OR/MS Today articles from February 2006

OR/MS Today archives from February 2006

Terror strikes O.R. community.(Operational research)
February 1, 2006... The real world came crashing down on the operations research community in the worst possible way on Dec. 28, 2005, when a gunman attacked delegates attending the 38th annual conference of the Operational Research Society of India (ORSI) in...

Risks in the editorial process.(Editorial)
February 1, 2006... When I first became the editor in chief of Transportation Science roughly 15 years ago, Bob Herman, the founding editor of the journal, told me that if I could not look back after four years of being the editor and identify at least two or...

Web trends, fads, news, notes.(case studies)
February 1, 2006... Some developments that will change the way you use the World Wide Web: Blogs "Blogs" (short for "Web logs") are one of the most recent trends in Internet content creation. Bloggers have gained visibility recently in political circles...

Teaching novices to model.(teaching methods)
February 1, 2006... Professor Joel Sokol's "Issues in Education" column, "Teaching O.R. Modeling," in the December 2005 issue of OR/MS Today raised questions that are important for the future health and effectiveness of O.R. He asked how best to teach the core...

This business of branding O.R.(CYBERSPACE)
February 1, 2006... "You can fool some of the people all the time or all of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time." --Abe Lincoln My wife says I am a porn star--I couldn't make it to the "Hollywood" of (pure) mathematics,...

Most important thing our profession can do.(opeartions research)
February 1, 2006... Softly but steadily, the High School Operations Research project (HSOR) has grown into a potential mass movement with major social implications. Until recently, I knew nothing of it, and I suspect most people reading this are equally clueless....

Be a hero, hug a terrorist.(REAL WORLD)
February 1, 2006... If you're a police officer armed with a handgun, what should you do if you spot a suicide bomber on a crowded street? Shoot to kill, preferably in the head, as the International Association of Police Chiefs recommended this year? Fire shots...

O.R. helps uncover treasure at Merrill Lynch.(Operations research)(awards)
February 1, 2006... Merrill Lynch's Treasury group dominated Treasury & Risk Management magazine's 10th annual Alexander Hamilton Awards, winning the top prize for Overall Excellence, as well as gold awards for Cash Management and Corporate Finance and a silver...

Probability management: planning for an uncertain future calls for a shift in information management--from single numbers to probability distributions--in order to correct the "flaw of averages." This, in turn, gives rise to the prospect of a Chief Probability Officer to manage the distributions that underlie risk, real portfolios, real options and many other activities in the global economy.
February 1, 2006... Today's world economy is driven by global uncertainties such as exchange rates, political upheaval and energy prices, layered upon local uncertainties involving individual projects. Pharmaceutical firms must manage their R & D operations in...

Bridging the gap: creating consortia is key to overcoming major barrier separating O.R. in academe from O.R. in real world.(The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)
February 1, 2006... from its inception, operations research/management science (O.R.) has derived its identity from the application of scientific approaches to problems arising in the real world. Well-known applications of O.R. span the gamut of economic sectors,...

'Exchange' keeps it real: initiative aims to provide researchers with real data and real problems and industry with real solutions.
February 1, 2006... many O.R. researchers seek to develop models and algorithms for "real" problems (industrial, government, military, non-profit, etc.) without access to real data or authentic problem contexts. Data access can diminish the applicability and...

Getting ready for the real world: INFORMS Professional Colloquium aims to arm O.R. grad students with "softer, high-level" skills needed for successful careers as practitioners.(The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)
February 1, 2006... Operations research/management science (O.R.) students graduating from master's and Ph.D. programs are recognized as motivated, analytical and technically sound. The INFORMS Professional Colloquium (IPC) aims to complete the equation by arming...

Designing student teams: to make an omelette for employers, you've got to break a few eggs in traditional management education.
February 1, 2006... this article describes the motivation, the process and the results regarding our expanded use of teams in a capstone course with 150 students in our master's in management course. We aimed to meet the requirements of employers requiring such...

The state of Operations Research: new editor in chief re-visits mission, scope and coverage areas of profession's "flagship journal.".(The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)
February 1, 2006... The introduction of a new editorial board is a unique opportunity to evaluate the reputation, stature and health of the journal. It is also an opportunity to examine its mission, scope and coverage areas, the types of papers submitted and...

Practice conference to focus on competitive advantage analytics.(INFORMS NEWS)
February 1, 2006... The 2006 INFORMS spring conference on "Applying Science to the Art of Business" will focus on the competitive advantage of analytics in an intensive three-day program. It will also launch the new Franz Edelman Competition, with six finalist...

Notes from the Roundtable.(INFORMS NEWS)(pricing and revenue management)(Discussion)
February 1, 2006... Fifty Roundtable members and guests met in San Francisco in conjunction with the INFORMS annual meeting to explore the theme "Pricing and Revenue Management." Andy Boyd (vice president, PROS) focused his comments on the airline industry;...

INFORMS subdivision awards.(awards)
February 1, 2006... The following subdivision (sections, societies, special interest groups, etc.) awards were presented at the INFORMS annual meeting in San Francisco last November. APPLIED PROBABILITY Award: 2005 Best Publication Award Recipients:...

Kleijnen receives simulation Lifetime Achievement Award.(awards)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... Jack P.C. Kleijnen of Tilburg University, the Netherlands, was presented with the Informs Simulation Society's highest honor, the Lifetime Professional Achievement Award, at this year's Winter Simulation Conference in Orlando, Fla. Unrelated to...

PAC enjoys productive meeting.(Public Awareness Committee)(Brief article)
February 1, 2006... The Public Awareness Committee enjoyed a busy and productive schedule during the INFORMS 2005 San Francisco Meeting. The highlights: * The PAC conducted a well-received Teachers Workshop for San Francisco-area math/science teachers, with...

INFORMS meetings.(INFORMS NEWS)(Calendar)
February 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 ...

Symposium to honor Saul Gass.(INFORMS NEWS)
February 1, 2006... "Operations Research in the 21st Century: A Symposium in Honor of Saul Gass' 80th Birthday" will be held Feb. 25 at 1 p.m. at Van Munching Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, Md. The symposium, sponsored by the Robert H. Smith...

In search of INFORMS meetings pins.(INFORMS NEWS)
February 1, 2006... If you've ever attended an INFORMS meeting, you've no doubt seen or perhaps even worn one: a "pin" or "sticker" used to announce meetings, encourage voting, etc. At the most recent meeting in San Francisco, for example, multicolored,...

ILOG releases CPLEX 10.0, OPL 4.2.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
February 1, 2006... The release of ILOG CPLEX 10 and its companion product ILOG OPL Development Studio 4.2 marks a major step forward for ILOG. Once again, ILOG has delivered advances in performance and model development precision and ease of use. The two releases...

Nancy's parable.(ORACLE)(methods to sell products)
February 1, 2006... "How does this one feel?" the salesman smiled. The O.R. analyst admired the suit jacket in the mirror. "It looks really good on you," the salesman added. "You'll be a hit with the ladies." The analyst laughed, as he had been thinking the...