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OR in the News: Japanese PM has PhD in OR
 Operations researchers have taken pride that our profession has prepared many of our best members to become business leaders and deans. Apparently, for the first time, we have now sent forth one of our own to become prime minister of a G-8 country. On August 31, when the Democratic Party of Japan defeated the long-ruling Liberal Democrats, the party leader, Yukio Hatoyama, became the presumptive prime minister. Dr. Hatoyama earned his PhD in operations research at Stanford University in the 1970s. His PhD advisor was the late Gerald Lieberman. His fellow operations researchers at INFORMS wish him luck and success as he applies his analytical expertise to solving his country's economic challenges. |
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INFORMS Meetings
INFORMS Annual Meeting San Diego 2009
October 11-14, San Diego Convention Center & Hilton San Diegohttp://meetings.informs.org/sandiego09  Registration - Early Deadline is September 7The early registration deadline for the meeting is Sept. 7 - click here to register now. Hotel ReservationsThe INFORMS hotel block is sold out. However, additional rooms will be available soon, and you can put your reservation request on a waiting list. Click here to get an update on availability and to add your request to the waiting list. Check back with the INFORMS San Diego Web page for continually updated information on hotel availability. You can also participate in a room-sharing list. Plenary and Keynote PresentationsAn impressive list of plenary speakers includes Charles Cantor, Founder of SEQUENOM; Irwin Jacobs, Co-Founder of QUALCOMM; Omega Rho recipient Hau Lee, Stanford University; Richard Larson, MIT; 2009 Edelman winner HP; Thomas Magnanti, MIT; Mark Little, Senior VP and Director of GE Global Research; John Sterman, MIT; Christopher Tang, UCLA; and Yossi Sheffi, MIT. For a complete listing, including abstracts of the presentations, click here.
Vendor Technical Workshops, October 10 - FREE
Plan now to attend software workshops presented by 16 vendors in special sessions on Saturday, October 10. Admission is free if you are registered for the meeting. Don't miss these presentations from AIMMS, American Optimal Decisions, AnyLogic, FICO, Frontline Systems, GAMS, Gurobi Optimization, IBM, Imagine That, JMP, LINDO Systems, Maximal Software, Responsive Learning, Salford Systems, SAS, and SAS Global Academic Program. Sign up for these workshops when you register for the meeting, or call 800-446-3676 or 443-757-3500, ext. 591 to add workshops.
Guest Tours
Be sure to sign up for these tours when you register for the meeting. The Sunday tour to Balboa Park, the largest municipal park in the U.S., encompasses several museums and extensive gardens. Visit the world-famous San Diego Zoo on Monday. For all details, click here. If you already registered for the meeting, call 800-446-3676, x. 591 to add any tours.
Winter Simulation Conference 2009 - Register Today!
Dec. 13-16, Hilton Austin, Austin, TXwww.wintersim.org
ALIO-INFORMS Joint International Meeting 2010 - Abstract Submission Now OpenJune 6-9, Law School, University of Buenos Aires, ArgentinaClick here for more information and to submit your abstract.
INFORMS Practice Conference 2010 - Save the Dates!
April 18-20, Hilton Bonnet Creek, Orlando, FLMark your calendar now and plan to attend!
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INFORMS 2010 Election Open - Please Vote
INFORMS is your organization, and you decide who leads. That's why it's critical that you vote online now for your candidates. Voting ends on September 30, 2009. You should have received an e-mail from our election vendor Survey and Ballot Systems, via INFORMSvote@directvote.net, containing your member number and e-signature (election passcode). The quickest way to vote is to click on this link: https://www.directvote.net/INFORMS/, which will take you directly to the login page of the election website. If you need help, click on the "Need help logging in?" link, or you may contact support@directvote.net or call 952-974-2339. For non-technical support, or to request a paper ballot, contact election@informs.org or call 800-446-3676 (inside the United States & Canada, call 443-757-3500, ext.525). |
First Doctoral Consortium for Service Science
The INFORMS Service Science Section will hold its first doctoral consortium at the San Diego INFORMS meeting this fall. This consortium will be an opportunity for PhD students to discuss their research and career plans with senior members of the service-science community from industry and academia. The section has designed the consortium with the main objectives of networking and information sharing.
Any PhD student whose research is related to service science is welcome to participate in the consortium, regardless of the student's anticipated graduation date. If you're interested, fill out the participation form at http://service-sci.section.informs.org/Conf.htm and return it to Ralph D. Badinelli, ralphb@vt.edu. |
Current Jobs at INFORMS Job Placement Service
 The INFORMS Job Placement Service regularly features openings in operations research and related fields. Recent new postings are:
- 8/24/2009 - U.S. Naval Academy - The USNA Mathematics Department anticipates at least one tenure-track position (subject to approval and funding) at the Assistant Professor level to start in August 2010.
- 8/23/2009 - The Ohio State University, Max M. Fisher College of Business, plans to fill multiple faculty positions in Operations Management for Fall 2010.
- 8/24/2009 - The Goizueta Business School of Emory University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position in operations management beginning Fall 2010.
For information on these and other job postings, go to http://jps.informs.org. You must register at the website to view job details. |
INFORMS Transactions on Education's New Issue
 Check out the new INFORMS Transactions on Education http://ite.pubs.informs.org (Volume 10, Number 1).This issue comprises three articles, a teaching note, and a puzzle. Read these articles in the INFORMS open-access, online journal and learn how you can incorporate innovative and effective approaches in your classroom. The selection in this issue includes:
- Exploring the Bullwhip Effect by Means of Spreadsheet Simulation by Boute and Lambrecht
- Using Spreadsheets to Enhance Learning in the Affective Domain for Undergraduate Statistics Students by Clayton and Sankar
- A Spreadsheet Scenario Analysis Technique That Integrates with Optimization and Simulation by Grossman and Özlük
- Teaching Note: An Animated Demonstration of the Uncapacitated Network Simplex Algorithm by Baloukas, Paparrizos, and Sifaleras
- Puzzle: Chain-Reaction: A Puzzle to Demonstrate TSP Formulation by DePuy
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Writer for the INFORMS Annual Meeting Daily E-News: October 11-14, 2009
INFORMS seeks three OR/MS students or graduates to cover on-site the sessions, events, and breaking news during the 2009 INFORMS Annual Meeting to be held in San Diego, CA, October 11-14, 2009. The writer is expected to produce content for a daily electronic newsletter throughout the duration of the 4-day meeting. The writer may have experience regularly publishing news articles in professional or collegiate news outlets or equivalent experience. Qualifications:
- Current or recent enrollment in a college-level OR/MS program and/or equivalent experience is required
- Must be proficient with Microsoft Office (Word and Excel)
- Laptop with wireless capabilities is required
- Experience with digital photography and ownership of a digital camera is required
- Must be able to attend the conference all 4 days
INFORMS will provide a daily stipend of $100 and reimbursement for local transportation/parking cost if necessary. Please forward a resume and two writing samples (approximately 500 words each) to Mary Leszczynski, Managing Editor, mary.leszczynski@informs.org. For more information on the meeting, please visit: http://meetings.informs.org/SanDiego09. |
Call for Papers: Interfaces Special Issue: Analytics in Sports
 Sports-related business activities constitute a multibillion dollar industry in which difficult decision-making problems exist at the strategic, tactical, and operational levels. Fostered by the increasing availability of data and advances in computational power, the use of quantitative analysis to improve decision making in sports has enjoyed growing popularity. In this special issue of Interfaces, the editors seek to highlight the role of analytics in the sports industry. For more details, please go here. |
Coming Soon: Redesigned INFORMS Website
For the past year and a half, a core team of INFORMS volunteers and staff led by Mohan Sodhi and assisted by Web consulting firm Beaconfire have been working on a complete redesign of the INFORMS website. Work is now nearly complete. The new website will be beta-tested at the 2009 INFORMS Annual Meeting with rollout to members (and the world) scheduled for November 30, 2009. In the last issue of eNews we gave you a peek at the redesigned home page. Today, please see a mock-up of our new initiative -- audience-specific pages. Click here to see a mock-up of the academics landing page. There will also be landing pages for practitioners, students, and international members to find what they are looking for quickly and easily. |
Findings from the 2009 Member Survey
 The 2009 Member Survey closed on June 24, 2009; 1,530 members participated, a 17% response rate. The Board of Directors thanks all members who took the time to complete the survey. The survey measured members' primary goal for joining INFORMS, the products and services used to achieve this goal, and the overall satisfaction with the products and services used. Over the next several issues of eNews, we will provide key excerpts from the survey. Go here and login as a member to view the overall findings, or, you can read the upcoming article in the October issue of OR/MS Today. Findings from this survey will be used to ensure that INFORMS is providing the best membership experience possible.
Excerpt from 2009 Member Survey Results:
Members use a wide variety of products and services to help achieve their primary goal for joining INFORMS; some much more than others, however:
- Attend fall Annual Meeting - 60.9%
- Consult print journals - 52.2%
- Consult electronic journals - 45.7%
- Read OR/MS Today - 43.6%
- Speak at Annual Meeting - 34.7%
- Attempt to publish in journals - 25.4%
- Attend spring Practice Meeting - 17.4%
- Use Science of Better website - 15.0%
- Use Job Placement Service - 11.5%
- Compete for prizes and awards - 11.3%
- Volunteer for activities - 7.2%
- Speak at spring Practice Meeting - 6.0%
- Participate in Speakers Program - 2.4%
- Use Membership Directory - 0.7%
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Blog On: Aurelie Thiele Writes About Job Reconversion During the Economic Downturn and Jim Orlin Writes About Using Operations Research to Improve Hospital Efficiencies
Aurelie Thiele
The good: "Out of work in finance, they turn to teaching". New York Times, May 7, 2009. This article describes the Traders to Teachers program, "an accelerated three-month program which allows displaced financial services employees to obtain public school certification to teach mathematics." (source: the Montclair State University website, which also links to news articles about the program.) Read More.
Jim Orlin
There is a great article that promotes the use of operations research in hospitals that was printed in the Boston Globe this week. (Actually, it promotes operations management rather than O.R.) Eugene Litvak of Boston University has worked with Cincinnati Children's Hospital to improve "patient flow," resulting in far better use of their resources. Read More. |
2009 TutORials CD and Book Available at Annual Meeting
 The 2009 TutORials in Operations Research CD is a benefit of attending the 2009 INFORMS Annual Meeting and will be distributed on site. This year's editor is Mohammad Oskoorouchi of California State University, San Marcos. The nine chapters included in the 2009 volume cover recent advances in theory and implementations of methodologies, probabilistic and stochastic models, and logistics and transportation in global supply chains. For more information on topics covered, see http://tutorials.pubs.informs.org/index.php. The accompanying soft cover book is also available for purchase at 50% off. The CD and book will be available for sale after the Annual Meeting at http://tutorials.pubs.informs.org/index.php. |
Submit Applications for Two INFORMS Key Practice Prizes
Applications to be considered for the Edelman Award for achievement in operations research are due by October 21, 2009.  Applications to be considered for the INFORMS Prize for effective integration of operations research into organizational decision making are due by December 1, 2009. You can add your name to the prestigious list of finalists, but you have to enter soon. |
Yes, INFORMS Is Using Twitter
 Follow INFORMS on Twitter at http://twitter.com/informs. On the INFORMS channel, you'll find late-breaking news that occurs between issues of eNews including meetings information and jobs tweets. Have an INFORMS news item you would like to tweet about on the INFORMS channel? Contact INFORMS at informs@informs.org. |
Read the Most E-Mailed INFORMS Journal Article
Did you know you can e-mail your favorite INFORMS journal articles to friends and colleagues? There are few better ways to spread the word about the excellent work that is taking place in all areas of O.R. Currently, the most e-mailed article is from Interfaces -- ASP, The Art and Science of Practice: Recoupling Inventory Control Research and Practice: Guidelines for Achieving Synergy. You can see what your colleagues are sharing by pointing your browser to http://pubsonline.informs.org. Please read the abstract and the other most e-mailed articles. |
Fall Issue of Analytics
 Be on the look out for the Fall 2009 issue of Analytics. Scheduled to post on or about September 30, 2009, the Fall Issue features special articles of interest to executives. To peruse past issues, go to http://analyticsmagazine.com. |
Engage with Online Tools at the Annual Meeting
eNews Daily
INFORMS staff and volunteers will keep you up to date on each day's key events and a recap of the previous day's happenings with Annual Meeting eNews Daily. Look for it in your in box each day at the Annual Meeting.
Blogs
Volunteers are needed to blog about their experiences at the Annual Meeting. Contact shirley.mohr@informs.org if you are interested. Blogs will be posted in real time to the Annual Meeting website before, during, and after the Annual Meeting. Be sure to look back frequently for posts from our team of bloggers.
Twitter
All attendees are invited to let us know what you are seeing and doing at the Annual Meeting by tweeting about it. All attendees with be provided with a hashtag identifier to allow us to capture your Annual Meeting-related tweets and post them to the Annual Meeting website. Meetings staff will also use Twitter to communicate late-breaking changes to the program.
LinkedIn
INFORMS will launch a LinkedIn Group devoted to the Annual Meeting for attendees and nonattendees alike to discuss important issues of the day. You are invited to join the group. Look for the URL in upcoming communications.
Photos and Video
Attendees are encouraged to take photos and video. Instructions will be forthcoming to post photos to Flickr and video to YouTube for display on the Annual Meeting website during and after the meeting. |
JFIG Luncheon at San Diego Meeting
The Junior Faculty Interest Group luncheon will be held at the Hilton Bayfront Hotel on Sunday, October 11, at 11:30 a.m. The winners of the forum's annual paper competition will be presented with awards, and a three-course luncheon will be served. Tickets cost only $15 or $10 for students. There is a limit to the number of tickets available.
To register online, please visit: http://meetings.informs.org/SanDiego09/register.html or contact meetings@informs.org. |
FAA Design Competition for Universities
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is again sponsoring a national FAA Design Competition for Universities that engages undergraduate and graduate students at U.S. colleges in addressing issues relating to airports. The broad challenge categories of airport operations and maintenance, runway safety/runway incursions, airport environmental interactions, and airport management and planning embrace many disciplines.
The competition is open to individual and student teams at U.S. colleges and universities (both undergraduate and graduate), working under the mentorship of a faculty advisor. Winners can earn cash awards, and first place winners will receive funding to present their design at the FAA Headquarters in Washington, DC, June 2010.
This competition closes on April 16, 2010. More information is at http://FAADesignCompetition.odu.edu. |
FHWA Seeks Applicants for "Highway for LIFE" Grants
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) will award $2 million to test and evaluate highway technologies that are ready for implementation. FHWA will look for innovative approaches and technologies that improve work zone safety, reduce congestion resulting from road construction, and improve construction. For-profit private companies and industries, as well as non-profit domestic and international organizations can apply. FHWA encourages partnership with state and local governments and academic institutions. For more information, see http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/hfl/tech.cfm, www.grants.gov, or contact Nancy Singer: (202) 366-0660. |
MORS Conference on Countering Piracy
October 26-29, Ottawa, Canada
 As a recent dramatic kidnapping of an American seaman demonstrated, piracy is again a cause of fear off the coast of Africa and across the world. The Military Operations Research Society (MORS) is sponsoring a conference, "Analytic Support for Maritime Domain Awareness and Counter-Piracy" this Fall. Information about attending is at http://www.mors.org/events/mdapiracy.aspx. |
Pandemic Watch: This Week's Science of Better Podcast
 With Swine Flu/H1N1 threatening to become a pandemic in the Northern Hemisphere this fall, operations researchers are in a unique position to help prevent a public health catastrophe. Hear Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois discuss strategies to fight the outbreak of influenza, the fight to immunize schoolchildren, and more. www.scienceofbetter.org/podcast. Tune into the Science of Better Podcast archives for recent interviews with Intel's Karl Kempf, Larry Wein of Stanford University, and operations researchers from across the United States, UK, and Canada. www.scienceofbetter.org/podcast. | |
Quick Poll
Which term do you believe provides the best branding opportunity for our profession?
Vote now.
Results from last issue's poll:
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You'll always find INFORMS ready to give you the fullest measure of assistance, so make your professional needs our business. Please feel free to contact us at (800) 446-3676, 443-757-3500, or informs@informs.org . Submit E-News announcements to barry.list@informs.org. This message was sent to the INFORMS-MEMBERS list of INFORMS Online. This is an informational posting sent to members of INFORMS by the INFORMS office. To remove yourself from this list, simply send an e-mail with the message "unsubscribe E-News" to informscentral@informs.org. If you have any difficulty with the automatic system, send us an e-mail at informs@informs.org for special handling. This message was sent under the INFORMS Mass E-Mailings Guidelines. | |
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