Invisible but Essential
Operations researchers - also referred to as management scientists - are little known but indispensable experts who use math and science to better decision-making, management, and operations. They work throughout business, government, and academia.
Impressively, operations researchers 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, assessing effective techniques for the prevention of AIDS.
The convention will include sessions on topics applied to numerous fields, including aviation, finance, health care, information technology, energy, transportation, manufacturing, marketing, and telecommunications. More than 1,600 papers are scheduled to be delivered.
The General Chairs are Marisa Altschul and Albert Maimon of Boeing. Local participants will include representatives of Boeing, Weyerhauser, Microsoft, and the University of Washington.
The following presentations may interest reporters -
Teaching Our Children Math
- Workshop for Seattle Math and Science Teachers, Monday 8 AM - 4:15 PM. New material to interest students in "math you can use." Select local high-school students will attend. Photo opportunity.
Health
- Distinguished Plenary: Sequencing the Genome, Tuesday 11:00 AM-12:00 PM, with Dr. Richard M. Karp, University of Washington, National Medal of Science recipient. Local angle.
- HIV Modeling, Sunday 4:30-6 PM, including the impact of prevention in controlling HIV.
Finance
- Predicting the Long-Run Return of the U.S. Stock Market, Monday 2:45-4:15 PM, with Dr. Martin Young, University of Michigan Business School.
- Measurement, Management, & Perception of Market Risk, Tuesday 1-2:30 PM, with experts from the University of Illinois and University of Texas.
Aviation
- How Passengers Choose Airlines, Tuesday 2:45-4:15 PM, with speakers from Boeing, American Airlines, and the University of Michigan. Local angle.
Information Technology
- Plenary: Partnering for Global Technology Management, Monday 11:45AM - 12:45 PM, with James W. Evatt, President, Information and Communications Systems, Boeing Information, Space & Defense Systems. Local angle.
Supply Chain
- Lean Supply Chain Management, Sunday 2:45-4:15 PM, with Dr. Jeffrey Liker, University of Michigan
- What Savings Can Be Found in Your Supply Chain?, Monday 1-2:30 PM, with David Watson, InterTrans Logistics Solutions, Seattle. Local angle.
Transportation
- Traffic Incidents: Detection, Management, and Control, Wednesday 10-11:30 AM, with speakers from the University of Toronto, Purdue, MIT, Northwestern, and two state transit systems.
Environment
- Ecologically Sustainable Business Practices, Monday 8-9:30 AM, with speakers from the University of Virginia.
For additional information on the conference, including a full list of workshops, visit the web site at http://www2.informs.org/Conf/Seattle98/
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.