OR/MS Today articles from April 2006

OR/MS Today archives from April 2006

'Global' optimization.(INSIDE STORY)
April 1, 2006... Sixteen row boats set out from La Gomera in the Canary Islands, headed for Port Charles in Barbados, 2,500 nautical miles away. Forty days later, Team Holiday Shoppe from New Zealand crossed the finish line first in world-record time. Holiday...

How we can avert a national crisis.(PRESIDENT'S DESK)(science and mathematics education)(Column)
April 1, 2006... The call came in on my wife's cell phone as we were driving back to Chicago from northern Wisconsin. Our then newly minted high school graduate was calling to tell us that she had just received her calculus AP scores and that she did "well...

Site sports new look and feel.(INFORMS ONLINE)(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences launches new website www.informs.org)
April 1, 2006... If you've visited www.informs.org in the last few weeks, perhaps you've noticed something new. It's been a long time in coming (I proposed this project as a goal in my first column as editor of IOL in February 2001). The new graphic design is...

O.R. and study abroad.(ISSUES IN EDUCATION)(Georgia Institute of Technology's Industrial and Systems Engineering Department)
April 1, 2006... Each summer, the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Georgia Tech organizes a study abroad program in Singapore and Beijing. The travel and the differences in operations in different countries and cultures offer a unique...

'It's just surveillance' in global e-commerce.(CYBERSPACE)(Google Inc.)(Yahoo! Inc.)(eBay Inc.)
April 1, 2006... "The rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." --The Fourth Amendment The other day a student told me that he had set up a...

Mourning loss of peer-turned-mentor.(WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID)(in memoriam of Perwez Shahabuddin)(Obituary)
April 1, 2006... Perwez Shahabuddin passed away on Nov. 17, 2005. He was a great friend to many of us, including me, and a terrific operations research colleague. For as long as I'd known him, Perwez was always way, way ahead of me. When I first met him, I...

Decision Sciences at Air Products.(ROUNDTABLE PROFILES)(Air Products and Chemicals Inc. profile)(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... Editor's note: This is the first in a series of articles profiling members of the INFORMS Roundtable. Company Background Air Products serves customers in technology, energy, healthcare and industrial markets worldwide with a unique...

Frontier Analyst[R] efficiency and performance measurement.(Literature Files 2006)
April 1, 2006... Banxia[R] Frontier Analyst[R] is a proven tool that gives you detailed insights into how your business units are performing, so that you can quickly identify and target those critical areas which will have the greatest impact on improved...

Impact Explorer[TM] audience response system for opinion gathering.(Literature Files 2006)
April 1, 2006... Keypad voting systems provide a very effective means of increasing audience participation in your meetings and presentations, and now they really are more affordable than ever. The Impact Explorer[TM] software provides an agenda designer with...

Distribution fitting software.(Literature Files 2006)
April 1, 2006... Stat::Fit[R] statistically fits your data to the most useful analytical distribution. Version 2 includes 11 additional distributions and enhanced graphics capabilities. The Auto::Fit function automatically fits continuous and discrete...

Logical Decisions[R] for Windows[TM].(Literature Files 2006)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Logical Decisions[R] for Windows[TM], Version 5.1 helps you evaluate choices requiring critical preference and value judgements. LDW lets you combine qualitative and quantitative concerns in a single model. LDW also lets you simultaneously...

Introducing CSIM for Java!(Literature Files 2006)
April 1, 2006... Mesquite Software now offers CSIM for Java, a fully-featured simulation toolkit for Java programmers. Both CSIM for Java and CSIM 19 for C/C++ enable you to rapidly and economically create process-oriented, discrete event models for large and...

Micro Saint Sharp Version 2.2: everything you need in simulation!(Literature Files 2006)
April 1, 2006... Micro Saint Sharp is a general purpose, discrete-event simulation software tool that can simulate complex processes in a variety of applications. You can visualize your simulation models in 3 unique ways: network diagram, Animator (2D) and...

Count on Arena[R] for enterprise-wide simulation.(Literature Files 2006)
April 1, 2006... Helping you make sound investment choices, reduce costs, and optimize operations with simulation is what makes Arena[R] software the undisputed industry leader. Thousands of successful users worldwide rely on Arena's unparalleled ease of use,...

DEA SolverPro.(Literature Files 2006)
April 1, 2006... DEA SolverPro has been widely utilized all over the world. With popular demands on additional features, DEA SolverPro Version 5.0 is now available. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With more than 146 models in 35 clusters Version 5.0 added such...

Does 1+1=Terror? Using math models to calculate risks.(REAL WORLD)
April 1, 2006... George Habash, a militant and former secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, once characterized terrorism as a "thinking man's game." Using mathematics, researchers at Stanford University's Center for...

Alabama celebrates Simulation Week.(REAL WORLD)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama proclaimed the first week of April as Simulation Week in the state. As part of the festivities, the Alabama Modeling and Simulation Council hosted an extensive agenda at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville. ...

Georgia Tech's ISyE receives $20 million commitment.(REAL WORLD)(H. Milton Stewart donates for Georgia Institute of Technology)
April 1, 2006... Georgia Tech's School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), ranked No. 1 in the country for the past 15 years by U.S. News and World Report, has received a commitment of $20 million from Georgia Tech alumnus H. Milton Stewart and his...

O.R.'s ready for prime time in Pakistan.(REAL WORLD)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... INFORMS Past President Richard Larson of MIT, director of the Learning International Networks Consortium (LINC, http://linc.mit.edu), gave a lecture for prime-time Pakistani television on the usefulness of math in everyday life during a visit...

Missed opportunity.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... To the Editor: I read the article by David Simchi-Levi on the new mission for Operations Research with interest and then increasing disappointment ("The State of Operations Research," OR/MS Today, February 2006). This re-appraisal of what...

Renault speeds up delivery: O.R. helps French automaker overhaul its supply chain from a built-to-inventory to a built-to-order perspective.(Regie Nationale des Usines Renault)
April 1, 2006... In the face of a very competitive Western European market, French automaker Renault decided in 1999 to launch the "New Delivery Project" aimed at offering its customers all the diversity of the product range while shortening delivery times....

Public transport to the fORe! Can O.R. methods help public transportation systems break even? German research group moves industry closer to elusive goal.(INTERNATIONAL O.R.)(Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe AG)
April 1, 2006... How would you build a public transport system? For example, look at the situation in Berlin. The BVG, Berlin's public transport company, maintains a 2,423-kilometer network; operates 197 lines with 3,286 stops, using 1,554 busses, 1,391 subway...

Rowing to Barbados: New Zealanders win transatlantic race in record time thanks to a set of routing charts developed using stochastic optimization techniques.(INTERNATIONAL O.R.)
April 1, 2006... In December 2002, Kevin Biggar walked into Andy Philpott's office at the University of Auckland with a proposal. He had heard of Philpott's work with Team New Zealand on the optimal routing of America's Cup yachts and wanted to use similar...

Farmers reap benefits of DSS: new scheduling system dramatically improves harvesting scheduling for maize farming in New Zealand.(INTERNATIONAL O.R.)(decision-making support system)
April 1, 2006... Maize farming in New Zealand is an important activity contributing a significant proportion of the output of the agricultural sector. Commercial contractors form an important part of the harvesting process by traveling from farm to farm...

Is India ready for revenue management? Yes, thanks in part to a full-fledged RM course created at the Indian Institute of management in Ahmedabad.(INTERNATIONAL O.R.)(Revenue management)(Discussion)
April 1, 2006... Last July, during the IFORS Triennial Conference in Hawaii, I attended a plenary panel session led by INFORMS President Richard Larson, Valerie Belton and Alexis Tsoukias. Larson and his team discussed the marketing of operations research and...

Probability management, Part 2: small models linked through their input and output distributions create coherent networks of models that identify enterprise-wide risks and opportunities.
April 1, 2006... In the first article in this series [1] we presented the seven deadly sins of averaging. To counter them, we introduced the concept of Probability Management, which focuses on estimating, maintaining and communicating the distributions of the...

INFORMS nominations.(INFORMS NEWS)
April 1, 2006... The INFORMS Nominating Committee has provided the following slate of nominees for the elections to be held in Summer 2006 (for offices beginning January 2007): President-Elect Cynthia Barnhart Don N. Kleinmuntz Treasurer ...

A Hong Kong welcome.(INFORMS NEWS)
April 1, 2006... Nin-Hau (Hi)! The INFORMS International Hong Kong 2006 meeting will be held at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers from June 25-28 in Hong Kong. The conference is organized by INFORMS in conjunction with the Hong Kong Operational Research...

2006 INFORMS Combined Colloquia.(INFORMS NEWS)
April 1, 2006... The 2006 INFORMS Combined Colloquia will be held Nov. 3-4, the Friday and Saturday immediately preceding the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. This year, the Combined Colloquia will feature the eighth annual Teaching Effectiveness...

INFORMS Fellows class of 2005.(INFORMS NEWS)(Institute For Operations Research and The Management Sciences gives awards to members)(Awards list)
April 1, 2006... INFORMS honored 25 recipients of the INFORMS Fellows Award at a special luncheon held in conjunctions with the INFORMS meeting in San Francisco. The Fellows Award recognizes INFORMS members who have made significant contributions to the...

Roundtable meeting notes.(INFORMS NEWS)(Discussion)
April 1, 2006... Fifty Roundtable members and guests met in Marina del Rey, Calif., in February for the INFORMS Roundtable winter retreat centered on the theme "Forecasting." Professor Michael Phillips kicked off the meeting with a discussion of...

Saul Gass feted on 80th Birthday.(INFORMS NEWS)(University of Maryland honors professor)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... More than 150 people attended "Operations Research in the 21st Century: A Symposium in Honor of Saul Gass' 80th Birthday" at the University of Maryland. Howard Frank, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and former dean Ralph Lamone,...

National Academy of Engineering.(PEOPLE)(Egon Balas, Peter Cherry and Robert M. Oliver elected as members)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... INFORMS members Egon Balas, Peter Cherry and Robert M. Oliver were among the 76 new members elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions...

Lancaster University.(PEOPLE)(Graham Rand and John Ranyard recieve Companionship of Operational Research award from Operational Research Society)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Graham Rand and John Ranyard of Lancaster University's Management School's Department of Management Science were awarded the Companionship of Operational Research, one of the highest awards bestowed by the Operational Research Society. ...

Perwez Shahabuddin.(Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University)(Obituary)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Perwez Shahabuddin, professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR) at Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, died Nov. 17, 2005. He had been teaching at Columbia University since 1995. ...

Professor Gerardine "Gerry" DeSanctis.(Duke University)(Obituary)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Professor Gerardine "Gerry" DeSanctis of the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, died Aug. 16, 2005 after a long struggle against cancer. A member of Fuqua's management area since 1994 (and area coordinator 1996-1999), Professor...

Professor Naum Z. Shor.(V.M. Glushkov Institute of Cybernetics in Kiev)(Obituary)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Professor Naum Z. Shor, a friend and valued colleague to many mathematicians across the world, died on Feb. 26. Professor Naum made significant contributions to nonlinear and stochastic programming, numerical techniques for non-smooth...

INFORMS meetings.(INFORMS NEWS)(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)(Calendar)
April 1, 2006... INFORMS National & International Meetings 2006 April 30-May 2 INFORMS Practice Conference: Applying Science to the Art of Business Hotel InterContinental Miami, Fla. Chair: Karl G. Kempf, Intel Corporation ...

UMASS Amherst Student Chapter.(INFORMS NEWS)(University of Massachusetts Amherst Student Chapter)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The University of Massachusetts Amherst Student Chapter of INFORMS is a collaboration of graduate and undergraduate students from various schools and departments at UMASS Amherst, including the Isenberg School of Management, the College of...

Solver Platform SDK 7.0 extends simulation, support capabilities.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Frontline Systems Inc. launches Solver Platform SDK V7.0)
April 1, 2006... Frontline Systems is shipping Version 7.0 of its Solver Platform SDK, featuring new support for 64-bit Windows, 32-bit and 64-bit Linux, Visual Studio 2005, Microsoft .NET 2.0 and MATLAB, and significant enhancements to its Monte Carlo...

ILOG CPLEX 10 offers industry-first features.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(ILOG CPLEX 10.0 launched)
April 1, 2006... ILOG announced the latest version of its optimization software, ILOG CPLEX 10. With new industry-first features, ILOG CPLEX 10 is designed to help businesses find answers to their most difficult problems, including meeting demands for complex...

OptTek Systems unveils new component to optimization products.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(OptTek Systems launches OptQuestJava)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... OptTek Systems announced the release of OptQuestJava, a strategic component of OptTek's family of optimization software products. The major new version, written in Java, will help customers add optimization capabilities to applications based on...

Red Adair's parable.(ORACLE)(opinions about operational research )(Discussion)
April 1, 2006... The two O.R. analysts were enjoying what is, for many, the best part of a professional conference: having found their common interest in a session they attended, they were now continuing the discussion in a nearby bar. This particular bar was a...