always loved math, but I wasn’t a mathematician. I wasn’t in the math department. As I said, I was in the geography department, but as an undergrad, I discovered this course in the math department called Mathematical Models and Applications. I read the description of the course, and it was fascinating. It was about using mathematics to study the laws of planetary motion, traffic, the spread of disease, the spread of rumors, voting and coalitions – this potpourri of applied topics from pure science and social science.

In order to take the modeling class, however, I had to take a bunch of prerequisite classes in things like probability, differential equations and linear algebra, and here I was a first-year geography student. I sat down and for the first time in my life solved a little dynamic program, which was:What do I have to do in order to take this course my senior year? So I filled my spare time with all of these math courses.And when I finally got to take the modeling class, it was fascinating. I loved this class. And because I took this course and the math prerequisites, I was able to write an undergraduate thesis on locating facilities that was much more mathematical and interesting than anything I could have done before.

You wind up going to MIT for grad school.

You go in thinking “city planner” and you come out an “operation researcher.”

Explain the transformation.

So I get to MIT and I meet (former INFORMS President) Dick Larson, who was cross-appointed between electrical engineering and urban studies, and he was also directing the operations research center.

Dick sees what I worked on as an undergrad, and he says, “We don’t get too many urban studies students who seem to have this kind of modeling interest.”

He grabs me to be a teaching assistant for a course that he was doing, and that simple act changed my life.

Dick started telling me about operations research, and I looked at all of the problems he was working on at the time: urban service systems, design and optimization.

Fascinating stuff and great techniques to go with them – queueing models, network models, all of this great stuff that I didn’t know anything about – and here it was all in front of me. Because I had gotten all of my math prerequisites in order back at McGill, it was a beautiful fit.

I was so lucky that Dick found me and picked me. About halfway through my teaching assistant assignment, Dick reminded me that at some point I ormstoday.informs.org

would be writing a thesis, and he said that maybe I could get a master’s degree in operations research, too – a joint thesis that could count for both. Two years later, I had two master’s degrees – one in operations research and one in city planning.

You went on to earn a Ph.D. at MIT. What did your thesis involve?

This is going to feed into your question on how do you find important O.R. problems.The short answer is, they often fall into your lap, but you have to know them when you see them.

One day I was hanging out in my graduate office when in walks one of my classmates whose boyfriend was a consulting architect for a large housing project in Boston that was being completely redeveloped.The redevelopment required ripping down buildings and putting up new ones, and there were 10 or 15 buildings. A big undertaking.The tenants wanted to keep their community together, neighbor with neighbor, but how do you do that during all of this construction and relocation?

If you think about it, it’s really a scheduling issue.

You’re trying to figure out the order you should be doing the redevelopment such that at any point in the process you’re moving people around so that everyone always has an appropriate place to sleep.

I was invited down to the Housing Authority where they were trying to manually schedule all the moves of tenants from one apartment to another. I said there’s a much better way to do this, and that became the first real O.R. problem I solved on my own – an integer programming problem to make sure you can get this entire housing project redeveloped in the minimum amount of time such that everybody always has a place to live. That became known in the housing area as the relocation problem. Everything took off from there.

How and why did you join INFORMS, your professional association home for the past 30-plus years?

I had been working on the housing problem; we’re talking 1982, 1983, 1984. I graduated in 1984.There was an ORSA/TIMS conference in Boston around that time, 1984 or 1985. INFORMS hadn’t been born yet. Dick [Larson] suggested I present some of my housing project work in one of the conference sessions. I remember Jan Chaiken was in the audience, and if memory serves, maybe Peter Kolesar was there, maybe even Warren Walker. Those were the sort of people I started to try to model myself after. I joined ORSA and TIMS at that conference. ®

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December 2015

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Q&A

How has the affiliation with INFORMS impacted your career?

INFORMS has always been my primary professional affiliation. Operations research has always been my primary professional identity. I’m very proud to be an operations researcher.Whenever I have gone off and worked on problems in public health or housing or homeland security or whatever and everyone is being introduced, people always ask, well, what do you do?

I say I’m an operations researcher. And then they ask, “Can you tell us what that means?”

When

I left MIT after all of those years,

I knew who I was.

So what does O.R. mean to you?

Operations research is the scientific study of operations. Operations are the things organizations and people actually do, and the reason you make these studies – and sometimes the studies are empirical or statistical in nature and sometimes they are very mathematical in nature – is because you want to improve decisions that are being made so organizations get better outcomes out of their processes.The process could be about public health programs or various enterprise operations and functions.

Operations research is totally who I am. MIT was this huge change point in my life. I did fine at McGill, but I never walked out of McGill saying I’m a geographer. I didn’t identify myself as a geographer.

The thing I was most excited about was the course on mathematical modeling. When I left MIT after all of those years, I knew who I was. I’m an operations researcher, and that’s how I define myself.

I’m an

operations researcher.

Did that strong identification with O.R. motivate you to run for president of INFORMS? You don’t wake up one morning and say I want to be president of INFORMS. In this organization that’s not how it works. I feel immense loyalty to the profession. It has given me so much, and that’s the biggest reason why when you get a phone call and a member of the Nomination Committee asks if you would be willing to run for president-elect of INFORMS, you say “yes.” You want to give something back to the organization.

INFORMS’ early embrace of the analytics movement produced several developments such as the CAP program and the Analytics Section, now the largest section in INFORMS. Your thoughts?

I’d love to see the Analytics Section turn into a society. If you look at the numbers, it dwarfs the other sections. The field of operations research is flexible, and over time different things get emphasized. Right now, analytics is hot. It’s a recognizable phrase in the outside world, and 40 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

it’s something where we have a lot of in-house expertise and hence we have a lot to share. Those are all good things, but it’s not the only thing we do.

There are all kinds of other exciting things going on in transportation, in health applications, you name it.

There are new activities going on with the methods of optimization, the methods of this, the methods of that. INFORMS is very, very broad in scope.

Analytics is one area that’s doing quite well, and I’d love to see it continue to do quite well.

What do you want the membership to know about INFORMS that they probably don’t?

Some might be amazed that stuff doesn’t just happen by magic.There’s an office in Maryland with 50 employees working very hard to make sure that all of the internal functions of the organization happen, from the website to publications to the meetings to public relations. People obviously know that these things exist, but I don’t think they understand how much goes into it.

The second thing is, it’s a voluntary organization, but again people might not realize exactly what that means. It’s really quite amazing.Take, for example, the awards ceremony at this conference last night. Every single one of those awards has a committee, and every person on those committees is basically doing it out of service to the organization. It’s very important to understand how big and intensive these initiatives are. I understand members want to publish in journals, they want to come to meetings and give talks and network.

But you can’t expect the entire organization to function with a relatively small staff.There’s a big engine room, composed of volunteers, working behind the scenes. And the volunteer board is providing oversight and steering the ship.

You teach courses on policy-making.

Share a few of your insights on the art and science of policy-making in a complicated, political world.

One of the most important things is that you have to really understand the problem, whether you’re working in homeland security, transportation, healthcare, whatever.You really have to understand things not only as an operations researcher but also from the client’s perspective.Whether you agree with them or not, you need to learn how they think about these things, they being the key decision-makers.You have to learn how to communicate with them, and sometimes that means learning an entire new language.

When I was doing all the HIV research and working on the needle exchange project, I was at a disadvantage because I had never taken an epidemiology class in my life. I was not a doctor. I had to learn all of these new words and phrases just to be able to talk to them. I ormstoday.informs.org

had to understand the community that they were trying to help. I had to understand the hard constraints that they were working under.

This is not something you are taught in school.

With few exceptions, we don’t teach people how to formulate problems, how to identify problems. We teach people how to solve problems that have been posed.You’re supposed to pick up everything else by osmosis. It would be really nice if someone could come up with a way to teach this stuff. Soft skills are important to O.R., and I think there is a method to it.

Your work seems to focus on issues that resonate with people and real-world problems, whether it’s fighting disease and terrorism or analyzing the sports world. What drives your research?

Research can often be a very lonely thing. It takes a lot of head scratching. I don’t want to spend time scratching my head if it’s something I don’t care about. Dick Larson taught me that you have to be passionate about what you’re doing or you’re probably not going to do a good job.

Second, it has to be something that I feel I can actually do something about. That means maybe, at a minimum, that I can come up with an idea that is suggestive and that people could find useful. At the other extreme, it could be something that is actually implemented and leads to good results.

Third, it’s not enough that I’m excited about it.

There has to be some third party that’s really interested in it, because if I’m the only one who cares about it, I’m going to be riding around trying to convince you that I got this great idea and you should pay attention, and you’re going to say yeah, yeah, yeah.You need to find something that other people need and are excited about.

Finally, is there something that I can contribute using operations research that is going to be different so that there’s real value added?

When not teaching, researching and volunteering for INFORMS, what do you like to do for fun?

Years ago, I used to folk dance, believe it or not. I met my wife folk dancing, and we both used to perform at folk dance festivals. My first all-expenses-paid trip to Israel as an adult was not to do academic work; it was as part of a folk dance troupe.There are hundreds if not thousands of dances, and they all go with specific pieces of music, and the people who are part of the folk dance world know the dances.

I’m an avid sports fan. I teach a class in sports analytics. I’ve published a few papers in this area, including a recent one on hockey. Sports analytics has been tremendous fun for me.The models are really interesting, and it’s totally changed the way I watch the games.

I like eating, but not necessarily fine food. I’m an aficionado of barbecue. Larry Wein and I have this deal where every time there’s an INFORMS meeting, no matter where it’s held, we always find a barbecue place, and we’ve been doing that for years.

By the way, earlier you asked why I’ve made INFORMS my professional association home for all these years. Well, I’ve made so many good friends in INFORMS, far too many to mention them all here.

These are my homies. I have such huge respect and admiration for them. I have a whole other family in Israel – not only my personal family, but also all the operations researchers that I know there.To me, it’s so much fun to come to an INFORMS or comparable conference and just get together with these people for an evening.They’re all such interesting people and they’re all so smart, but they’re also funny and engaging and exciting, and I just love spending time with them.

We started this conversation talking about your grad school experience. What advice would you give today’s young O.R. grad students?

Find your passion. Whatever it is you’re doing, find your passion.You have to love what you do.

Second, think of the difference between answering all the questions on a problem set versus creating a problem set in the first place.You’re going to go very far in life if you can create problem sets out of all the different situations you come across. I’m talking about structuring and creating something you can analyze out of whatever the mess is that you are faced with.That’s very important.

You can take some risks when you are younger.

The system is kind of stacked against it; the usual model is people go through school and get their technical chops. It’s only later in life that they start deviating somewhat from the more technical things and start working on some of these more applied problems. Remember, you can go back and forth between theory and practice.

Take the gamble. If there is something you really care about, and you think you have the ability to do something about it, you can afford to take a little time and give it a shot. If it doesn’t pan out, what’s the worst thing that is going to happen to you? If you never take the risk, you’re delaying happiness.You’re delaying the payoff both to yourself and perhaps to society at large.

People should be happy with what they are doing, not working on something just because they have to.

Sports analytics has been

tremendous fun for me.

The models are really

interesting, and it’s totally

changed the way I

watch the games.

Every INFORMS president seems to have a theme for their term. What’s yours?

Let’s do stuff! ORMS Peter Horner is the editor of OR/MS Today and Analytics magazine.

December 2015

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news 2016 Conference on Business Analytics and O.R. set for Orlando

Inside News

44 Call for Nominees

44 INFORMS Healthcare 2017

45 International Conference

45 Recap: INFORMS 2015

47 President’s Award

47 Dantzig Dissertation

48 Kimball Medal winners

49 Trio win Lanchester Prize

49 Expository Writing Award

50 von Neumann Prize

51 Teaching Practice Prize

51 Nicholson Student Paper

52 Team wins Wagner Prize

52 Undergraduate Prize

53 Doing Good with O.R.

53 Moving Spirit Awards

54 In Memoriam: H. E. Scarf

55 Welcome New Fellows

55 Meetings

2016 INFORMS election results Orlando will welcome the 2016 INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and O.R. on April 10-12.

Do the twists and turns of making smart business decisions by maximizing the value of your data have you feeling like you’re on an analytical rollercoaster?

If so, the 2016 INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research, set for the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Fla., on April 10-12, is the one analytics conference you should attend. This conference consistently delivers proven applications and processes that will improve your business’s bottom line.

Nearly 1,000 leading analytics professionals and industry experts are expected to come together to share ideas, network and learn about a wide range of problem-solving techniques and methods.

With presentations that revolve around real-world solutions, attendees will hear the full story behind successful analytics projects. This, in turn, will help you gain insight and drive your business planning.

This year’s world-class line-up of speakers and strategic thought leaders will present talks on a wide range of problem-solving techniques and methods. Invited tracks on Analytics Leadership & Soft Skills, Decisions & Risk Analysis, Fraud Detection & Life Sciences, Internet of Things, Marketing Analytics, Revenue Management & Pricing, Sports & Entertainment and Supply Chain Analytics will be of great interest to anyone looking to make analytics work in real organizations. About 30 handpicked, member-contributed talks, in-depth technology workshops, poster presentations, panels and several opportunities for networking will round out the program.

The Edelman Awards Gala, an Oscar-like dinner and awards celebration and a traditional conference highlight, will be held April 11. Considered the “Super Bowl of O.R.,” the Edelman recognizes the world’s best applications of analytics,

The following individuals were elected to the 2016 INFORMS Board of Directors and will take office on Jan. 1, 2016:

President-Elect Brian Denton

Secretary Pinar Keskinocak

Vice President Marketing, Communication & Outreach Laura Albert McLay

Vice President - Membership & Professional Recognition Susan E. Martonosi

Vice President International Activities Dr. Grace Lin

Vice President - Practice Activities Dr. Jonathan H. Owen

Vice President - Chapters/Fora Michael Johnson

2016 Conference, continued on p. 44

December 2015

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n ews INFORMS elections: Call for nominees This is the call for nominations for the INFORMS elections to be held in 2016 to elect members of the 2017 Board of Directors.

Below is a brief review of the nomination and election process. More detail appears in INFORMS Bylaw 3 and P&P 4.2 and 4.3.

Each year, a call for nominations of candidates for next year’s INFORMS Board occurs. For this year’s elections, the Board positions for 2017 to be filled by INFORMS member election are: • President-elect • Treasurer • Vice President-Education • Vice President-Information Technology • Vice President-Meetings • Vice President-Publications The position of Vice President-Sections and Societies is also to be filled, but that position will be filled through election by the Subdivisions Council.

INFORMS vice presidents are typically elected for a two-year term. The treasurer and secretary positions are also two-year terms, and they are staggered so that in each year not more than one of the two positions has a newly elected person starting a term of office.

Because these offices involve a significant learning experience, first-term incumbents may be nominated without opposition for a second term for reasons of continuity and stability. This is the reason why one or several positions on the INFORMS ballot may have only a single candidate.

The president-elect will serve three years: one year as president-elect, one year as president and one year as past president.

INFORMS elections are held in the fall, in recent years running from August through the end of September. INFORMS employs a voting process called approval voting. This means that INFORMS members can vote for as many candidates as they think are qualified for a position.

According to Bylaw 3: Elections shall be conducted by approval voting, whereby each voter may vote for any number of 44 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

candidates for an office and the individual elected shall be the one receiving the largest number of votes. … A quorum for membership voting is 10 percent of the members eligible to vote.

If you think that someone, including yourself, would be a good candidate for one of the aforementioned openings,

please consider sending your recommendations to the nominating committee chair: L. Robin Keller at LRKeller@uci.edu.

Nominations received by Jan. 10, 2016, will be considered. Nominations received after that date may be considered. The nominating committee is scheduled to report its nominations by Feb. 15, 2016. ORMS

2016 Conference, continued from p. 43

2016 Conference on Business Analytics and O.R. operations research and management science. The Edelman Gala is included in the conference registration fee.

Special programs within the conference are designed for future analytics leaders. The Early Career Connection provides early-career professionals with new perspectives into some of the most The Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Fla., will host critical problems facing the conference. industry today, enabling The conference site, the Hyatt Regency them to broaden their research agendas.

Grand Cypress, is a world-class resort The INFORMS Professional Colloquium is designed to help practice-oriented master’s that offers an impressive collection of onsite activities, in addition to being just one and Ph.D. students transition into successmile from Walt Disney World and close to ful careers. Participants in both programs everything else Orlando has to offer. can register for the full conference at a disRegistration rates for this conference start counted rate but must be nominated and at $1,065 for INFORMS members. Special selected to attend. rates are available for students, retired attendThe Analytics Career Fair is INFORMS’ ees, conference newcomers and selected premier, professional career event that allows top analytics employers and seasoned speakers. A team discount is also available.

For information regarding conference professionals the ability to connect in a casual atmosphere. The career fair is included registration or submitting a presentation, visit meetings.informs.org/analytics2016. ORMS in the registration for this conference.

Call for proposals:

INFORMS Healthcare 2017 Proposals are requested to host the 4th INFORMS Conference on Healthcare during the summer of 2017. All proposals are due prior to Feb. 1, 2016, and will

be evaluated by the INFORMS Meetings Committee. E-mail liz.hood@informs. org for proposal criteria and submission instructions.ORMS ormstoday.informs.org

ormstoday.informs.org

2016 INFORMS International Conference in Hawaii The 2016 INFORMS International Conference will be held June 12-15 in Waikoloa Village, Hawaii. This conference is one of the largest international conferences in operations research and management science, attracting about 1,000 researchers and practitioners.

Tracks will span the full range of OR/ MS specialties, from Big Data Analytics to Health Applications, and all aspects of emerging topics in between. The informative program is designed to educate attendees on the current advances that are at the cutting edge of the field anywhere in the world. Through a series of diverse speakers, panels, tutorials and structured networking, the conference will offer attendees a forum for rich intellectual exchange on a broad range of OR/MS applications.

New for this conference, INFORMS is launching a Web-enabled abstract processing system that makes it possible for authors of all papers, including those sponsored by INFORMS sections, societies and fora, to easily submit their abstracts online. The new system is now

online and ready to accept submissions.

In addition to the technical tracks, the program also includes two receptions primarily focused on networking with international colleagues.

The Monday evening general reception will be an authentic Hawaiian luau that is sure to be a feast for anyone’s senses. It will Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort, site of the 2016 International include traditional PolyConference. nesian music, dance and food by the beach. three pools, eight tennis courts, two golf The conference will take place at the courses, kayaking, paddle boating and a Hilton Waikoloa Village Resort. The Hilton dolphin encounter experience. is set on 62 acres along the Kohala Coast, Registration fees for this event which is known for its many notable cul- start at $630 for INFORMS members. tural and geologic features of the ancient Discounted student/retired rates are Hawaiian culture. This sprawling tropical available. Early registration rates will resort offers gardens, waterfalls, lagoons expire on May 20. and waterways that cumulate to creIf you are interested in submitting a preate a stunning location with unparalleled sentation or attending the conference, visit beauty. In addition to the visual ameni- meetings.informs.org/2016international for ties, the resort has numerous restaurants, more information. ORMS

A Twitter recap of INFORMS 2015

By Chris Marks and Tauhid Zaman Following the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in November, we collected Twitter status updates, or “tweets,” using the Twitter search API and the python methods from the INFORMS Twitter Data Mining Tutorial (available at http://web.mit. edu/cemarks/www/tutorial.html). The search query we used was “#INFORMS2015,” which returned 2,097 tweets spread out over approximately a one-week period encompassing the annual meeting. Of these status updates, 878 were “retweets,” where a user re-posted a status update originally posted by a different user. Figure 1 shows a screen shot of the most retweeted tweet, which is from user @lauramclay, and was retweeted 37 times.

The pulse of INFORMS 2015: Figure 2 depicts the tweet rate, in tweets per hour, of the “#INFORMS2015” hashtag. We observe three spikes in this tweet rate, each occurring at approximately the same time of day on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, as indicated in the plot.

A summary review of the content in each of the spikes reveals interesting information about the conference. The first spike, occurring on Saturday, contains primarily of tweets about the start of the annual INFORMS meeting. The Sunday and Monday spikes consist of many tweets from a single user, @michaelhoffman, who gives updates and quotes from plenary talks and other presenters during these periods.

Figure 1: The #INFORMS2015 status update with the most retweets.

Twitter Recap, continued on p. 46

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n ews Twitter Recap, continued from p. 45

Figure 2: Tweet rate of “#INFORMS2015” during the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting.

Figure 4. User-mention graph from “#INFORMS2015” original tweets.

words in the “#INFORMS2015” tweets, where the size of each word increases with the frequency Figure 3: Word cloud of “#INFORMS2015” tweet content. of occurrence in the data. As can be The language of INFORMS 2015: seen, “analytics” and “data” are the hot topics To get an idea of what INFORMS 2015 was of discussion on Twitter for INFORMS. about, at least according to people who use The connections of INFORMS Twitter, we created the word cloud in Figure 3 2015: Finally, we provide a network using the “wordcloud” package in Python. This depiction of tweet “user-mentions” in figure depicts the most commonly occurring the “#INFORMS2015” data. The plot in USER

NUMBER OF MENTIONS

NAME

Figure 4 displays Twitter users as nodes in a directed graph. An edge exists from User A to User B if User A mentioned User B in an “#INFORMS2015” tweet. Table 1 provides details on the top-mentioned accounts in the “#INFORMS2015” data set. Not surprisingly, @INFORMS and @INFORMS2015 dominate the list. The other accounts belong to users who gave talks or presentations at the conference. ORMS

DESCRIPTION

NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS

NUMBER OF FRIENDS

@INFORMS

30

INFORMS

INFORMS is the largest professional society in the world for professionals in the fields of analytics and OR/MS

4967

453

@INFORMS2015

25

INFORMS2015

The INFORMS Annual Meeting, with more than 1K sessions & just over 5K papers, covers broad landscape of O.R. research & practice. Use hashtag #informs2015.

424

5

@agrobins

10

Anne G. Robinson

Advanced analytics enthusiast focused on strategy, supply chain & social media.

Newfoundlander. Past president of INFORMS (http://t.co/KCPClAO7z3)

703

315

@thserra

9

Thiago Serra

PhD candidate at CMU, optimization enthusiast, and proud father of one

317

346

@miketrick

9

Michael Trick

Professor of Operations Research, Sports Scheduler, Blogger

2416

485

Table 1: Twitter account descriptions of top-mentioned “#INFORMS2015” users.

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Levis earns INFORMS President’s Award Jack Levis, senior director of process management at UPS, was named the 2015 recipient of the INFORMS President’s Award for his “his significant contributions to the practice of operations research and analytics, and for service to the profession in both extensive outreach and in improving INFORMS operations.”

The award, presented by INFORMS President Robin Keller at a special awards session held at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, capped a big night for Levis who was also named a recipient of the 2015 Kimball Award for distinguished service to INFORMS and the O.R. profession.

The INFORMS President’s Award recognizes and encourages important contributions to the welfare of society by operations researchers at the local, national and global level. The award committee includes the current INFORMS president and the two most recent past presidents.

“I’m honored, I’m humbled, and honestly I’m astonished. I want to say thank you to INFORMS and its members,” Levis said in accepting the award and gesturing toward the audience. “I’ve never taken an O.R. class in my life, but I do know business and business value and opportunity and a good thing when I see it. … Even though I can’t do what you can do, you welcomed me here with open arms. … You showed me the power of this profession. You showed me new ways to look at problems. You showed me amazing ways to solve them, and you opened my eyes up to a magical world. … You made me better personally and professionally, and you made my company better. So again, thank you.”

The award citation read in part: In his four-decade career at UPS, Jack Levis has overseen process reengineering through the integration of multiple planning and control systems, enabling the seamless integration of their physical and virtual networks. As the director of process management, he has led breakthrough changes for UPS and has reduced millions of driving miles, giving UPS significant competitive advantage through the UPS award-winning package flow technology and ORION (on-road integrated optimization navigation) system.

Levis is an influential leader within INFORMS. During his service as the INFORMS vice president of Practice (2010-2013), he led the development and introduction of a new budgeting system for INFORMS. He has also served INFORMS as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, Sections/Societies Committee, President’s Award winner Jack Levis (l) with Professional Recognition Committee INFORMS President Robin Keller. and Meetings Committee, as well as leading the 2007 INFORMS Analytics (“UPS Optimizes Its Air Network”). As Conference as general chair. To strengthen written in the INFORMS Prize citation, ties between academia and industry, he and “While providing myriad cost savings, CPMS collaborated with the INFORMS operations research is indeed a strategic Board and UPS C-suite to create the UPS lynchpin and a significant source of George D. Smith Prize. competitive advantage for UPS.” Levis is a superb ambassador for operaThe purpose of the INFORMS tions research and analytics through keynote President’s Award is to recognize important talks, the popular press and his advisory coun- contributions to the welfare of society. Levis cil positions (including those with the U.S. is not only an ambassador of operations Census Scientific Advisory Board and the research and analytics, spreading word Analytics Certification Board). The popular about the value of these techniques, he also episode on “Making Stuff Faster” featuring his practices what he preaches. He has led the operations team at UPS (in the “Making Stuff” analytics and operations research practice series on the PBS series Nova) is a prime ex- at UPS, providing improved societal value ample of his success at outreach. by enabling organizations and individuals In 2003, his team won the INFORMS to better carry out their missions through Prize and was an Edelman Prize runner-up reliable and timely package deliveries. ORMS

Dantzig Dissertation Award Alexandre Jacquillat of MIT was presented the 2015 George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award from INFORMS for his dissertation, “Integrated Allocation and Utilization of Airport Capacity to Mitigate Air Traffic Congestion.”

Nils Rude of INSEAD presented the award at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The award honors the best dissertation in any area of operations research and the management sciences that is innovative and relevant to practice. The award is designed to encourage academic research that combines theory and practice and stimulates greater interaction between doctoral students (and their advisors) and the world of practice.

Awards finalists included Daniela Saban of Stanford University (“Design and Analysis

Dantzig Dissertation Award winner Alexandre Jacquillat (l) receives congratulations from INFORMS President Robin Keller.

of Matching and Auction Markets”) and Yuanhui Zhang of North Carolina State University (“Robust Optimal Control for Medical Treatment Decisions”). ORMS December 2015

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n ews Levis, Robinson receive Kimball Medals Jack Levis, senior director of process management for UPS, and Anne Robinson, executive director of Supply Chain Strategy and Forward Operations for Verizon Wireless and a former president of INFORMS, received the George E. Kimball Medal for distinguished service to INFORMS and the O.R. profession. Susan Albin, chair of the Kimball Medal Committee, made the presentation at the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The citations read in part: Jack Levis joined (UPS) in 1976 as a package loader while getting his degree in psychology. Levis held many front-line management positions in both operations and engineering and in each was able to make significant, measurable improvement.

In 1987, he was promoted to the position of engineer responsible for the West Coast Transportation network. He led a reengineering effort that resulted in an annual savings of $30 million. Innovation has been a focal point of his career, and in 1990 he was asked to join the corporate engineering staff responsible for an operations technology vision.

Levis worked to help UPS become a data-driven company and in 1995 won a Computerworld Smithsonian Award for UPS’ first information/data warehouse. He was then given the added responsibility of managing UPS’ Operations Research divisions. This responsibility opened Levis’ eyes to the power and value of analytics, operations research and INFORMS. His new assignment put him in a unique position of being responsible for both operations vision and operations research. This allowed him to ensure that O.R. was built into processes from the beginning, and his team designed an award-winning suite of tools that included predictive and prescriptive models.

These tools transformed UPS’ delivery operations, ultimately reducing delivery driver miles by 185 million miles per year. The spectacular results garnered significant industry attention and won over a dozen prestigious awards, including the Gartner Business Intelligence Excellence Award, Computerworld 48 | ORMS Today

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technology awards and CIO top 100 Awards.

Levis has been a very active INFORMS member. He served on many committees including Meetings, Strategic Planning, Certified Analytics Professional and Edelman Gala. In addition, he served four years as vice president of Practice and was the emcee for the 2015 Edelman Gala. Along with CPMS and the INFORMS Board, he helped create the prestigious UPS George D. Smith Prize to strengthen ties between academia and practice.

Kimball Medal winners Anne Robinson and Jack Levis with INFORMS President Robin Keller (l-r).

Anne G. Robinson has been an active advocate for the field of operations research ever since discovering the profession as an undergraduate mathematics student. Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Robinson received her BSc.H in mathematics from Acadia University, her MASc. in management sciences from University of Waterloo, and her MSc. and Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Stanford University.

Throughout her career, Robinson has been dedicated to the application of analytics and operations research to solve problems.

Following her time at Stanford, Robinson spent several years at Cisco Systems, a high-tech networking company, where her responsibilities included managing advanced analytics, business intelligence and performance management teams across the supply chain. As the driving force for many foundational and cross-functional process innovations, she helped establish Cisco’s presence and recognition as a leader in business intelligence and analytics, including being inducted into the Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame.

Currently, Robinson is the executive director of Supply Chain Strategy and Forward Operations for Verizon Wireless. Her team’s responsibilities include applying operations research and advanced analytics across the supply chain leading to improved product lifecycle management, working capital optimization and cost reduction.

Robinson has been a member of INFORMS since her graduate school days,

where she was president of the Stanford INFORMS student chapter as well as an editor for OR/MS Tomorrow. Her service to the society has only expanded. She has served multiple times on the Franz Edelman Competition as a verifier and judge, chaired several committees (including the Membership Committee and Professional Recognition Committee) and served for seven years on the INFORMS Board. As INFORMS vice president for Marketing, Communications and Outreach, Robinson was a powerful force in shaping the strategic plan for INFORMS’ pioneering decision to grow from operations research and management science to the related field of analytics.

When she became president, she combined careful preparation on INFORMS Board with public advocacy, becoming one of the top INFORMS spokespeople on analytics. She traveled not only to INFORMS meetings but to diverse business, analytics and data science conferences, granting numerous interviews in different media to explain INFORMS’ unique contribution to the exciting field of analytics.

During Robinson’s term, INFORMS unfolded Analytics magazine, INFORMS certification, continuing education, enhanced information technology and several new outreach programs. Following her service on the INFORMS Board, she became the founding editor of INFORMS Editor’s Cut, a comprehensive online multimedia collection examining important research areas in operation research and analytics. ORMS ormstoday.informs.org

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Conforti, Cornuéjols, Zambelli share Lanchester Prize The 2015 Lanchester Prize was awarded to Michele Conforti, Gérard Cornuéjols and Giacomo Zambelli for their book “Integer Programming,” Springer, Switzerland, 2014. Committee Chair David Shmoys presented the award at the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The Lanchester Prize is awarded by INFORMS for the best contribution to operations research and the management sciences published in English in the past three years. The prize includes a commemorative medallion and a $5,000 cash award.

The award citation read in part: Advances in the theory of integer programming have gone hand in hand with advances in solving integer programs in practice. This textbook presents the fundamentals of the area, highlighting the

mathematical elegance of the foundations of the field, as well as bringing the reader to the edge of the research frontier.

The writing blends clarity of exposition with a dedication to infusing the reader with the needed geometric intuition.

Several well-known results especially benefit from this fresh Committee Chair David Shmoys (far left) and INFORMS presentation, including the thePresident Robin Keller (far right) flank Lanchester Prize ory of split inequalities and the winners Michele Conforti and Giacomo Zambelli. explicit description of the convex hull of a finite union of polyThis advanced theory is complemented by hedra. Even the most recent theoretical a thorough development of the algorithmic gems are included, such as the exponenand modeling aspects of the area, making tial lower bound on the size of extended this a truly complete survey of integer proformulations of the matching polytope, as gramming, which will serve the next generwell as the power of hierarchies of relaxation of researchers to further advance the ations based on semidefinite programming. field in the years ahead. ORMS

Saul Gass Expository Writing Award Martin Lariviere of Northwestern University was named the 2015 recipient of the Saul Gass Expository Writing Prize in recognition of his published research on supply chain management and service operations. Committee Chair Rob Shumsky presented the award at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

Named in honor of the late Saul Gass, an O.R. pioneer and an extraordinary and prolific writer, the prize recognizes an operations researcher/management scientist whose publications demonstrate a consistently high standard of expository writing.

The citation read in part: [Professor Lariviere’s] work explores the impact of decentralized decision-making on operational performance and design. His most significant papers include: “Contracting to Assure Supply: How to Share Demand Forecasts in a Supply Chain,” “Supply Chain Coordination with Revenue-Sharing Contracts: Strengths and Limitations,” “Selling to the Newsvendor: An Analysis of Price-Only Contracts” and “Strategically Seeking Service: How Competition Can Generate Poisson Arrivals.”

In these and many other papers, Professor Lariviere formulates parsimonious models that provide important insights. His research has been foundational, creating a prominent new area of research in operations management.

The influence of Professor Lariviere’s work has been significantly enhanced by the force and clarity of his writing. His papers provide a sense of direction and purpose as models are developed and explored. The results from the models are often dizzyingly complex, but the lucid explanations make the complex seem simple. His papers communicate clearly and precisely the intellectual contribution of his work. In each paper, Professor Lariviere carefully constructs a narrative as to why his results are surprising, insightful and worthy of attention.

While Professor Lariviere’s journal publications have had a dramatic influence on his academic colleagues, he also had a broad impact on both academia and industry as the primary contributor to The Operations Room, a blog that focuses on topics related to operations management and operations research. Since 2009, Professor Lariviere has written more

Committee Chair Rob Shumsky (l) presents Saul Gass Expository Writing Award to Martin Lariviere.

than 700 posts on topics from wearable devices to port strikes to the history of elevator music. The blog has thousands of readers and subscribers through email, Twitter and other social media. Many of Professor Lariviere’s posts link phenomena from our daily lives to fundamental concepts in operations management. Others translate complex research ideas to make them accessible for a broad audience.

The writing is informative and true to scholarship while engaging and entertaining.

Through the blog, Professor Lariviere has become one of our greatest ambassadors for the fields of operations management and operations research. ORMS December 2015

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n ews Chvátal, Lasserre earn von Neumann Prize The 2014 John von Neumann Theory Prize of INFORMS was awarded to Vašek Chvátal and Jean Lasserre for their “seminal and profound contributions to the theoretical foundations of optimization.”

Prize Committee George Nemhauser made the presentation at the INFORMS Award Ceremony held in conjunction with the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The prize recognizes scholars who have made fundamental, sustained contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences.

The citation read in part: Through their work in the domains of integer programming and polynomial optimization, respectively, Chvátal and Lasserre developed the mathematical theory and corresponding computational approaches to tackle hard computational problems that compute strengthened bounds via tractable convex relaxations. The notions of Chvátal rank and the Lasserre hierarchy each have impact well beyond their initial research spheres and are simultaneously elegant mathematics and the foundations for new algorithmic approaches.

Vašek Chvátal’s body of theoretical research work has brought elegance to the field of operations research, and in particular linear and integer programming, algorithms, complexity, graph theory and computation that is unmatched. It is easy to select Chvátal’s 1973 cutting-plane paper, “Edmonds polytopes and a hierarchy of combinatorial problems,” as one of the top papers in the history of integer programming, in which Chvátal shed new light on Gomory’s fractional cutting planes for solving integer programs and, even more importantly, introduced the concept of the rank of valid inequalities and polyhedra. This new idea of rank provided the structure to understand the difficult task of creating integral polyhedral from relaxations and impacted the subsequent development of theory and algorithms. His slogan “combinatorics = number theory + linear programming” became the rallying cry for researchers in the following decades, when cutting planes went on to be the most important component of the 50 | ORMS Today

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expansion and increased depth of the field.

In the area of algorithms, Chvátal’s 1979 paper “A greedy heuristic for the set-covering problem,” introduced an amazing dual argument, showing a logarithmic optimality ratio for a simple greedy algorithm. The LP-duality line-of-thought is now Committee Chair George Nemhauser (l) and INFORMS a central tool in the area of apPresident Robin Keller (r) flanks John von Neumann proximation methods for NPTheory Prize recipient Jean Bernard Lasserre. hard problems. In complexity theory, Chvátal introduced the notion of computer vision to quantum cryptography.

Lasserre’s paper, “Global optimization with cutting-plane proofs that has become an polynomials and the problem of moments,” important model of computation. created the field of polynomial optimization, In 1988, he also co-authored, with Szemerédi, the influential paper “Many hard ex- and outlined the major tools and underlying mathematics of virtually all work in the area amples for resolution,” describing the use of randomization to create a class of satisfiability that followed.

These problems are non-convex, very problems that is difficult for the resolution proof system. Chvátal and Szemerédi do not con- hard to solve, and previous work settled for finding only a local optimum. Lasserre introstruct specific examples of their class, but rather show that with high probability a random ex- duced an ingenious new method based on reformulating the problem as a convex opample is difficult. This is an elegant blueprint for timization problem over the set of measures a possible attack on P versus NP itself. having a prescribed support; next he devised In the early 1990s, Chvátal turned his research focus to computational work, tack- a scheme of hierarchical approximations for ling the traveling salesman problem with the the original problem based on exploiting necessary conditions for sequences of moments concrete aim of solving large instances to of measures. He not only proved the converexact optimality. In 1973, he introduced the concept of comb inequalities that had taken gence of the bounds to the optimum value of the original hard problem, but also used this as the cutting-plane approach to the TSP to the basis for an effective computational method new heights in the 1970s and 1980s. In this for computing global optimizers, relying on the new work, Chvátal succeeded in bringing to fact that these hierarchical bounds can be combear on the TSP many of the further ideas he had developed in his general studies of inte- puted via semidefinite programming. This is a ger programming, algorithms and complex- landmark achievement in the development of the mathematics of optimization. ity. This research, together with Applegate, A key aspect of this paper was the use Bixby and Cook, is described in the 2007 of techniques from real algebraic geometry Lanchester Prize winning book, “The Travelto derive certificates of positivity using repreing Salesman: A Computational Study.” sentations by sums of squared polynomials.

Jean Lasserre’s fundamental work on Building on this in his subsequent paper, “A sum of squares approximation of nonnegative optimization has provided the mathematical framework to solve an important class of polynomials,” Lasserre gave an elegant new optimization problems – polynomial opti- proof of the central element in this theory: any nonnegative polynomial can be approximated mization – in which one aims to minimize a polynomial function subject to polynomial in- by sums of squares. Combining convex dualequality constraints, which has been applied in ity theory and a moment-theoretic result, he constructed approximating polynomials that areas ranging from control theory to machine are both simple and explicit. ORMS learning-inspired clustering problems, and ormstoday.informs.org

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Lucas earns INFORMS Prize for Teaching of OR/MS Practice The 2015 INFORMS Prize for the Teaching of OR/MS Practice was presented to Thomas W. Lucas, a professor of operations research at the Naval Postgraduate School, for his “his professionalism and contributions to the teaching of practice in operations research and the management sciences.” Committee Chair Alexandra Newman presented the award at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The award citation read in part: Professor Thomas W. Lucas is a dedicated teacher and mentor both inside and outside the classroom. Most students at the Naval Postgraduate School have a job waiting for them when they graduate – typically in a defense organization that places a high value on strong analytic capabilities.

These organizations must inform senior leaders on how our armed forces should be equipped, organized and potentially used. Choices are routinely made that involve billions of dollars and can potentially save many lives.

An effective O.R. analyst in this environment must be able to properly frame questions, handle messy data, build models, find robust solutions and effectively communicate results to a variety

of audiences. Professor Lucas truly excels in developing these skill sets as he mentors students.

In his combat modeling classes, Lucas supplements the conceptual material by bringing in guest lecturers with expertise in developing and using these models. Via the NPS Simulation, Experiments and Efficient Committee Chair Alexandra Newman (l) and INFORMS Design (SEED) Center, President Robin Keller (r) flank Thomas W. Lucas, winner of he sponsored more than the INFORMS Prize for the Teaching of OR/MS Practice. a dozen workshops that allowed students to work with military ofwithin the defense community of the ficers, software modelers and defense ana- value of using large-scale simulation lysts from around the world on quick-turn experiments to inform decision-makers. simulation and analysis of current problems As one former student states, Profesin defense and national security. sor Lucas’ “influence on the practice of The vast majority of Lucas’ thesis operations research extends beyond his students have addressed near-term, hundreds of students to their thousands practical problems; his students are of students and subordinates. [He] is a successful O.R. practitioners by the time consummate professional who not only they graduate. The caliber of their work possesses a wide breadth of knowledge is reflected in the numerous awards and experience, but has the gift of being they have received and in the response able to impart that knowledge, and what of high-ranking officials. This has led to it really means to be an analyst, to his a growing awareness and recognition students.” ORMS

Nicholson Student Paper Competition Linwei Xin of Georgia Tech won the 2015 George E. Nicholson Student Paper Competition for the paper, “Asymptotic optimality of Tailored Base-Surge policies in dual-sourcing inventory systems.”

The competition is held each year to honor outstanding papers in the field of operations research and the management sciences written by a student.

Second place went to Ruoyu Sun of the University of Minnesota for the paper, “On the Expected Convergence of Randomly Permuted ADMM,” while Xiaoshan Peng of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business received honorable mention for the paper, “An Equilibrium

Analysis of a Multiclass Queue with Endogenous Abandonments.”

Fi n a l i s t s i n c l u d e d Wang Chi Cheung of MIT, Antoine Desir and Chun Ye of Columbia University, Brian Lu of Columbia University and Can Zhang of Georgia Tech.

Committee co-chairs Illya Hicks and Mark Squillante made the presentations at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. ORMS

Nicholson Student Paper Competition winner Linwei Xin (second from left) receives congratulations from committee members Illya Hicks (far left) and Mark Squillante (second from right), along with INFORMS President Robin Keller (far right).

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n ews CDC, Georgia Tech, Emory team up to win Wagner Prize A team comprised of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control, Georgia Tech and Emory University received the 2015 Daniel H. Wagner Prize for creating a model that uses genetic signatures to predict the efficacy of vaccines on an individual-by-individual basis. The winner was announced at the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The prize-winning work, “Machine Learning Framework for Predicting Vaccine Immunogenicity,” was conducted and co-authored by Eva K. Lee and Fan Yuan of Georgia Tech, Bali Pulendran and Helder Nakaya of Emory University and Ferdinand Pietz and Bernard Benecke of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Eva Lee is a Fellow and longtime member of INFORMS. The ability to better predict how different individuals will respond to vaccination and to understand what best protects them from infection marks an important advance in developing next-generation vaccines. It facilitates the rapid design and evaluation of new and emerging vaccines. It also identifies individuals unlikely to benefit from the vaccine.

The authors created a general-purpose machine-learning framework, called DAMIP, for discovering gene signatures that can predict vaccine immunity and efficacy.

Using DAMIP, implemented results for yellow fever demonstrated that, for the first time, a vaccine’s ability to immunize a patient could be successfully predicted with greater than 90 percent accuracy Eva Lee, Georgia Tech. within a week after vaccination. A gene identified by DAMIP decrypted a seven-decade-old mystery of vaccination. Results for flu vaccine demonstrated DAMIP’s applicability to both live-attenuated and inactivated vaccines. Similar results in a malaria study enabled targeted delivery to individual patients.

The project guides the rapid development of better vaccines to fight emerging infections and improve monitoring for poor responses in the elderly, infants and those with weakened immune systems. The project’s work is expected to help design a universal flu vaccine.

The Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice emphasizes the quality and coherence of the analysis used in the practice of operations research and analytics. This prize recognizes those principles by emphasizing good writing,

strong analytical content and verifiable practice successes.

The other four finalists for the 2015 Wagner Prize included: • “Integrated Planning of Multi-type Locomotive Service Facilities under Location, Routing and Inventory Considerations,” by Kamalesh Somani and Jing Huang, CSX Transportation, and Xi Chen, Yanfeng Ouyang, Zhaodong Wang and Siyang Xie, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • “Scheduling Crash Tests at Ford Motor Company,” by Daniel Reich, Ellen Barnes and Erica Klampfl, Ford Motor Company, and Marina Epelman, Amy Cohn and Yuhui Shi, University of Michigan • Strategic Re-design of Urban Mail and Parcel Networks at La Poste,” by Stefan Spinler, WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management, Matthias Winkenbach, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Alain Roset, La Poste • “Using Analytics to Enhance Shelf Space Management in a Food Retailer,” by Teresa Bianchi de Aguiar, Maria Antónia Carravilla, Luis Guimarães, José Oliveira and Elsa Silva, University of Porto, and Jorge Liz, João Günther Amaral and Sérgio Lapela, Sonae MC ORMS

Three receive Undergraduate Operations Research Prize Magdalenda Romero of Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, John Massey Cashore of the University of Waterloo and Kyle Cunningham, SUNY Buffalo, won the 2015 Undergraduate Operations Research Prize from INFORMS for their respective papers, “Optimal Resource Allocation in Breast Cancer Screening with Different Risk Groups” (Romero), “Multi-Step Bayesian Optimization for One-Dimensional Feasibility Determination” (Cashore) and “Alleviating Competitive Imbalances in NFL Schedules: An Integer-Programming Approach” (Cunningham).

Committee chair Aurelie Thiele presented the awards at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

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The prize competition is held each year to honor a student or group of students who conducted a significant applied project in operations research or management science, and/ or original and important theoretical or applied research in operations research or management science, while enrolled Aurelie Thiele (far right), chair of the Undergraduate as an undergraduate student.

Operations Research Prize, congratulates the winners The prize includes a monetary and finalists. award of $500 plus travel support to attend the INFORMS Annual Meeting.

Karakas, Fehmi Mert Gurel, Kaan Telciler Andy Zheng of Northwestern of Koc University (“Routing Optimization University (“Robust Multi-Objective of a Drone for Agricultural Inspections”) Clustering”) and Cagan Urkup, Ezgi received honorable mention. ORMS ormstoday.informs.org

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Doing Good with Good O.R. Student Paper Competition Chenxi Zeng of Georgia Tech won the 2015 Doing Good with Good O.R. Student Paper Competition for the paper “Improving Blood Collection Policies for Cryoprecipitate.”

The competition is held each year to identify and honor outstanding projects in the field of operations research and the management sciences conducted by a student or student group that have a significant societal impact. Finalists presented their papers in sessions held in conjunction with the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

Tong Wang of MIT (“Finding Patterns with a Rotten Core: Data Mining for Crime Series Detection”) placed second, while Sung Keun Baek, Xiaoyang Li, Allen Liu, James Micali, Jisu Park, Mengnan Shen, Yunjie Sun and Emilie Wurmser of Georgia Tech (“Infusion Center Process Improvement and Patient Wait Time Reduction”) and Tianshu Sun, University of Maryland (“Optimal Policy Design to Motivate Blood Donation: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment and a Structural Model”) received honorable mention.

Finalists included: Yuanhui Zhang of North Carolina State University (“Using Operations Research to Improve the Health of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes”), Kimberly Adelaar, Charmaine Chan, Matt Daniels, Javeria Javeria, Caleb Mbuvi, Chu Qian, Ivan Renaldi, and Jonathan Sutomo of Georgia Tech (“Ebola Treatment Facility Location Planning in Guinea”).

Chase Rainwater and Ruben Proano presented the awards. ORMS

Chenxi Zeng (third from left) won the Doing Good with Good O.R. Student Paper Competition. Zeng is joined by Committee Co-Chair Ruben Proano (far left), INFORMS President Robin Keller (far right) and other finalists.

Margaret Brandeau of Stanford received the Philip McCord Morse Lectureship Award at the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. Among her many accomplishments, Brandeau was instrumental in the founding of the INFORMS Doing Good with Good O.R. Award.

Moving Spirit Award

Fora Moving Spirit

Daniel Reich, Southeastern Michigan Chapter

Dionne Aleman, Junior Faculty Interest Group

Citation: During the 18 months in which Daniel Reich served as president of the chapter, he was instrumental in organizing six events, the largest of which had approximately 100 attendees. His enthusiasm helped to attract members, including those willing to act as David Hunt (l) presents future board members, mainMoving Spirit Award to taining the momentum of the Daniel Reich. new chapter. After stepping down from his role as president in 2015, Reich has still participated in chapter activities and organization in his role as past president.

In the past two years, Reich has taken many actions for which we believe he deserves the “moving spirit” award: He has led the revival of the Southeast Michigan Chapter, he has put in great effort to organize a series of successful events, and he has supported the new chapter officers, helping to ensure success of the chapter in years to come. ORMS

Citation: Dionne Aleman is a paradigm of community involvement within INFORMS. In addition to holding every officer position in the Junior Faculty Interest Group (2011 president, webmaster since 2009), she has held countless subdivision officer positions, including Health Applications Society Dionne Aleman (l) receives chair and Public Sector OR Fora Moving Spirit Award from David Hunt. president, and she serves on the Subdivisions Council. In JFIG, Aleman revitalized the forum with membership surveys to better serve member needs, resulting in innovative conference panel sessions and the now popular off-site business/networking luncheon. She also worked tirelessly to end the longstanding female-only JFIG officer gender imbalance, resulting in a more welcoming environment for all junior faculty. ORMS December 2015

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n ews In Memoriam

Herbert E. Scarf (1930-2015) Distinguished economist Herbert E. Scarf, Professor Emeritus of Economics at Yale University and a recipient of several of INFORMS’ most prestigious awards, passed away on Nov. 15. He was 85.

Professor Scarf was known for his seminal work in inventory theory and the computation of fixed points – a key requirement in determining economic equilibria. Among many contributions, he will be remembered for the Debreu-Scarf Theorem, showing that the set of core allocations of a competitive equilibrium shrinks to the set of competitive equilibria as the economy grows large, and for Scarf’s Theorem, showing that every balanced game has a nonempty core. Scarf’s Lemma, the combinatorial engine behind Scarf’s Theorem, has subsequently seen application in a wide variety of fields.

In a mini memoir, “My Intellectual Trajectory,” he penned for a conference presentation, Professor Scarf recalled that as a schoolboy in Philadelphia he awoke “one fine morning with the realization that I was a mathematician.”

He wrote: “I don’t mean this in a formal sense; I simply grasped what mathematics was all about. I knew that a mathematical result might have several quite distinct arguments, which could be combined in a variety of ways. I knew that a Theorem was different from a Lemma. I read the biographies of great mathematicians, and I still have my annotated copy of “Men of Mathematics” by E.T. Bell. I taught myself the calculus of several variables and the Theory of Complex Functions. I memorized the first 35 digits of Pi. “My instructors at the South Philadelphia High School for Boys – a pretty roughhouse school – knew nothing about this passion of mine. In my eleventh grade I learned about a mathematics tournament offered by Temple University for all high school students in Pennsylvania. To the shocked surprise of my teachers and my relatives, I placed first in the tournament.”

Scarf earned a scholarship to Temple where he received his bachelor’s degree. “As a student, I had unusual habits,” he wrote. “I started to take graduate courses immediately.

I rarely attended class; I would learn the material by myself and drop in to take the exams.”

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Scarf went on to do graduate work at Princeton University under Salomon Bochner, studying alongside the likes of Ralph Gomory and Lloyd Shapley. John Nash, who had just earned his degree, was another notable presence. Mr. Scarf wrote his dissertation on differential operators on manifolds and applications to stochastic processes and received a Ph.D. in 1954.

Scarf’s first postdoctoral position was at the RAND Corporation where he familiarized himself with the works of George B. Dantzig and other burgeoning operations researchers. He ended up in RAND’s unit of the Economics Department involved in operations research and management sciences while working on inventory problems such as the purchase and storage of commodities whose future demands were not known with perfect certainty.

“I met Kenneth Arrow, who was himself working on the management of inventories,” Scarf wrote. “My life was changed. He invited me to spend a year with him at Stanford jointly working on inventory theory. It was a perfect time for me. The major themes of economic theory were being formulated in mathematical terms, and I fortunately had precisely the right set of skills to make serious contributions. A lovely set of apples was hanging from the tree, and I plucked them and ate them one after another with great pleasure.”

In 1957, Scarf accepted a professorial position at Stanford University where he worked alongside such O.R. leaders as Arrow and University of California-Berkeley professor Gerard Debreu, both of whom Scarf considered mentors and close friends.

In 1958, he published his first major article on differential games with Lloyd Shapley of RAND in Albert Tucker and Philip Wolfe’s “Contribution to the Theory of Games.”

Professor Scarf’s major contributions to inventory policy began with his presentation of the optimality of (S,s) policies in the dynamic inventory problem at the First Stanford Symposium in 1959, building upon the work of Theodore Harris, Jacob Marschak and Arrow. That year, Professor Scarf had been a visiting associate professor at the Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics at Yale University. In 1963, after a year with

Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, he accepted a full professorship at Yale where he remained throughout the rest of his remarkable career.

Professor Scarf twice served as director of the Cowles Foundation (1967-1971 and 1981-1984) and the Division of Social Sciences (1971-1974). He also kept a close relationship with the operations research community of the San Francisco Bay Area, visiting U.C. Berkeley’s Mathematical Sciences Research Institute as Research Scholar in the late 1980s and as a visiting professor to Stanford in the late 1970s.

Starting in 1963, Scarf sought a constructive procedure for finding economic equilibria without appealing to the standard fixed-point arguments. Over the next 10 years, he built upon the work of Carlton Lemke and Harold Kuhn. In 1973, Scarf and Terje Hansen (a Yale Ph.D. whose dissertation was on the subject) published “The Computation of Economic Equilibria.”

The book, lauded as the first comprehensive treatment of an idea that “permits the constructive computation of approximate fixed points of continuous mappings,” resulted in Scarf receiving the 1973 Frederick W. Lanchester Prize from the Operations Research Society of America (ORSA, which merged with The Institute of Management Sciences in 1995 to create INFORMS).

The publication is still celebrated as an elegant blend of theory, computational experimentation and practical application.

In 1983, Professor Scarf received the John von Neumann Theory Prize from ORSA, and he was named a member of the inaugural class of INFORMS Fellows in 2002. In addition, Professor Scarf was an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as the Econometric Society. Scarf was also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association. ORMS Sources: INFORMS, Yale University, “My Intellectual Trajectory” by Herbert E. Scarf ormstoday.informs.org

ormstoday.informs.org

INFORMS welcomes eight Fellows INFORMS honored eight new Fellows at a special luncheon for their “outstanding lifetime achievement in operations research and the management sciences” during the 2015 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. INFORMS Fellows have “demonstrated exceptional accomplishments and made significant contributions to the advancement of operations research and management science over a period of time.”

The 2015 Fellow honorees included: C. Allen Butler, for successful management of the Daniel H. Wagner consulting company, exemplary service to INFORMS and the profession, and outstanding operations research/ management science (OR/MS) and analytics practice in the defense industry.

Gérard Cachon, for contributions to the theory of supply chain contracting and for service to the profession as editor-in-chief of the INFORMS journals Management Science and Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (M&SOM).

Pinar Keskinocak, for contributions to the applications of OR/MS in health and humanitarian systems and distinguished service to the INFORMS community. Dr. Keskinocak has just been elected secretary of the INFORMS Board of Directors and will begin her term in 2016.

Eva K. Lee, for contributions in O.R. methodologies and to O.R. practice in medicine, biomedicine and emergency preparedness, with successful implementations and broad impact.

Jack Levis, for significant contributions with high impact in the areas of O.R. practice, management and service, including active involvement on the INFORMS Board, the INFORMS Analytics Certification Board and leadership of the O.R. group at UPS. Pitu Mirchandani, for fundamental research contributions to dynamic and stochastic networks, location models, adaptive control of transportation systems and traffic modeling and analysis.

Meetings INFORMS Annual & International Meetings

INFORMS Community Meetings

April 10-12, 2016

Feb. 4-7, 2016

INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics & Operations Research

INFORMS Organization Science Workshop

Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Orlando, Fla. Chair: Elea McDonnell Feit, Drexel University http://meetings.informs.org/analytics2016

Canyon Resort Park City, Utah Co-Chairs: Zur Shapira & Deepak Hegde, Stern School of Business, New York University http://pubsonline.informs.org/page/orsc/winter-conference

June 12-15, 2016

March 17-19, 2016

2016 INFORMS International Meeting

2016 INFORMS Optimization Society Workshop

Hilton Waikoloa Village Waikoloa, Hawaii Chair: Saif Benjaafar, University of Minnesota http://meetings.informs.org/2016international

Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. Chair: Warren Powell, Princeton University https://orfe.princeton.edu/conferences/ios2016/

Nov. 13-16, 2016

March 20-22, 2016

INFORMS Annual Meeting

2016 INFORMS Telecommunications Conference

Music City Center & Omni Nashville Nashville, Tenn.

Chair: Chanaka Edirisinghe, RPI http://meetings.informs.org/nashville2016

Renaissance Hotel, Boca Raton, Fla. Chair: Michael R. Bartolacci, Penn State University https://sites.psu.edu/informstelecom2016/

April 2-4, 2017

June 16-18, 2016

INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics & Operations Research

2016 INFORMS Marketing Science Conference

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada

Shanghai, China Chair: Icey Han, Fudan University

Oct. 22-25, 2017

June 30- July 1, 2016

INFORMS Annual Meeting

MSOM Conference

George R. Brown Convention Center & Hilton Americas Houston, Texas

University of Auckland Business School Auckland, New Zealand http://www.cscm.auckland.ac.nz/2016-msom-conference

Go to www.informs.org/Conf for a searchable INFORMS Conference Calendar.

Benjamin Van Roy, for contributions to decision-making in stochastic systems and approximate dynamic programming.

Rakesh V. Vohra, for his fundamental research at the intersection of operations research, economics and computer science, including learning in

games, mechanism design and market design.

The INFORMS Fellow Award, which brings together the very best operations researchers and analytics experts throughout the world, recognizes outstanding achievement in five areas: education, management, practice, research and service. ORMS

Jolly good Fellows (l-r) Pitu Mirchandani, Eva K. Lee, Rakesh V. Vohra, C. Allen Butler, Pinar Keskinocak and Jack Levis.

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CLASSIFIEDS

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | View Classifieds Online at: http://www.orms-today.org

Arizona State University Faculty Positions The Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) seek outstanding applicants for tenure track/tenured faculty positions. Active searches are being conducted in the following areas but the excellence of the candidate’s accomplishments and potential are more important than the specific area: • Advanced Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Systems (Job #11363) - Areas of interest include: production control and manufacturing management; analytics for next-generation manufacturing systems; process capability, optimization and reliability; advanced processes and systems for product design; automation; and manufacturing enterprise systems.

• Operations Research and Logistics (Job #11359) – Areas of interest include: robust optimization, stochastic modeling, simulation, transportation networks, supply chain engineering, environmental sustainability, health care delivery and manufacturing logistics.

Appointments will be made at the rank commensurate with experience and accomplishments starting August 2016. A successful candidate will hold an earned doctorate in a relevant field and have demonstrated evidence of excellence in research and teaching. Desired qualifications include a record of external funding, publication in top tier journals, innovative pedagogy and participation and leadership in collaborative, transdisciplinary research with high societal impact as appropriate to the candidate’s rank. Although the faculty appointment may be in any of the Fulton Schools of Engineering, the Industrial Engineering program in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering is the most involved in the interest areas of the search.

Current information regarding these positions and instructions for applying are available at http://engineering.asu.edu/hiring/. Review of applications for each search will begin November 16, 2015; if not filled, reviews will occur the 1st and 15th of every month thereafter until the search is closed.

Arizona State University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. See ASU’s full non-discrimination statement (ACD 401) at https://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/acd/acd401.html and the Title IX statement at https://www.asu.edu/titleIX/.

CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY Weatherhead School of Management Visiting Faculty Position in Operations The Department of Operations invites applications for a Visiting Faculty position to begin August 2016. This is a one year appointment with the possibility of an extension for an additional year. Although this is a full-time teaching position, we seek a faculty member with a research focus in Operations and Supply Chain Management (broadly construed). All candidates should have a Ph.D. or expect to complete a Ph.D. in the near future in Operations Management, Supply Chain Management or a related field. The candidate should be able to teach and communicate effectively to undergraduates and students in our MBA program and our master’s program (MSM) in Operations Research and Supply Chain Management. Having business experience, coursework, or other appropriate background to which business students would relate would be a plus.

Applications are accepted until the position is filled and the applicants should e-mail a c.v., copies of written research, evidence of teaching effectiveness (course evaluations, for example), and should also arrange for at least three letters of reference to be sent electronically to Ms. Tedda Nathan at oprerecruit@case.edu.

“In employment as in education, Case Western Reserve University is committed to Equal Opportunity and Diversity. Women, veterans, members of underrepresented minority groups, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.”

Case Western Reserve University provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity at 216-368-8877 to request a reasonable accommodation.

Determinations as to granting reasonable accommodations for any applicant will be made on a case-by-case basis.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY School of Engineering and Applied Science Faculty Position in Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics in the Data Science Institute The Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University in the City of New York invites applications for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position. The appointment will be made in the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and will be affiliated with Columbia’s multi-disciplinary Data Science Institute. A secondary appointment in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (or another department within the School of Engineering and Applied Science) is possible. Appointments at the assistant professor, associate professor and full professor levels will be considered.

Applications are specifically sought in the areas of urban systems modeling and simulation, complex and interdependent dynamic networks, as well as transportation and energy systems performance assessment and optimization. Candidates whose research involves the integration of rapidly emerging large data streams into modeling and simulation are of particular interest.

Candidates must have a Ph.D. or its professional equivalent by the starting date of the appointment. Applicants for this position at the Assistant Professor and Associate Professor without tenure must demonstrate the potential to do pioneering research and to teach effectively. Applicants for this position at the tenured level (Associate or Full Professor) must have a demonstrated record of outstanding research accomplishments, excellent teaching credentials and established leadership in the field.

The successful candidate is expected to contribute to the advancement of their field and the department by developing an original and leading externally funded research program, and contributing to the undergraduate and graduate educational mission of the Department. Columbia fosters multidisciplinary research and encourages collaborations with academic departments and units across the university. This position particularly seeks candidates whose research focus intersects with the field of data sciences and can take full advantage of the Data Science Institute at Columbia. Qualified candidates who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the academic community are strongly encouraged.

For additional information and to apply, please see: http://engineering.columbia.edu/faculty-job-opportunities or academicjobs.columbia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=61612. Applications should be submitted electronically and include the following: curriculum-vitae including a publication list, a description of research accomplishments, a statement of research and teaching interests and plans, contact information for three experts who can provide letters of recommendation, and up to three pre/reprints of scholarly work. All applications received by January 15, 2016 will receive full consideration.

Applicants can consult http://civil.columbia.edu/ for information about the department, http://datascience.columbia.edu/ for information about the Data Science Institute, and http://datascience.columbia.edu/smart-cities for information about the Smart Cities Center.

Columbia is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer with a strong commitment to the quality of faculty life.

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QUEEN’S SCHOOL OF BUSINESS (Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario CANADA) invites applications for two tenure-stream positions in Management Science/Operations Management. Candidates at all levels of experience will be considered. Entry-level candidates must have a PhD or be near completion. Applicants with research interests in all areas of operations management and management science will be welcomed, but we are particularly interested in at least one new faculty member with research interests in applications of online, real time, optimization and analytics. The successful candidate will exhibit potential for outstanding scholarly research and excellent teaching in support of the School’s public and private programs and will be expected to make contributions in service to the School, to the University, or the broader community.

The MSOM group is a strong research group with particular expertise in revenue management and pricing, sustainability, energy markets, supply chain management and the interface of operations and marketing. For more information about our faculty see http://business.queensu.ca/faculty_and_research/index.php .

The University invites applications from all qualified individuals. Queen’s is committed to employment equity and diversity in the workplace. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian Immigration requirements, Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents of Canada will be given priority.

CLASSIFIEDS

Columbia Business School is seeking to hire one or more lecturers in discipline or senior lecturers in discipline in the field of Decision, Risk, and Operations. All applicants must have a doctoral degree from an accredited institution.

Applicants for an appointment as lecturer in discipline should have a record of successful teaching (at least 2 years) relevant to the division's needs. Applicants for a senior lecturer in discipline appointment should have an established record of successful teaching (5 or more years) that would warrant appointment at the senior rank.

Columbia Business School is particularly interested in candidates who, through their research, teaching and/or service will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community.

Applicants should apply online at https://academicjobs.columbia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=61712.

The University will provide support in its recruitment processes to applicants with disabilities, including accommodation that takes into account an applicant’s accessibility needs - klewis@business.queensu.ca.

The effective date of the appointment will be July 1st, 2016, but is flexible.

Please submit a cover letter, current CV, references and a research sample, electronically to: omrecruiting@business.queensu.ca

The School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University invites applications from outstanding faculty candidates as part of a continuing strategy to substantially grow the School and its impact. The School has multiple openings at named/distinguished professorship, and junior faculty levels.

New faculty members will become part of a vibrant community of scholars who are committed to Rethinking IE, and helping shape the profession make substantial impact on societal grand challenges of the 21st century. The School is making significant investments in advancing the frontiers of next generation manufacturing, products and services, systems science, cognition and decision-making, and information engineering and data analytics.

We are seeking highly qualified, creative individuals with a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering or equivalent doctoral level degree(s) in closely related fields, who have demonstrated research and teaching excellence in relevant methodological areas. Successful candidates will conduct original research, will advise graduate students, will teach undergraduate and graduate level courses, and will perform service both at the School and University levels. Candidates with experience working with diverse groups of students, faculty, and staff and the ability to contribute to an inclusive climate are particularly encouraged to apply. New faculty members will have collaborative opportunities with researchers in Purdue’s world-renowned Colleges, including Engineering, Management, Science, Health and Human Sciences, Pharmacy, and Agriculture. To facilitate this interaction, Purdue has established Discovery Park, a highly interdisciplinary enterprise dedicated to transformative research that includes state-of-the-art centers for nanotechnology, biosciences, healthcare engineering, entrepreneurship, energy, and other multi-disciplinary activities.

In addition, tremendous opportunities for collaboration also exist with large number of manufacturing, information, healthcare, and energy industries in the region.

Submit applications online at https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/Employment/Applications, including curriculum vitae, plans for leadership in research, teaching and enhancing diversity, and names and addresses of four professional references. For information/questions regarding the applications, please contact Ms. Senem Guler, Faculty Recruitment Coordinator, College of Engineering, at sguler@purdue.edu. Review of applications will begin on October 26, 2015, and will continue until these positions are filled. A background check will be required for employment in these positions.

Purdue’s main campus is located in West Lafayette Indiana, a welcoming and diverse community with a wide variety of cultural activities and events, industries, and excellent schools. Purdue and the College of Engineering have a Concierge Program to assist new faculty and their partners regarding dual career needs and facilitate their relocation.

Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | View Classifieds Online at: http://www.orms-today.org

FACULTY POSITIONS Business NYU SHANGHAI NYU Shanghai is seeking to fill multiple tenure-track or tenure positions in the field of Business, beginning in the Fall Semester of 2016. Positions are available at all ranks: Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Full Professor. Areas of research and teaching experience of interest to us include Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing, Operations, and other business-school fields.

The terms of employment in NYU Shanghai are comparable to U.S. institutions in terms of compensation and research funds, and include housing subsidies and educational subsidies for children.

Faculty may also spend time at NYU New York and other sites of the NYU global network, engaging in both research and teaching.

Applications are due no later than January 20, 2016. The review of applications will begin immediately, and will continue until the positions are filled. To be considered, applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, separate statements of research and teaching interests (no more than three pages each), and electronic copies of representative publications. To complete the online process, applicants will be prompted to enter the names and email addresses of three referees. Each referee will be contacted to upload their reference letter. Please visit our website at http:// shanghai.nyu.edu/about/work/facultypositions for instructions and other information on how to apply. If you have any questions, please e-mail shanghai. faculty.recruitment@nyu.edu.

Motorola Chair in Manufacturing Systems School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering The Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) seek nominations and applications from highly distinguished individuals for the Motorola Chair in Manufacturing Systems. Areas of particular interest include: supply chain system design, facility logistics, automated and advanced manufacturing systems, manufacturing enterprise information systems, advanced quality systems, sustainable manufacturing, and humanitarian logistics, however the vision, leadership potential and record of accomplishments is a higher priority than the specific area of research.

Required qualifications include an earned Ph.D. or terminal degree in industrial engineering or related field and demonstrated evidence of excellence in research and teaching including an extensive record of acquiring external funding and publication in top-tier journals with real-world impact. Desired qualifications include a successful record of leadership in multidisciplinary and industrial collaboration.

Faculty members are expected to maintain an internationally recognized and externally funded research program, develop and teach graduate and undergraduate courses, advise and mentor graduate and undergraduate students, and provide leadership in professional service.

Appointment, starting August 2016, will be at the rank commensurate with the candidate’s experience and accomplishments, but it is expected that the successful candidate will qualify for the rank of professor.

Although the appointment may be in any of Fulton Engineering’s six schools, the Industrial Engineering program in the School of Computing, Informatics, and Decision Systems Engineering is currently the most involved in manufacturing systems and supply chain engineering.

Review of applications will begin November 16, 2015; if not filled, reviews will occur on the 1st and 15th of the month thereafter until the search is closed. To apply, please submit as a single PDF file a current CV, statements describing research and teaching interests and contact information for three references to MOTOROLAChair.faculty@asu.edu.

For further information or questions please contact the search committee chair Ron Askin at ron.askin@asu.edu.

Arizona State University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. Please see ASU’s full non-discrimination statement (ACD 401) at https://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/acd/acd401.html and ASU’s Title IX policy can be located at https://www.asu.edu/titleIX. ASU offers applicants an opportunity to voluntarily self-disclose information for the University’s affirmative action plan; applicants may complete an EEO survey for the position they are applying for online. Job #11347

EOE/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled

OR/MS TODAY 10/1/2015, 12/1/2015 University of Southern California 10000599-NY10668 Marshall School of Business NEWYOU Tenure-Track OM Position 3.37” x 4.87” The Department of Data Sciences and Operations in the Marshall School of Business invites applications for a tenure-track position in Lynn Greenbaum v.2 Operations Management starting in Fall 2016. Rank is open. The candidate should demonstrate a strong potential for scholarly research in

Operations Management and an interest in teaching Operations Management at the undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels.

Candidates should have a Ph.D. in Operations Management (or a related discipline) or be assured of its completion by Fall 2016. Candidates with interdisciplinary interests in Operations Management and other areas such as Operations Research, Computer Science, Statistics, Information Systems, Economics, and Marketing are welcome.

Please apply at: http://jobs.usc.edu/postings/55078 Candidates should provide their curriculum vita, copies of representative research papers, research statement, three references, and any teaching evaluations. We will begin reviewing applications on October 25, 2015 and will continue until suitable candidates are found. For full consideration, please submit your application as soon as possible.

Information about the Data Sciences and Operations department, its faculty and the Marshall school can be obtained at: http://www.marshall.usc.edu/dso.

Located near the heart of Los Angeles, the University of Southern California is home to approximately 40,000 students and 5,000 faculty members. USC Marshall is renowned for its high-ranking undergraduate, graduate, international and executive education programs, an exceptional faculty engaged in leading-edge research, a diverse and creative student body, and a commitment to technological advancement.

The research productivity of Marshall’s 200 full-time faculty ranks among the top 15 business schools in the world.

USC is an equal-opportunity educator and employer, proudly pluralistic and firmly committed to providing equal opportunity for outstanding persons of every race, gender, creed and background. The University particularly encourages women, members of underrepresented groups, veterans and individuals with disabilities to apply. USC will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would result in an undue hardship. Further information is available by contacting uschr@usc.edu.

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CLASSIFIEDS

John and Mary Lib White Systems Integration Chair in Industrial Engineering University of Arkansas The Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas invites applications and nominations for its John and Mary Lib White Systems Integration Chair position. The position is a tenured faculty appointment at the rank of Distinguished Professor with the anticipated start date of August 2016. Responsibilities encompass all aspects of teaching, research, and service.

Candidates holding a Ph.D. in all areas of industrial engineering, operations research or related discipline, whose Mary Lib White Systems Chair Industrial or whose credentials warrantIntegration appointment at the fullinprofessor level,Engineering with exceptional track current John rank is and Professor University Arkansas records in scholarship and external funding, as well asof outstanding teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, are encouraged to apply. The successful candidate will be a nationally prominent scholar as evidenced http://industrial-engineering.uark.edu through publication and service, and who will lead funded research endeavors that ideally complement and/or extend the current strengthsEngineering of the department.

Candidates be recognized nationally and/or internationally in The Department of Industrial at the University ofshould Arkansas invites applications and nominations for its John discipline for extraordinary accomplishments in research, teaching, published works, creative their academic and Mary Lib White Systems Integration Chair position. The position is a tenured faculty appointment at the rank of activities of Professor similar merit other venues. An will provide successful candidate withall significant Distinguished withinthe anticipated startendowment date of August 2016. the Responsibilities encompass aspects of resources to continue and further the scholar’s contributions to teaching, research, and public service. teaching, research, and service.

Founded holding in 1950,a the Department the University of or Arkansas is one of whose the firstcurrent IE Candidates Ph.D. in all areasofofIndustrial industrialEngineering engineering,atoperations research related discipline, programs in the country.

The department’s research agenda is supported by various government agencies, such as in rank is Professor or whose credentials warrant appointment at the full professor level, with exceptional track records and Department of the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, scholarship and external funding, as well as outstanding teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, are Transportation.

The The faculty is leading researchwill activities in the National Science Foundation Center for Excellence encouraged to apply. successful candidate be a nationally prominent scholar as evidenced through publication in Logistics and Distribution, the Center for Innovation in Healthcare Logistics, the Mack-Blackwell Rural of and service, and who will lead funded research endeavors that ideally complement and/or extend the current strengths and the Maritime Transportation Research andinternationally Education Center.

The academic departmentdiscipline is rankedfor theTransportation department. Center, Candidates should be recognized nationally and/or in their among the best graduate programs in industrial/manufacturing/systems engineering by of USsimilar News merit and World Report. extraordinary accomplishments in research, teaching, published works, creative activities in other venues.

Detailed information about the department can be found at www.ineg.uark.edu.

An endowment will provide the successful candidate with significant resources to continue and further the scholar’s contributions to teaching, research, and public service.

Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation. The population hit 500,000 in 2014. Northwest Arkansas is home the corporate headquarters of Fortuneat500 Wal-Mart Stores, J.B. Founded in 1950, thetoDepartment of Industrial Engineering the companies University of Arkansas is oneTyson of theFoods, first IEand programs Hunt Transport Services.

Forbes Magazine has recently named Fayetteville, the home of the University of Arkansas, in the country. The department’s research agenda is supported by various government agencies, such as the National as oneFoundation, of the bestDepartment places in the U.S. for Department business andofcareers.

TheSecurity, Milken Institute has named Fayetteville the Science of Defense, Homeland and Department of Transportation.

The nation’s “Number One Performing City” and Livability.Com ranked Fayetteville as one of the top ten townsand faculty is leading research activities in the National Science Foundation Center for Excellence incollege Logistics about the in area can be found at www.explorenwar.com. in the country.

Information the Center for Innovation Healthcare Logistics, the Mack-Blackwell Rural Transportation Center, and the Distribution, Maritime Transportation Research and Education Center. The department is ranked among the best graduate programs in Applicants are asked to provideengineering a letter of by interest, curriculum vita, and the names and contact information of industrial/manufacturing/systems US News and World Report.

Detailed information about the department three professional references.

To ensure full consideration, application materials should be submitted online can be found at www.ineg.uark.edu. through the university’s career portal: http://jobs.uark.edu/postings/9596 by January 15, 2016.

Northwest Arkansas is one of the fastest growing areas in the nation. The population hit 500,000 in 2014. Northwest Please send questions inquiries to: to the and corporate headquarters of Fortune 500 companies Wal-Mart Stores, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt Arkansas is home Haitao Liao, Ph.D. Transport Services. Forbes Magazine has recently named Fayetteville, the home of the University of Arkansas, as one of Professor of U.S. Logistics and Entrepreneurship theHefley best places in the for business and careers. The Milken Institute has named Fayetteville the nation’s “Number Department of Industrial One Performing City” andEngineering Livability.Com ranked Fayetteville as one of the top ten college towns in the country.

4171 Bell about Engineering Information the areaCenter can be found at www.explorenwar.com.

University of Arkansas Fayetteville, 72701 Applicants are AR asked to provide a letter of interest, curriculum vita, and the names and contact information of three liao@uark.edu professional references. To ensure full consideration, application materials should be submitted online through the university’s career portal: ishttp://jobs.uark.edu/postings/9596

by January 15, 2016.

The University of Arkansas an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution.

The university welcomes applications without regard to age, race, gender (including pregnancy), national origin, disability, religion, marital or parental status, protected veteran status, military service,

genetic information, orientation Please send questionssexual and inquiries to:or gender identity. Persons must have proof of legal authority to work in the United States on the first day of employment.

All applicant information is subject to public disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Haitao Liao, Ph.D. Hefley Professor of Logistics and Entrepreneurship Department of Industrial Engineering University of Arkansas, Fayetteville liao@uark.edu

The University of Arkansas is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. The university welcomes applications without regard to age, race, gender (including pregnancy), national origin, disability, religion, marital or parental status, protected veteran status, military service, genetic information, sexual orientation or gender identity. Persons must have proof of legal authority to work in the United States on the first day of employment. All applicant information is subject to public disclosure under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION | View Classifieds Online at: http://www.orms-today.org

Senior Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Business Analytics Department of Operations, Business Analytics, and Information Systems (OBAIS) Carl H. Lindner College of Business University of Cincinnati (UC) The Department of Operations, Business Analytics, and Information Systems (OBAIS) in the Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati invites applications for a full-time senior tenure-track position in Business Analytics beginning August 2016. This position is at the level of Associate or Full Professor and has been approved by the Dean and Provost. Candidates must be willing and able to teach in all levels of doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate programs and conduct research consistent with the high standards of the Lindner College of Business, have grant proposal-writing abilities, and build analytics connections with other colleges in the University. Faculty work closely with the UC Center for Business Analytics, which is consortium of more than 20 member companies to promote collaboration between industry, faculty and students in the area of analytics.

The University of Cincinnati is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. The University encourages applications from women, people of color, persons with a disability, and veterans who are disabled; we are committed to increasing the diversity of the University community.

The OBAIS faculty members are actively engaged in conducting high-impact research taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by UC’s urban environment. The OBAIS department offers undergraduate programs in operations, industrial management, and information systems; OM, Business Analytics, and IS PhD programs, and two acclaimed Master’s programs in Business Analytics and in Information Systems Applicants may find further information about the University of Cincinnati at http://www.uc.edu, the Carl H. Lindner College of Business at http://business.uc.edu, the OBAIS department at http://business.uc.edu/departments/obais.html and the UC Center for Business Analytics at http://business.uc.edu/centers/analytics-center.html.

Review of applications will begin late in 2015 and continue until the position is filled. Application packets should include: a cover letter, curriculum vitae, statement of research and teaching, contact information for three references, and other supporting documentation such as sample publications.

To apply, visit jobs.uc.edu and search position 8067.

PROFESSOR AND CHAIR Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) University of Florida Applications and nominations are invited for the position of Professor and Chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at the University of Florida (UF), the flagship campus of the State of Florida University system. For more information about the ISE Department and the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, please visit www.ise.ufl.edu and www.eng.ufl.edu, respectively.

All candidates should apply through the UF Jobs website: https://jobs.ufl.edu/, reference position 494995. The Search Committee will begin reviewing applications on December 1, 2015, and continue accepting applications until the position is filled. For further questions, you may contact the search committee chair Dr. John Harris at harris@ece.ufl.edu.

The University of Florida is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It counts among its greatest strengths -- and a major component of its excellence – that it values broad diversity in its faculty, students, and staff and creates a robust, inclusive and welcoming climate for learning, research and other work. UF is committed to equal educational and employment opportunity and access and seeks individuals of all races, ethnicities, genders and other attributes who, among their many exceptional qualifications, have a record of including a broad diversity of individuals in work and learning activities. The selection process will be conducted in accord with the provisions of Florida’s “Government in the Sunshine” and Public Records Laws.

Faculty Positions in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Columbia Engineering invites applications for two junior faculty positions in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. Applications are sought from candidates with research interests in: (i) the methodological aspects of optimization: continuous, combinatorial, integer, and non-convex; and its applications in machine learning, data mining and statistics, energy, transportation networks, health analytics, and business analytics; and (ii) all aspects of financial engineering and risk management, including risk analysis (systemic and otherwise), operational risk and micro market structure, the interface between finance and insurance, and the interface between financial engineering and supply-chain management. Appointments will be made at the rank of Assistant Professor or Associate Professor without Tenure.

Successful candidates are expected to contribute to the advancement of their field and the Department by developing an original and leading externally funded research program, and contributing to the undergraduate and graduate educational mission of the department. Columbia fosters multidisciplinary research and encourages collaborations with academic departments and units across the university. The Department is especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the academic community.

For additional information and to apply, please see: http://engineering.columbia.edu/faculty-jobopportunities.

Applications should be submitted electronically and include the following: curriculum-vitae including a list of publications, a description of research accomplishments, a statement of research and teaching interests and plans, contact information for three experts who can provide letters of recommendation, and up to three pre/reprints of scholarly work. All applications received by December 15, 2015 will receive full consideration.

Applicants can consult www.ieor.columbia.edu for more information about the department.

Columbia is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer with a strong commitment to the quality of faculty life.

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Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering University of Minnesota Faculty Opening The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities invites applications for a tenured or tenure-track faculty position starting in Fall 2016. Applicants at all ranks will be considered. We seek candidates with a strong methodological foundation in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering, and a demonstrated interest in applications including, but not limited to: business analytics, energy and the environment, healthcare and medical applications, transportation and logistics, supply chain management, financial engineering, service operations, quality and reliability. Applicants should also have a strong commitment to teaching, to mentoring graduate students, and to developing and maintaining an active program of sponsored research. Applicants must hold a Ph.D., or expect to complete their degree before Fall 2016, in Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, Operations Management or a closely related discipline. Senior applicants should have an outstanding track record of research and teaching accomplishments.

The University of Minnesota is located in the heart of the vibrant Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, which is consistently rated as one of America’s best places to live and is home to many leading companies. The Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering is the newest department within the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota and is growing rapidly.

Applicants are encouraged to apply by November 15, 2015. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Applicants interested in meeting with current Industrial and Systems Engineering faculty members at the 2015 INFORMS Conference in Philadelphia should apply by October 18, 2015. Additional information and application instructions can be found at http://www.isye.umn.edu. Candidates may contact the chair of the search committee at isyesrch@umn.edu. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

CLASSIFIEDS

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT ARLINGTON College of Business

Director of Master of Science Program in Business Analytics

https://www.uta.edu/hr/eos/faculty-search/posting/COBA09212015DBA

The College of Business at The University of Texas at Arlington is inviting applications for a position as Director of the Master of Science in Business Analytics program. We seek an individual with a substantial background in analytics either in an academic or professional setting. Candidates will have an earned masters with a sustained industrial background in analytics or a doctorate with either a sustained industrial or academic background in analytics. Candidates should be actively engaged in the evolving field of analytics and be a team player willing to build relationships with faculty, students, administration, and the business community. The appointment is pending budgetary approval and will begin as soon as the candidate and the College reach a mutually agreeable starting time. Complete position announcement can be found at the URL above.

Faculty Positions in Lyle EMIS Department Southern Methodist University Tenure Track, Open Rank Faculty Positions The Department of Engineering Management, Information, and Systems (EMIS) invites nominations and applications for an opportunity to be involved in the shaping of innovative academic programs in Operations Research, Management Science, Engineering Management, Systems Engineering, and Information Engineering. We seek outstanding candidates for multiple, open rank faculty positions in all areas relevant to our academic programs and all areas of industrial and systems engineering -- methodological and applied – including but not limited to advanced data analytics, optimization, stochastic modeling, simulation, and model-based systems engineering with applications in supply-chain, manufacturing, health-care, information, energy, and defense systems.

Eligible candidates must have completed requirements for a doctoral degree in operations research, industrial engineering, systems engineering, or related field by August, 2016; the expertise to teach courses in areas relevant to our programs at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral levels; and the ability to develop a strong, externally-funded research program and help advance the frontiers of knowledge. Extraordinary candidates at all levels will be considered. Candidates for Associate or Full Professor should have a commensurate record of research publications and external funding and an outstanding potential for research program development and research leadership. SMU is a leading private university dedicated to academic excellence. Located near the center of Dallas, Texas, SMU enrolls 11,000 students, with nearly half in graduate programs. The EMIS department resides within the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering (http://www.smu.edu/lyle) founded in 1925 and offers a strong program of research and education at all levels, including Ph.D. degrees in operations research and systems engineering (http://www.smu.edu/Lyle/Departments/EMIS). The school provides an exceptional environment supporting multi-disciplinary collaborations and academic outreach and houses several institutes and centers -- with generous endowment support -- relevant to research and teaching programs of the EMIS Department. These include the Hunter and Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity, Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, Caruth Institute for Engineering Education, and Hart Center for Engineering Leadership.

SMU is designated as a preferred employer in the Dallas/Forth Worth (DFW) metroplex, one of the most prolific industrial centers in the country and a dynamic region with leading high-technology companies in the aerospace, defense, energy, information technology, life sciences, semiconductors, telecommunications, transportation, and biomedical industries. Some of the top companies and research institutes with a strong presence in the DFW area include Texas Instruments, Raytheon, Lockheed-Martin, Bell Helicopter, Frito-Lay, BNSF Railway, Turner Construction, Jacobs Engineering, Trinity Industries, Huitt-Zollars, Inc., The Beck Group, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Parkland Health and Hospital System, and Baylor Research Institute. DFW is a multi-faceted community, offering exceptional museums, diverse cultural attractions and a vibrant economy. Dallas’ quality of life is exceptional with a relatively low cost of living, upscale apartments and homes within walking distance of SMU campus, the opportunity to live in the city or out in the country with a relatively short commute.

To learn more about the rich cultural environment of SMU, please see: http://www.smu.edu.

The target appointment date is the fall semester, 2016. To ensure full consideration for the position, the application must be emailed by December 15, 2015, but the committee will continue to accept applications until the position is filled. Interested and qualified applicants should email a curriculum vitae, including a statement of research and teaching, and a list of at least three references to EMISsearch@smu.edu. Applicants should also make arrangements for their recommendation letters to be emailed directly to EMISsearch@smu.edu no later than January 15, 2016. Nominations of outstanding candidates for Associate and Full Professor positions can be submitted to Dr. Halit Uster, Professor and Faculty Search Committee Chair, uster@smu.edu.

The committee will notify applicants of its employment decision after the position is filled. Hiring is contingent upon the satisfactory completion of a background check. SMU is committed to achieving excellence through diversity. The university actively encourages applications and/or nominations of women, persons of color, veterans and persons with disabilities. SMU will not discriminate in any program or activity on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression. The Executive Director for Access and Equity/Title IX Coordinator is designated to handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies and may be reached at the Perkins Administration Building, Room 204, 6425 Boaz Lane, Dallas TX 75205, 214-768-3601, accessequity@smu.edu

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UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

The Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh in the Swanson School of Engineering invites applications in anticipation of multiple faculty positions at all ranks. Openings are anticipated for both tenure-stream and non-tenure stream positions.

The Department of Industrial Engineering is home to 16 full-time faculty members with an outstanding reputation in multiple research areas. The department maintains vibrant programs at the undergraduate, masters, and doctoral levels and offers excellent facilities and relationships with regional and national corporations.

Additional information about the department can be found at engineering.pitt.edu/industrial.

Position #20161 seeks candidates from all areas of operations research and industrial engineering. Applicants must have a strong methodological background and an interest in advancing cuttingedge, interdisciplinary research.

Position #20162 seeks research and leadership potential in Advanced Manufacturing and Materials (including Additive Manufacturing, Biomanufacturing and Nanomanufacturing).

We are also interested in candidates at the interfaces of these disciplines with Manufacturing Systems, Big Data or Sustainability.

The Decision, Risk and Operations Division at Columbia Business School is seeking to hire qualified faculty members for tenure-track appointments at the assistant or associate professor level, depending on the qualifications of the applicant.

The Division has teaching responsibilities for management science, statistics, and operations management courses at the MBA and Ph.D. levels. Applicants for an associate professor level appointment should have a Ph.D. from an accredited institution, a record of scholastic achievement in both research and teaching, and should combine exceptional disciplinary training with a strong interest in the professional mission of the school. Applicants for an assistant professor level appointment should have, or be close to completing, a Ph.D. from an accredited institution, demonstrate promise of becoming an outstanding scholar in every respect, including research and teaching, and should combine exceptional disciplinary training with a strong interest in the professional mission of the school.

Columbia Business School is particularly interested in candidates who, through their research, teaching and/or service will contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community.

Position #20163 seeks applicants for a non-tenure-stream position who have a strong interest in teaching core industrial engineering topics.

For tenure stream positions our primary search criterion is research potential/research record, while for non-tenure stream positions it is versatility and excellence in teaching. Candidates should possess a PhD in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering or a related field.

Applicants should e-mail a curriculum vitae, a statement outlining research and teaching philosophy, a list of relevant publications, and a list of three references to facultysearch2016@ie.pitt.edu with a reference to the position number in the subject line.

To ensure full consideration, all candidates should apply before December 1, 2015; however, we will continue to review applications until the positions are filled.

The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. Candidates from underrepresented groups are particularly encouraged to apply.

Applicants should apply online at https://academicjobs.columbia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=61723.

University of Pittsburgh | Swanson School of Engineering Department of Industrial Engineering 1048 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261 412-624-9830 | engineering.pitt.edu/industrial

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Faculty Openings in Next Generation Manufacturing and Enabling Methodologies Purdue University has identified Next Generation Manufacturing as a major thrust for cross-disciplinary research and education. Our effort is in consonance with the national initiative to re-invigorate American manufacturing industry, stimulate economic development, and accelerate innovation. We are currently accepting applications for tenure-track and tenured positions at the Assistant/Associate/Full Professor levels in areas related to next generation manufacturing and enabling methodologies.

Purdue’s Next Generation Manufacturing initiative aims to combine latest advances in tailored materials and novel manufacturing processes; multi-scale modeling of products, services and systems; and, on-demand, customer-driven product and supply-chain design enabled by ubiquitous cyberinfrastructure to sustainably deliver personalized products, anywhere, anytime, with the efficiency of mass production. This effort builds on Purdue’s core strengths in the Colleges of Engineering and Science, the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, the Krannert School of Management, and Discovery Park, and leverages its participation in federal manufacturing initiatives.

We invite applications from candidates with research and teaching interests aligning with this initiative. Successful candidates will join a strong manufacturing faculty group on campus, and will have a unique opportunity to help shape Purdue’s vision and research/education agenda in manufacturing. Candidates must hold a Ph.D. or equivalent degree in a field of Engineering, Management, Science, Technology or areas related to manufacturing. They should have a distinguished academic record, exceptional potential for world-class research, and a commitment to teaching and collaborative interdisciplinary activities.

The successful candidates will conduct original research, will advise graduate students, will teach undergraduate and graduate level courses, and will perform service both at the School and University levels. Candidates with experience working with diverse groups of students, faculty, and staff and the ability to contribute to an inclusive climate are particularly encouraged to apply. The primary faculty appointment will be in the Colleges of Engineering or Science, or the Purdue Polytechnic Institute, or the Krannert School of Management, and will depend on the candidate’s qualifications; cross-department/school/college appointments are anticipated.

Submit applications online at https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUS/Employment/Applications, including curriculum vitae, teaching and research plans, and names of four references. For information / questions regarding applications contact Guler Senem, Faculty Recruitment Coordinator, College of Engineering, at sguler@purdue.edu. Review of applications will begin on November 2, 2015, and will continue until positions are filled. A background check will be required for employment in this position.

Purdue’s main campus is located in West Lafayette Indiana, a welcoming and diverse community with a wide variety of cultural activities and events, industries, and excellent schools. Purdue and the College of Engineering have a Concierge Program to assist new faculty and their partners regarding dual career needs and facilitate their relocation.

Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.

Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.

School of Industrial Engineering and Management College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology Oklahoma State University The school of Industrial Engineering and Management at Oklahoma State University seeks talented and motivated candidates for two faculty positions starting in Fall 2016. Rank, tenure and salary will be determined based on candidate’s qualifications and accomplishments. The candidates are expected to have completed their PhD or satisfied requirements for a PhD by August 2016. Although candidates with at least one degree in industrial engineering are preferred, those with degrees in a closely related discipline will be considered. Candidates must have a strong methodological background, potential to attract funded research and complement as well as enhance the School’s current research and educational thrusts. Performance expectations include leadership and creativity in undergraduate and graduate education, funded research, scholarship, and professional service. The School has an ambitious plan for growth, recognition and visibility in the industrial engineering and management field.

For the first position, we seek candidates with strong teaching interest in discrete event simulation. For the second position, we seek candidates with strong teaching interest in manufacturing processes. Research interests can be in one or more of the following areas – energy systems, engineering management, healthcare systems engineering, human factors and ergonomics, logistics and supply chain management, manufacturing, materials handling and warehousing, production planning and control, quality, statistics and reliability, real-time decision making, simulation and stochastic processes.

Interested applicants should apply online at http://jobs.okstate.edu. Applicants should submit a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a list of three to five references, and a statement of teaching, research and service interest. Any inquires may be sent to Sunderesh Heragu, Professor and Head, School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078 (sunderesh.heragu@okstate.edu). More information about the School can be found at iem.okstate.edu Applications received before December 1, 2015 will receive full consideration. However, applications will be accepted and considered until the positions are filled.

OSU is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity/E-verify Employer committed to diversity.

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ORacle

Doug Samuelson

samuelsondoug@yahoo.com

The detective’s parable The conversation in the sports bar had grown quite animated as the news update on TV, between football games, turned to the political candidates’ comments about the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. Jack and Tom, two OR/MS analysts, sat quietly at the end of the bar, trying to ignore the increasingly extreme opinions being loudly expressed, but they rolled their eyes at each other a few times. The man sitting next to Tom was even more reticent, not even changing facial expressions.

However, when the TV showed one candidate urging that many mosques in the United States be closed and that no Syrian refugees be admitted, Jack could stand it no longer. “Now that,” he said, “just might be the stupidest idea of the year. How does this genius think they’d ever enforce closing all the mosques, even if it was constitutional? What happened to the First Amendment?”

“And it’s just more of what we were reading about in that column in OR/MS Today 10 years ago, about how the terrorists’ best plan is to keep provoking us into expensive, embarrassing over-reactions,” Tom added.

At this, the quiet man next to Tom added softly, “Those aren’t even the best reasons it’s a bad idea.”

Tom and Jack turned to him, surprised. “Tell us more,”Tom urged. “By the way, I’m Tom, this is Jack.”

“I’m Al,” the other man said. “I’m a retired police detective. If we had good information that a few dozen mosques, out of the two thousand or so in the country, were being used to plan and organize crimes, why in the world shut them down? We’d be far better off to go get warrants and bug them.

If we know where the bad guys are making plans, why drive them to move somewhere else? Right?”

Jack and Tom nodded.

“And,” Al continued, “any cop knows that human informers are the key to solving crimes. If you turn a whole 64 | ORMS Today

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December 2015

“One more major thing,” Jack responded. “He says you have to develop a compelling narrative, so people can easily understand why they would want to be

Turns out that Plato was right. He said

community against you, you lose! In fact, there’s this approach called community policing, where the whole idea is to build networks and relationships so they tell you where the bad guys are. If you don’t do that, they tell the bad guys where you are! So what do these socalled leaders of ours think they’re talking about?”

“Beats me,” Jack laughed. “But now that you mention it, I think the idea of reaching out to communities applies everywhere, not just in the U.S. I was at a seminar a few weeks ago where one speaker mentioned a new book by a retired special operations lieutenant colonel about how we’re messing up in Afghanistan.This light colonel spent years building village stability operations teams and claims that’s what was working, where anything did. I know that figuring out which tribes could be persuaded to help us rather than fighting us was reportedly one of the big keys to the turnaround in Iraq.”

“It was,” Al acknowledged. “My son was over there for a couple of years, and that’s what he was telling me. But then he also said that when we pulled out, with no Status of Forces agreement to keep a presence there, those networks our intel and community operations guys built fell apart quickly. With our guys gone, those people ran for their lives or got killed.

That’s why things went so badly in such a hurry – that and the amount of materiel we left behind that wound up falling into the wrong hands. By the way, what was the name of that book?”

“It’s called ‘Game Changers,’ ” Jack replied. “It’s not on Amazon yet, but there’s a site you can find on the Web to order it from. And I’d certainly recommend it.”

“So, community policing and community building go global. What else does the good colonel recommend?” Al asked.

that the people who tell the stories run society. on your side. That’s where he says we’ve fallen short.”

“So does General Flynn, the guy who was in charge of intel in Afghanistan five years ago and recommended totally overhauling our intel organization there. He just recently gave an interview saying that no one knows what the administration’s strategy in the Middle East is, and that’s our biggest problem,” Al affirmed.

“I think there was an article about him in OR/MS Today, too,” Jack said.

“Sounds as if we need a better story to tell our own military leaders and diplomats, too,”Tom added.

“Yeah,” Al agreed, “it turns out Plato was right, doesn’t it? He said somewhere that the people who tell the stories run society. My chief of detectives used to remind us of that all the time when he was telling us how to deal with the media on a hot case. Get your story organized, get it out there, tell it well and make sure everyone sticks to it, and you end up driving the case rather than having others drive you. He said that was the secret to Ronald Reagan’s success.

Still true, isn’t it?”

“Yeah!” Jack exclaimed. “Now all we have to do is figure out how to get the right story heard over all the shouting.” ORMS Doug Samuelson (samuelsondoug@ yahoo.com) is president and chief scientist of InfoLogix, Inc., in Annandale, Va. The references are to “The Anthropologist’s Parable,” OR/MS Today, June 2005; “Changing the War with Analytics: Top U.S. Intelligence Officer in Central Asia Recommends Massive Overhaul of How Information is Gathered and Utilized,” OR/MS Today, June 2010; and “Game Changers” by Scott Mann, 2015, available from the Tribal Analysis Center, www.tribalanalysiscenter.com.

ormstoday.informs.org

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