OR/MS Today articles from October 2004

OR/MS Today archives from October 2004

'Wising up' the ORacle.(INSIDE STORY)
October 1, 2004... In the spring of 1986, Doug Samuelson stopped by the office of Armand Weiss, at the time the editor and publisher of OR/MS Today, to discuss a Washington, D.C.-based organization they both were involved with. Weiss, however, wanted to discuss a...

Diversity, INFORMS style.(PRESIDENT'S DESK)(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Science)(President's Page)
October 1, 2004... The early literature on operations research stressed interdisciplinary teams. Today, in INFORMS' name, the word "Sciences" is in the plural. In addition, while the original applications of operations research were largely military, after World...

The case for publishers.(INFORMS ONLINE)
October 1, 2004... Last issue, I began looking at the impact on the publishing industry of new technology and new ideas about intellectual property. A central concern of that column was that new technology is profoundly affecting the publishers' traditional role...

The state of INFORM-ED.(ISSUES IN EDUCATION)
October 1, 2004... INFORMS Forum on Education (or INFORM-ED) has been very busy and productive. The forum recently elected the following officers: President: Jim Cochran, Louisiana Tech University Vice President-Programs: Pinar Keskinocak, Georgia...

A piece of Punjab in Poland.(CYBERSPACE)
October 1, 2004... On a recent trip to the beautiful medieval city of Krakow, I found a restaurant advertising Polish, Arabic, Greek and Indian foods. There, to my surprise, besides getting a good Indian dinner with real nan bread, I got to hear some really...

Catalyst for change: diversity and discomfort.(WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID?)(Column)
October 1, 2004... I recently moved from San Francisco to Oakland (some of you may know that Gertrude Stein once said, "There's no 'there' there," but let's not go there), which has had some impact on my commute. Rather than waiting for a sporadic public bus...

'Science of Better' campaign reaches out with banner ads.(FORUM)
October 1, 2004... Have you seen the banner ads? This fall, the INFORMS Science of Better campaign launched a series of ads on the Web site of the appropriately named Optimize! magazine, an IT publication. The ads asked readers not to make purely gut-level...

Readers hedge bets on predictive markets.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... To the Editor: As a longtime friend of Jimmie Savage, I read with great interest the article on predictive markets by Sam Savage ("Prices, Probabilities and Predictions," OR/MS Today, June 2004). It reminded me of a revealing study of...

Why publish rantings of the liberal left?(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2004... To The Editor: The opinionated and rambling editorial by ManMohan S. Sodhi ("Iraq, Enron and Vietnam: The Perils of Idealism," OR/MS Today, June 2004, page 12) might be appropriate for inclusion as a political statement in the liberal...

CSIM 19 is now available!(Literature Files)
October 1, 2004... Need to build models of highly complex systems? CSIM, the world's preferred low-cost simulation tool, just got even better. Using the popular C and C++ languages, this advanced simulation toolkit enables you to create process-oriented, discrete...

Micro Saint Sharp: everything you need in simulation!(Literature Files)
October 1, 2004... Built off the successful Micro Saint engine, but completely redesigned to be faster, modular and more powerful! Micro Saint Sharp is a general purpose, discrete-event simulation software tool that can simulate complex processes in a variety of...

Distribution fitting software.(Literature Files)
October 1, 2004... 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...

Count on Arena for enterprise-wide simulation.(Literature Files)(software usage for business enterprises)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Arena* simulation software offers the unparalleled ease-of-use, flexibility, and domain expertise required for modeling any aspect of a business enterprise. The Arena product family supports both in-depth analyses of a particular functional...

Logical Decisions[R] for Windows[TM].(Literature Files)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... 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...

DEA SolverPro.(Literature Files)(Data Envelopment Analysis)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... DEA SolverPro is a user-friendly Excel based DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) tool. With popular demands on additional features, DEASolverPro Version 4.1 is now available. The version 4.0 users can download it free, while older version users get...

Emergency response: O.R. models for homeland security; Decisions involving deployment of people, equipment and supplies serve as ideal setting for operations research to create better emergency response plans.(Cover Story)
October 1, 2004... OPERATIONS RESEARCH (O.R.), born during World War II, has for 65 years proved invaluable as a decision-planning tool. O.R. is an empirical science that uses the scientific method to assess the consequences of alternative decisions, be they...

Selling operations research: an historical perspective; First postwar practitioners grappled with a familiar issue: how to integrate O.R. personnel into an organization.
October 1, 2004... As an historian of science, I am currently researching the early history of O.R. to understand how its techniques and political dynamics transformed themselves and helped shape science and politics in the post-World War II era. While much of...

'COIN' of the O.R. realm: Computational Infrastructure for Operations Research incorporates, finds a new home at INFORMS Online.(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)
October 1, 2004... The development of digital infrastructure and the ability to collaborate virtually through the Internet have accelerated technology development and transfer in all fields of endeavor. IBM Research launched the Computational Infrastructure for...

Decision analysis: aiding insight VII; Seventh in a series of DA software surveys aims to help users find the right tool for the job at hand.(Software Survey)
October 1, 2004... This is the seventh survey of decision analysis software conducted by OR/MS Today over about the last decade. In those reviews we have addressed important developments in technology that cause decision analysis software to be orders of...

TK Solver 5.0: time-tested mathematical modeling software boasts many new features.(SOFTWAREREVIEW)
October 1, 2004... TK SOLVER FROM UNIVERSAL TECHNICAL SYSTEMS (UTS) is practical, time-tested mathematical modeling software, combining an intuitive rule-based language with procedural programmability and a nice collection of prepackaged tools and links to...

Spring conference to apply science to art of business.(INFORMS NEWS)(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)
October 1, 2004... The 2005 INFORMS Spring Conference, "Applying Science to the Art of Business," will be held April 17-19 at the Westin Mission Hills Resort in Palm Springs, Calif. Since its introduction in 2001, this conference has earned a reputation for...

WSC 04: agent of change.(INFORMS NEWS)(Winter Simulation Conference)
October 1, 2004... The Winter Simulation Conference (WSC) 2004 will be held Dec. 5-8 in Washington, D.C., at the Washington Hilton Hotel. We have chosen the theme "Agent of Change" to signify the role of simulation in changing and improving our companies' and...

INFORMS Annual Meeting Denver 2004 plenary & keynote presentations.(INFORMS NEWS)
October 1, 2004... SUNDAY, OCT. 24 PLENARY 11:40 a.m.-12:30 p.m. "We Have No Choice -- Health Care Delivery Must Be Improved: The Key Lies in the Application of Operations Research" William P. Pierskalla -- Professor and Former Dean of Anderson...

Marlin U. Thomas.(PEOPLE)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Marlin U. Thomas, professor of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University, received the Albert G. Holzman Distinguished Educator Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers for his contributions to the industrial engineering profession...

Alain Bensoussan.(PEOPLE)(Joined University of Texas)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Professor Alain Bensoussan has joined the School of Management in the University of Texas at Dallas as Distinguished Research Professor in Operations Management and Director of the International Center for Risk and Decision Analysis. ...

Brett Peters.(PEOPLE)(Industrial Engineering at Texas A & M University )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Professor Brett Peters has been named head of the Department of Industrial Engineering at Texas A & M University, Peters has been interim department head since June. "Dr. Peters has provided exemplary leadership during the recent periods...

Harold P. Benson.(PEOPLE)(International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision Making )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... Harold P. Benson of the University of Florida was recently awarded the Georg Cantor Award of the International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision Making. He attended the 17th International Conference on MCDM in Whistler, British Columbia,...

Roundtable meeting highlights.(INFORM NEWS)(Institute for Operations Research and The Management Sciences)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The INFORMS Roundtable's spring meeting in Cambridge, Mass., drew a record 47 attendees. The theme of the meeting was "Six Sigma and O.R." The meeting kicked off with a discussion with President-elect Dick Larson regarding non-Ph.D....

INFORMS Annual Meeting 2004 Denver: guide to exhibitors.(INFORMS NEWS)(Directory)
October 1, 2004... The INFORMS Annual Meeting 2004 will be held at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Denver Oct. 24-27. Following is a list of companies and organizations that will be exhibiting at the meeting. All attendees are encouraged to visit the exhibit area. For...

"Science of better" road show.(INFORMS NEWS)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2004... The 2004-2005 program of WINFORMS-sponsored talks kicked off in August at its new location, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems Headquarters in Arlington, Va. WINFORMS President Dr. Russ Vane introduced the featured speaker, Dr....

Meetings.(INFORMS NEWS)(Calendar)
October 1, 2004... INFORMS Meetings 2004 Oct. 24-27 INFORMS Annual Meeting 2004 Denver Adam's Mark, Denver General Chair: Manuel Laguna, Univ. of Colorado www.informs.org/Conf/Denver04 2005 April 17-19 Applying...

Gorbachev's parable.(ORACLE)
October 1, 2004... The lively conversation at the barbecue party had resulted in an agreement to disagree. The O.R. analysts and their historian friend decided that it was too soon after President Reagan's time to decide how much inspirational mythmaking is good...