Very Excited About the IFORS Conference in Santiago (Where It Is Winter) and the Dynamics of Disasters Conference in Athens (Where It Is Summer)

Academics are quite good at conferencing and also in optimizing when it comes to packing, etc. Nevertheless, packing for essentially back to back conferences on different continents and seasons can be a challenge especially if the plan is to only have a single carryon as luggage.

In 2006, I spoke at successive conferences in Cyprus (Limassol), Iceland (Reykjavik), and then in Italy (Erice). Family members joined me in Iceland and brought some warm clothing since the temperature, while we were there and it was officially summer, never rose about 48 degrees F. Some reflections on packing for the stream of conferences.

Soon I will be flying to Athens, Greece for the Dynamics of Disasters conference that I co-organized, and then, via Madrid, to the IFORS Conference in Santiago, Chile.

I am thrilled to be delivering a keynote talk, entitled, "Agricultural Supply Chain Networks: From Trade to Resilience and How OR Can Help," at the IFORS Conference.

My keynote will highlight some of our research over the past decade on agricultural supply chain networks including recent work with collaborators in Ukraine. Information on this conference can be found here. I am very honored to be on the list of plenary and keynote speakers.

Also, at the IFORS conference, I'll be taking part in the "Meet the ITOR Editors" panel, which was organized by the outstanding Editor of the International Transactions in Operational Research (ITOR) journal Celso C. Ribeiro! Joining us on the panel is the previous President of IFORS Grazia Speranza and Mario Guajardo. ITOR recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with a special issue. I was delighted to have my tutorial paper on ``Fragile Networks," co-authored with Qiang "Patrick" Qiang included in this special issue. The tutorial paper was based on a tutorial that I gave at the ALIO INFORMS conference in Buenos Aires.

I am very much looking forward to seeing conferees from many continents at this IFORS conference, including my former Isenberg School of Management PhD student, Dmytro Matsypura, who will travel from Australia. He is Chair of the Business Analytics Department at the University of Sydney. The President of IFORS is now Janny Leung and she is traveling from Macao!

And, prior to the IFORS conference, I will be experiencing the warmth of a Mediterranean summer at the Dynamics of Disasters Conference. We have an outstanding lineup of plenary speakers and I thank them all for accepting our invitations. This is the 6th Dynamics of Disasters Conference! It was such a pleasure to work with Ilias S. Kotsireas, Panos M. Pardalos, and Chrys Vogiatzis on this conference.

My presentation at this conference will be on joint work with my PhD student Dana Hassani and colleagues in Ukraine at the Kyiv School of Economics: Oleg Nivievskyi and Pavlo Martyshev.

There is clearly and agricultural theme to my presentations at both these international conferences. In fact, at the Dynamics of Disasters one, we also a special Acknowledgment and Dedication.

Back to packing for the conferences with my new suitcase purchased after I wore out my favorite one!

Safe travels to all those heading to conferences!

A Transformative Congreso Futuro in Chile with Thanks to the Organizers, Speakers and Volunteers

Last night I returned from the extraordinary 2019 Congreso Futuro, which took place in Chile from January 14-20. I had been invited to speak at this truly unique Congress last April via a formal letter  from Senator (Senador) Guido Girardi Lavín, President, Future Challenges, Science, Technology and Innovation Commission, who was writing on behalf of the Chilean Congress, the Government of the Republic of Chile and the Chilean Academy of Sciences. This year's Congress was the eight annual one and the Congress has become the most important free and open-access scientific forum in Latin America. According to the invitation: It is unique in the region for providing Nobel laureates, scientists, researchers, artists, opinion leaders and citizens alike the opportunity to experience some of the world’s most cutting-edge research, participate in the understanding of emerging trends and actively engage in the innovation of ideas and debates that directly influence the globe. 

Dr. Girardi is a true visionary and leader and all those who had the fabulous experience of taking part in the Congreso Futuro are indebted to him for the incredible intellectual exchanges, social events, as well as cultural ones. New friendships and partnerships have been made across disciplines and across the globe because of this Congreso Futuro!

The Congreso Futuro was a transformative event and experience with about 100 presenters from around the globe. The attention to detail was incredible, with an individual itinerary provided for each speaker plus each one of us was assigned a student volunteer.  The Congress consists of TED-like talks as well as panels and I thoroughly enjoyed sessions on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to climate change to food insecurity. 

The venue in Santiago was the former National Congress, which is a stunning building surrounded by a garden.

In addition to snacks and lunches provided to the speakers there was even a magnificent banquet last Wednesday evening hosted by the Chilean President Sebastián Piñera at the presidential palace in Santiago. The conversations there that continued throughout the Congress I will treasure.

There was a full day (last Saturday) on the Nobel Prize Dialogue on The Future of Learning in  which 4 Nobel laureates took part and representatives from the Nobel Foundation and panelists as well. There was a lovely lunch provided and closing remarks, and since I have had Visiting Professorships at both KTH in Stockholm and at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden it was delightful to meet the delegation from Sweden.

I had the pleasure of speaking in Santiago on January 15 and then at one of the regional venues in Valparaiso on January 17. At the former, I was part of a session on Making Sense of Complexity Through Simplicity that included Daniel Hurtado of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile,  Robert Sutor of IBM (who was born in Yonkers, where I obtained much of my schooling), and Brian Farrell of Harvard University. My talk in Santiago was on The Era of Supernetworks and it was livestreamed.

My presentation in Valparaiso was on Women in Science: A Personal Journey and the video can be accessed here (with Spanish translation). I expect that, as in previous years, all the talks in Santiago will be posted soon. Joining me in Valparaiso at the National Congress were the Nobel laureate Michael Kosterlitz, professor at my alma mater Brown University, Amber Case, and Floyd Romesberg and we enjoyed travel there and back with our great driver, Juan Carlos, and even had a tour of Valparaiso, which is a UNESCO site. Each talk was followed by a very stimulating panel and discussions.

At our event, 8 ambassadors of Latin American countries came to our talks and panels that followed and even joined us for lunch!

We were hosted in Valparaiso by Senador Chahuan and we thank him for the exceptional hospitality! 

I was thrilled when a group of girls showed up for my presentation in Valparaiso who are part of an award-winning national robotics team and also was absolutely delighted when Dean Juan Kuznar even mentioned the Stem Gems book, edited by Stephanie Espy,  in which I am featured, along with 43 other role models for young girls.

To the wonderful speakers, who are true trailblazers that I met and I will never forget; to the superb student volunteers and staff, and to the extraordinary organizers, a thank you from the bottom of my heart! You set new standards for intellectual exchanges and experiences! Also, many thanks to the wonderful journalists, including Macarena Pizarro of CNN Chile, who took the time to interview me.

Goodbye, beautiful Chile, and the fabulous Congreso Futuro! Till we meet again!

And, to add to the Chilean experience, last Saturday night at about 10:30PM as I was drifting off to sleep because of an early departure back to North America the next morning, my bed in the hotel room started shaking, and when I checked the Chilean news there had, indeed, been an earthquake in Coquimbo, registered at 6.7.

New Year - New Country - Thanks to the Congreso Futuro in Chile

On the first day of the New 2019 Year I thought it appropriate to write about what I am very excited about - and that is my forthcoming trip to a country I have never been to before - Chile!

I have a connection to that country since for two years my room-mate at Brown University during my undergraduate days was a Chilean, Teresa Davila, who was also an Applied Math major and lover of Operations Research. This former ballerina was a member of the Brown women's crew (rowing) team while I ran track and cross country and also double majored.

The invitation to speak in Chile came last April with an email message and an official letter on behalf of Senator Girardi, President of the Senate's Future Challenges, Science, Technology and Innovation Commission in Chile, to participate as a Guest Speaker in the upcoming VIII Futures Congress (Congreso Futuro in Spanish), "a global flagship knowledge engagement event set to take place between the 14th-20th January 2019". Since the establishment of  the Futures Congress in 2011, it has become a major forum in Latin America for addressing the many challenges that humanity is faced with and brings together scientists and humanists to discuss how we can achieve a better future. Our itineraries are planned with great attention to detail with lunches and dinners organized as well as excursions for those interested.

I am so honored and thankful to be representing the Isenberg School of Management and the University of Massachusetts Amherst at the Futures Congress!

The Futures Congress takes place in Santiago, Chile, along with other locations in Chile and the venues are magnificent, as evidenced from past congresses.

I will have the pleasure of speaking in the thematic session: Shaping Our Lives, Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World with renowned scientists that I am very excited about meeting: Dr. Daniel Hurtado of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Dr. Geoffrey West of Stanford University, and Dr. Robert Sutor of IBM!  I will give the talk: The Era of Supernetworks.

Subsequently, I will speak in Valparaiso at a full day event and the title of my talk there, which will be followed by a panel discussion, is: Women in Science: A Personal Journey. This event will take place in the Salón de Honor Congreso Nacional. I have thoroughly enjoyed preparing my talks and am in the final stages of polishing them.

Also speaking at the Futures Congress is the Nobel laureate in physics Dr. Michael Kosterlitz, who had an office across the hall from my office in Barus and Holley when I was a PhD student at Brown University! And, as for other serendipitous connections, Dr. Susan Fiske of Princeton University will also be speaking at the Futures Congress. She was formerly a faculty member at UMass Amherst and we have mutual close friends. I am sure that I will come across other speakers with which there are surprising and delightful connections!

It is truly remarkable how wonderful and linked the scientific community is even across disciplines - last year, Dr. Alyssa Goodman of Harvard University was a speaker at the Congreso Futuro. She co-directs the science program at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard where I have been a Science Fellow and have also spent most of my past two summers!

I have been brushing up on my Spanish, even during the holiday festivities during this past week and will be also speaking with my Isenberg School of Management Marketing colleague, Dr. Francisco Villarroel  Ordenes, who is now in Chile (but, sadly our times there will not overlap).

Many thanks to the organizers of the Congreso Futuro for inviting me. I am very much looking forward to what will be an extraordinary intellectual, social as well as cultural experience!

U.S. Technology Helps in the Rescue of the Chilean Miners

As the world watches the miners in Chile get rescued one by one and marvels at their incredible survival and teamwork since being trapped on August 5, 2010, we have to give credit to U.S. technology with Plan B Turning Out to be Fastest Path for Rescue.

According to The New York Times: “To tell you the truth, I don’t think anyone had a whole lot of faith in us,” said Brandon Fisher, president of Center Rock, a company in Berlin, Pa., that supplied the Plan B drills. “They didn’t understand the technology.”

Mr. Fisher and others lobbied the Chilean government to let them use the drills, known as downhole hammers, which have air-powered bits that pound the rock as the drill rotates. The other two drilling operations used more conventional bits that work through rotation only.

This technology was also used to drill ventilation shafts and other holes to help the 33 trapped miners, who are now being pulled out through a shaft, one by one, via a capsule, from half a mile beneath the earth.

The Chilean government and its people should also be applauded for their dedication and extraordinary efforts in this unparalleled rescue!

I wish all the trapped coal miners happy times with their families and friends and a full recovery. Both of my husband's grandfathers were coal miners in Pennsylvania and my college room-mate at Brown University was from Chile so my family has been following closely the evolving events surrounding this major news story of human endurance and the technology, faith, and support that are making this rescue possible.

Professors and the World Cup

Being a professor means that one has students, colleagues, and friends from around the world.

During the 2010 World Cup that is taking place now in South Africa there has been a lot of drama, unexpected victories, and unexpected losses.

I have heard recently from friends who are from Chile, The Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Italy, China, Cape Verde, Ukraine, and other countries, all of whom are intently following the various games and upsets (as well as dubious calls by the refs, the incidents of good sportsmanship and the opposite, and all the various trials and tribulations and the associated drama).

As I had mentioned in an earlier blogpost, the 2010 World Cup began while I was at a conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

At the finals of the previous World Cup, in 2006, I was at a conference in glorious Erice in Italy and we watched Italy beat France and then this entire town, which is on the island of Sicily, erupted in celebrations and fireworks. Amazingly, the morning after, I flew back to Boston safely on Alitalia from Naples without incident and enjoyed a delicious meal on the plane.

During the World Cup in 2002, my family and I were living in Innsbruck, Austria, while I was on a Fulbright.

Above are photos taken in Erice during the finals back in 2006.

What a difference 4 years make in terms of World Cup play!

International Collaborations Panel

I am very much looking forward to the ALIO-INFORMS Conference that will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 6-9, 2010. Besides giving a talk on Sustainable Supply Chain Network Design at the conference and an invited tutorial: Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain Age, which is on the theme of my latest book with Professor Patrick Qiang, I will be on a panel: International Collaborations. The panel was organized by Professor Sadan Kulturel of Pennsylvania State University Berks and is sponsored by WORMS (Women in Operations Research and the Management Sciences). Dr. Kulturel has assembled a great group of panelists that I am honored to be included with: Dr. Karla Hoffman of George Mason University, Dr. M. Gulnara Baldoquin of the Higher Polytechnic Institute in Cuba, and Dr. Lorena Pradenas of Concepcion University in Chile. More information on the panelists can be accessed here with a press release from Penn State Berks on this panel available here.

Each panelist will give a 10 minute presentation followed by questions and answers.

My presentation on my personal experiences and reflections on international collaborations is available here (complete with a lot of photos)

I am very much looking forward to this conference and to participating in the panel and discussions and I thank Dr. Sadan Kulturel for organizing this special panel.

Devastating Earthquake Hits Chile

Two days ago a huge earthquake, registering 8.8 on the Richter scale, hit Chile. This was one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. Tsunami alerts were issued but, luckily, no reported major damage resulted from tsunamis although even Hawaii was under a tsunami watch. Tremors were felt as far as Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Sao Paolo, Brazil. Aftershocks have followed. However *** this is an update to this post that was written yesterday *** cnn.com is reporting that some of the deaths in Chile in coastal communities may have been due to the government not issuing a tsunami warning to Chile residents, in time.

According to an article by Marc Lacey in The New York Times, the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, called the damage caused by the quake an emergency unparalleled in the history of Chile and suggested that the death toll would likely spiral higher in the days ahead, with the toll now already over 700. It seems that President Bachelet is well in control of this catastrophe, which has downed power lines, destroyed bridges, toppled buildings and cars, and resulted in the closure of the Santiago airport. President Bachelet realizes the critical importance of restoring electric power since communications and medical delivery depend on it. She has arranged with supermarkets to have people take food and water, at will.

Chile has better building standards than Haiti, whose population suffered tremendously when the earthquake hit it on January 12, 2010, with more than 200,000 estimated deaths. According to The Times, the epicenter of this Chilean earthquake was farther from populated areas, than in the case of Haiti, with its capital of Port-au-Prince, in shambles, so the scale of the damage from Chile’s significantly more powerful earthquake is expected to be nowhere near that suffered in Haiti.

My college room-mate at Brown University, Maria Teresa Davila, was from Chile, so I learned a lot about this mountainous country from her. She was also an Applied Math major and loved operations research (as did I). Interestingly, Andrew Revkin, also a fellow Brown University grad, and a New York Times journalist, writes about how the Chilean Earthquake is a Warning to the U.S.. Northwest.