Invisible but Essential
Operations researchers and management scientists are little known but indispensable experts who use math and science to better decision-making, management, and operations. OR/MS practitioners work at Air Canada, IBM, the military, and throughout business, government, and academia.
Impressively, they make sense of millions of details. For example, operations research is responsible for the math models used to book the complex web of passenger reservations and discount tickets at busy airlines. Operations research is also used to save lives, for example routing ambulance and fire services to improve emergency response time.
The convention will include sessions on topics applied to a wide number of fields, including aviation, health care, information technology, the Internet, energy, marketing, package delivery, pharmaceuticals, securities, and telecommunications.
More than 1,600 papers are scheduled to be delivered at the four-day conference. Those attending can make site visits to local companies, including Canadair-Bombardier, CAE Electronics Ltd., and Northern Telecom (NORTEL).
The General Chair of the convention is Professor Paul Mireault of L’École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal.
The following are examples of workshops that may interest reporters —
Health
- Telemedicine, Tuesday 3:15-4:45 PM, including technological innovations involved with extending health care to remote areas.
- Drug Policy, Tuesday 9:45-11:15 AM, including a look at whether helping individual drug users helps or hurts society.
- AIDS, Monday 2:45-4:15 PM, with a look at better decision making in HIV prevention and treatment.
- Youth Violence, Tuesday 9:45-11:15 AM, with an analysis of the recent increase in crimes committed by juveniles.
- Cancer screening, Tuesday 1:30-3:00 PM, including a look at the failure to reach a breast cancer policy consensus and where best to locate mammography centers.
- Emergency Services, Tuesday 1:30-3:00 PM, including a look at improving response times and optimally situating ambulances and aeromedical trauma teams.
Aviation
- Reducing air traffic delays, Tuesday 5:00-6:30 PM, which looks at air traffic control and management, plus unclogging a crowded network.
- The force behind the super saver fare looks at new reservation technologies for airlines, hotels, and other industries, Tuesday, April 28, 11:30 AM-12:30 PM, a keynote with Dr. Thomas M. Cook, Sabre Technology Solutions, a pioneer in reservation systems for airlines, hotels, and the hospitality industries.
- Real-Time System for Traffic Prediction & Guidance, Wednesday 12:30 – 2 PM. The conference also features sessions about operations research studies in intelligent traffic systems for commuter traffic and freight hauling.
Frustrated waiting on line?
Beyond the Physics of Queueing, Monday, April 27, 11:00 AM-12 PM, on the science of reducing the wait at stores and in traffic, with “Dr. Queue,” Dr. Richard C. Larson, MIT.
For additional information on the conference, including a full list of workshops, visit the web site at http://www2.informs.org/Conf/Montreal98/
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is an international scientific society with 12,000 members, including Nobel Prize laureates, dedicated to applying scientific methods to help improve decision-making, management, and operations. Members of INFORMS work primarily in business, government, and academia. They are represented in fields as diverse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, the stock market, and telecommunications.
The Canadian Operations Research Society (CORS), founded in 1958, works to advance the theory and practice of operations research. Its primary purpose is to stimulate and promote contacts between those interested in operations research. CORS members are employed across Canada in various industries, government, and academia.