OR/MS Today articles from October 2006

OR/MS Today archives from October 2006

Give P.E.A.C.E. a chance.(INSIDE STORY)(Parties Empowered by Automated, Computerized Engagement)
October 1, 2006... John Kettelle, the author of this month's cover story on a concept he calls "Computerized Third Party" (CTP), traces his career in operations research back more than 50 years, back to a time when computers were huge, slow, cumbersome and...

Reflections on Sept. 11.(PRESIDENT'S DESK)(resource allocation for government security services)(Column)
October 1, 2006... Sept. 11, 2006, 6:30 p.m., Gate C21, Logan Airport, Boston, Mass., waiting for United Airlines flight 545 from Boston to Chicago. For the third time in the five years since Sept. 11, 2001, I find myself flying on Sept. 11. In 2003, I was en...

Web access for the disabled.(INFORMS ONLINE)
October 1, 2006... Web access for the disabled is a rather delicate topic, but it is rapidly becoming important to Web designers in the United States, including IOL. A few recent events piqued my interest: * A California judge ruled in favor of allowing a...

Testing ourselves.(ISSUES IN EDUCATION)(management science teaching)
October 1, 2006... Consider the following title and abstract of a research paper: Title: A new heuristic for solving Problem X. Abstract: Problem X is a well-known and well-studied problem. In this paper, we present a new heuristic algorithm that gives...

Help us help you.(management science education and public awareness )
October 1, 2006... As Kevin Costner said in "Bull Durham," "I have been known to howl at the moon." Since at least 1988,I have complained incessantly about the public perception of the profession of operations research. Outside of the narrow confines of INFORMS,...

Supply chain interoperability.(Column)
October 1, 2006... Interoperability is the ability of products, systems or business processes to work together to accomplish a common task. The term can be defined in a technical way or in a broad way, taking into account social, political and organizational...

The shift to knowledge-based decision-support systems.
October 1, 2006... Recent articles in OR/MS Today have reminded me of the adage, "If you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." The dominant decision support system (DSS) tools on the market today focus on manipulating data for simple information...

O.R.'s role in 'The Box'.(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2006... To the Editor: I was pleased to see E. Andrew Boyd's essay in the August issue of OR/MS Today ("The Box that Changed Our Lives," page 72). I read it several times, looking for some indication of the importance of the role played by...

When three's not a crowd; From peace treaties to labor contracts: the case for employing a computerized third party for group decision-making and negotiations.
October 1, 2006... ONE OF THE MOST FRUSTRATING things about a negotiation is that each party has private information that is central to a sound agreement, but it can at the same time be folly for either party to share that information directly with the other...

Reality check: the top five misconceptions about starting an IEOR consulting career.(Career Choices)
October 1, 2006... So here you are, starting your last school year. Perhaps you're finishing a B.S. in operations research, with a double minor in something utterly practical, like computer science and accounting, and an unholy fascination with the left nullspace...

Tonight's big story: O.R.; The INFORMS campaign to market the profession boosts the field and its clients.(SCIENCE OF BETTER MARKETING)(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)
October 1, 2006... ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO, INFORMS launched its "Science of Better" program to market the profession. This ambitious program potentially benefits every single person who works in fields embraced by the INFORMS umbrella. The time seems right to...

A personal history of ICS: a founding father of the INFORMS Computing Society recalls the birth and growth of the influential special interest group/technical section/society from 1974-1998.
October 1, 2006... This article describes what I remember about the origins of the INFORMS Computing Society (ICS) with help from colleagues (see acknowledgments). It began with informal conversations among Jerry Brown, Milt Gutterman and others at the 1974 San...

TutORials in Operations Research: INFORMS book series captures fountain of knowledge from annual meetings.
October 1, 2006... The newest INFORMS publication is the book series "TutORials in Operations Research," which is published each year based on the tutorials offered at the Institute's annual meeting. John D.C. Little long told us that the primary role of a...

Marketing Science Practice Prize.(INFORMS NEWS)(Professor Jorge Silva-Risso and Irina Ionova gets awards )(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... The 2006 INFORMS Society for Marketing Science announced that the winning entry in the society's Practice Prize competition is "Incentive Planning System: A Decision Support System for Planning Pricing and Promotions in the Automobile Industry"...

WSC 2006 broadens simulation horizons.(Winter Simulation Conference 2006)
October 1, 2006... The 2006 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC 2006) will be held Dec. 3-6 in Monterey, Calif., at the Monterey Conference Center & Portola Plaza Hotel. For 36 years, WSC has served as the pulse of the simulation community. It is the world's...

Roundtable discusses project management in Miami.(INFORMS NEWS)
October 1, 2006... The Roundtable held its normally abbreviated spring-format meeting in conjunction with the INFORMS Practice meeting in April. The theme of the meeting was "Project Management," based on member preferences from the past. [ILLUSTRATION...

College of Business at Northeastern University.(PEOPLE)(Amiya K. Chakravarty appointed)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Amiya K. Chakravarty has joined the College of Business at Northeastern University as the Philip McDonald Chair and professor of operations and technology management. Northeastern has made a major commitment to develop graduate research and...

University of Texas.(PEOPLE)(MCDM Edgeworth-Pareto Award for James S. Dyer)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... James S. Dyer, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, was presented the 2006 MCDM Edgeworth-Pareto Award from the International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision-Making. The award is "the highest distinction that the Society...

Middle East Technical University.(PEOPLE)(MCDM Gold Medal for M. Murat Koksalan)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... M. Murat Koksalan, a professor at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, received the MCDM Gold Medal, "the highest honor that the Society bestows upon a scholar who, over a distinguished career, has devoted much of his talent, time...

Technical University of Madrid.(PEOPLE)(Georg Cantor award for Carlos Romero)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Carlos Romero, a professor at Technical University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain, received the Georg Cantor Award, "the highest form of recognition that the Society bestows upon a researcher who, over his distinguished career, has personified the...

University of Massachusetts-Amherst.(PEOPLE)(Anna Nagurney at Fudan University)
October 1, 2006... Anna Nagurney, the John F. Smith Memorial Professor at the Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, participated in the Fudan International Management Science Forum at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. Nagurney...

John-Paul Clarke, an associate professor at the School of Aerospace Engineering and director of the Air Transportation Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology, was selected as a lecturer for the Armstrong Endowment for Young Engineers Gilbreth Lectures series.(PEOPLE)(John-Paul Clarke to give lecture for the Armstrong Endowment for Young Engineers Gilbreth Lectures series)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... John-Paul Clarke, an associate professor at the School of Aerospace Engineering and director of the Air Transportation Laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology, was selected as a lecturer for the Armstrong Endowment for Young Engineers...

Anne S. Dantzig.(Anne S. Dantzig passes away)(Obituary)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Anne S. Dantzig, wife of the late Stanford Professor Emeritus George B Dantzig, died of natural causes Aug. 10. She was 89. A devoted couple, George and Anne had been married nearly 69 years when George passed away last spring. George...

INFORMS Annual Meeting 2006--Pittsburgh: guide to exhibitors.(INFORMS NEWS)(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)
October 1, 2006... EXHIBITS OPEN SUNDAY-WEDNESDAY: Sunday -- 12 p.m.-5 p.m.; 7:30 p.m.-9 p.m. Monday & Tuesday -- 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday -- 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Visit the Exhibit Hall to see innovative software products and the latest technical...

COIN-OR ready to roll in Pittsburgh.(INFORMS NEWS)(Computational INfrastructure for Operations Research)
October 1, 2006... Computational INfrastructure for Operations Research (COIN-OR) is a virtual community of developers and users of open-source software for operations research. Hosted by INFORMS, the COIN-OR Web site at http://www.coin-or.org is currently home...

Workshop on O.R. Education set for Uruguay.(INFORMS NEWS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... The 1st ALIO/INFORMS Workshop on O.R. Education will take place Nov. 27-28 in conjunction with the 2006 Latin-Ibero-American Conference on Operations Research (XIII CLAIO--www.fing.edu.uy/inco/eventos/claio06/eng/) in Montevideo, Uruguay. The...

INFORMS meetings.(INFORMS NEWS)(Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences)(Calendar)
October 1, 2006... INFORMS National & International Meetings 2006 Nov. 5-8 INFORMS Annual Meeting 2006 Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Convention Center & Westin Convention Center Hotel Pittsburgh, Pa. Chair: Michael A. Trick, Carnegie Mellon...

QMS 1.1: software provides comprehensive collections of modules with user-friendly interfaces.(SOFTWAREREVIEW)(QuantMethods's Quantitative Methods Software 1.1)(Product/service evaluation)
October 1, 2006... QUANTITATIVE METHODS SOFTWARE VERSION 1.1 (QMS) is a comprehensive collection of software modules that covers nearly every topic that could be included in an introductory quantitative methods or operations research course. QMS was introduced in...

AIMMS 3.7 extends modeling experience.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... The new AIMMS release version 3.7 (due in October) offers several new features, including: 1. Integrated GIS support -- the capability to dynamically retrieve background images from one or more GIS servers to enhance visualization,...

Frontline releases Premium Solver Platform V7.0, Solver Engines V7.0.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Frontline Systems Inc. product launched)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Frontline Systems is shipping Version 7.0 of its Premium Solver Platform for Excel, the market leader for spreadsheet optimization, and seven large-scale Solver Engines V7.0 that "plug into" both the Premium Solver Platform and the Solver...

@RISK 5.0 on the way.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Palisade Corp. software product @RISK 5.0 launched)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Palisade announced that development is well underway for major new releases of @RISK and the DecisionTools Suite. If you are a current maintenance subscriber of @RISK or the DecisionTools Suite when the new versions are released, upgrades to...

Crystall ball available in Spanish, German, French.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Decisioneering Inc. enhances risk analysis software, Crystal Ball)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... Demand for improved business decisions by the worldwide business community has spurred Decisioneering to release its award winning software, Crystal Ball, into three new languages: Spanish, German and French. Crystal Ball, a risk analysis...

PROS releases Pricing Solution V3.5.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(product launch of PROS Revenue Management Inc.)(Brief article)
October 1, 2006... PROS, a leader in pricing and revenue optimization science and software, announced the release of PROS Pricing Solution Suite v3.5. This release enhances PROS Pricing Solution Suite and represents the next step in the evolution of PROS' Pricing...

Micro Saint Sharp Version 2.5: everything you need in simulation!(Literature Files 2006)
October 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...

Frontier Analyst[R] efficiency and performance measurement.(Literature Files 2006)
October 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)
October 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)
October 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)
October 1, 2006... Logical Decisions[R] for Windows[TM], Version 5.1 helps you evaluate choices requiring critical preference and value judgments. LDW lets you combine qualitative and quantitative concerns in a single model. LDW also lets you simultaneously...

Introducing CSIM for Java!(Literature Files 2006)
October 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...

Count on Arena[R] for enterprise-wide simulation.(Literature Files 2006)
October 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)
October 1, 2006... DEA SolverPro has been widely utilized all over the world. With popular demands on additional features, DEASolverPro Version 5.0 is now available. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With more than 146 models in 35 clusters Version 5.0 added such...

The dance of the fruit flies.(ORACLE)(control of global warming )(Column)
October 1, 2006... The group was finishing lunch and preparing to go back to the afternoon sessions of a multi-disciplinary conference on systems thinking. The O.R. analyst turned again to the biologist he'd just met--he had happened to sit next to him at lunch....