Thoroughly Enjoyed Giving the Omega Rho Plenary Lecture - Networks to Save the World: Operations Research (OR) in Action

Professor Tim Anderson, the President of the Omega Rho Society, with an illustrious board, had reached out to me many months ago and shared with me that it was being  recommended that I be the 2018 Omega Rho Distinguished Lecturer. This would involve giving a plenary address at the INFORMS 2018 meeting in Phoenix, November 4-7. I was greatly honored and delighted and was subsequently officially notified (after further approvals) by the conference organizing committee and the plenary and keynote chairs. The general chair of this year's conference was Dr. Young-Jun Son, Professor and Head of the Systems and Industrial Engineering Department at the University of Arizona, who deserves kudos!

The list of previous Omega Rho plenary speakers can be viewed here and it is truly a list of luminaries. I have had the pleasure of being at several of these distinguished lectures over the years.

I would be standing on the "shoulders of giants" so I wanted to deliver a talk that would be inspiring, from the heart, very informative; one that I would enjoy giving and that the audience would enjoy as well! The title that I selected was: Networks to Save the World: OR in Action. This was an exceptional INFORMS conference for numerous reasons, including  the number of female plenary and keynote speakers.

I had worked on my presentation over many weeks, giving it a lot of thought and effort and was very excited for the opportunity to share experiences and insights with operations research and analytics colleagues from around the globe, from students to very senior colleagues.

After a full day of travel on Saturday, I was very "pumped" for my talk at 3:10PM (my body clock said it was 6:10PM). It was extra special to see so many of our UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management PhD alumni and also College of Engineering alumni showing up early to welcome me in the big ballroom. It was also great to have two of my present doctoral students, Deniz Besik and Pritha Dutta, come with backups of my talk and they also served as photographers.

 Professor Tim Anderson gave a very warm introduction and then it was time for my lecture!

I had to acknowledge the work of my dissertation advisor at Brown University, Professor Stella Dafermos, depicted in the above slide. I also included in my talk the awesome academic pedigree that I am part of - thanks to the Mathematics academic genealogy project with the outstanding scientists: Maxwell, going back to Newton, and even Galileo, being part of my academic genealogy.

In my talk, I discussed many application of networks from transportation and the Braess paradox to perishable product supply chains from food to healthcare to disaster relief and even our project on Future Internet Architecture, known as ChoiceNet.

After my presentation, I had many questions, and it was thrilling to have members of the audience come up to chat. I can't thank everyone personally, but I do want to say that I am extremely appreciative. I am also very grateful for the thoughtful gift presented to me after my lecture by Professor Tim Anderson and INFORMS! Special thanks to the INFORMS staff who came to my plenary talk and for their kind comments that they enjoyed it very much.

As promised, I have posted the slides from my Omega Rho plenary talk on the Supernetwork Center website.

A big thanks to Zulqarnain Haider for writing a blogpost on my plenary on the conference website.

After the plenary, it was time for an editorial board meeting and then I wrapped up a perfect day by hosting my doctoral students (both past and present) who had made it to the conference by Sunday (others were coming on subsequent days) for dinner.

In the above photo are: Dr. Jose Cruz, Dr. Shivani Shukla, Dr. Min Yu, Dr. Amir Masoumi, Deniz Besik, Pritha Dutta, Dr. Dmytro Matsypura, who traveled all the way from Sydney, Australia, and even brought his doctoral student, Jessica. It was her first INFORMS conference and her first scholarly presentation.

The past, present, and future of OR are a powerful network of scholarship and community! I am so lucky to be part of INFORMS and this fabulous profession.

Our Fragile Networks Book Was at #informs2012

I wish that we could teleport ourselves, so that, with the time difference between Gothenburg, Sweden and Phoenix, Arizona, I could have attended both the Future Urban Transport Symposium, which took place here in Gothenburg, and the 2012 INFORMS Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

Perhaps one day such extreme transportation will be possible.

Luckily, my collaborators were at the 2012 INFORMS conference so that 5 presentations were given that I was a contributor to.

I was a panelist at the Future Urban Transport conference so we had talks taking place on two continents this past week.

Our latest book, Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain World, was also at the INFORMS conference, thanks to the publisher, John Wiley & Sons, and the photo above was forwarded to me by my co-author, Dr. Patrick Qiang, who is holding our book at the Wiley booth in Phoenix.

Five Supply Chain Talks by the Supernetwork Team at INFORMS 2012 in Phoenix

One of my doctoral students, Amir H. Masoumi; has already arrived in Phoenix for the INFORMS 2012 Annual Conference. He is taking part in the Future Academicians Colloquium and will also be presenting our pharmaceutical supply chain paper that was co-authored with Min Yu.

Another doctoral student, Dong "Michelle" Li, will be flying to Phoenix today and will be presenting two of our papers, including one on medical nuclear supply chains.

Dr. Zugang "Leo" Liu will be speaking on our paper, which is in press in the Annals of Operations Research, and Dr. Min Yu will be presenting our latest work in the area of humanitarian logistics, which is joint with Dr. Patrick Qiang.

Our presentations at INFORMS 2012 we have now posted on the Virtual Center for Supernetworks website.

Wishing everyone a wonderful INFORMS 2012 Conference!

I won't be in Phoenix (one of only two INFORMS annual conferences that I have missed in many years) because I am on sabbatical now in Gothenburg, Sweden, and next week will be a panelist at the Future Urban Transport conference that is taking place here in Gothenburg.

Although I won't be at INFORMS 2012, I am very pleased that 5 presentations of joint work by our Supernetwork team will be delivered by present and past doctoral students of mine!

The last time that I was in Phoenix was for an INFORMS conference and I was expecting then -- now my daughter is a freshman in college!  At age 3 months she attended her first official INFORMS conference and that was in Boston. She even received a conference name card, which was nice.

UMass Amherst Students Tuning Up for the INFORMS Conference

This coming Friday, the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter will be hosting a special event: Tune Up for the INFORMS Conference.

Six doctoral students will be giving the presentations that they will also be presenting at the INFORMS Conference that will take place October 14-17, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona.

The doctoral students are from the Isenberg School of Management and the College of Engineering at UMass Amherst.

This is a great event for the speakers since they get to practice and get feedback. It is also a great event for the more junior students and others who can learn about one another's research.

Although I will still be in Sweden, as the Faculty Advisor of this student chapter, I fully support this great idea and event!

Two of my doctoral students will be presenting: Amir Masoumi will be speaking on our joint work with Dr. Min Yu on pharmaceutical supply chains and Dong "Michelle" Li will be speaking on a dynamic network oligopoly model with product differentiation, and with quality as a firm's strategic variable along with product quantities..

You can click on the above nice flier that the students prepared to get a bigger image of it with all the student presenters and the titles of their papers.

The WORMS Luncheon -- Always a Great Event at the Annual INFORMS Conference

As colleges and universities gear up for the new academic year, it is also a time to begin planning for conferencing.

The Annual INFORMS Conference is always a highlight -- bringing together operations researchers and management scientists from around the globe to exchange their latest research, to reconnect, learn from one another, and also to network and to see old friends and to make new ones.

This year the INFORMS Conference will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, October 14-17, 2012.

In addition to the various society business meetings, which I also enjoy, one of the BEST events is the Women in Operations Research and the Management Sciences (WORMS) luncheon. The meal is always delicious and at this luncheon the WORMS Award is given. I posted some photos from an earlier WORMS luncheon here.

This year,  tickets will no longer be sold at the lunch so please plan accordingly, since we don't want disappointed colleagues!

We expect room for 200 at the lunch.

Below is the email that was just circulated to the WORMS community which I am reposting for communication purposes.

Dear WORMS Members,

I am writing to invite you to the annual WORMS luncheon that will be held on Tuesday, October 16, from 12:30-1:30 at the Hyatt Hotel in Phoenix, AZ. This will be another great networking and celebration event for women in OR/MS and other supporters of diversity in the profession.

Luncheon tickets are $18 ($8 for students). You can purchase tickets when you register for the INFORMS conference at http://meetings2.informs.org/phoenix2012/register.html, or during on-site registration when you arrive in Phoenix (if tickets last). Different from the earlier years, we will not be able to sell any tickets at the door, and only those who can present tickets will be admitted to the luncheon. Traditionally, WORMS luncheons have been very popular and previous years' luncheons consistently sold out, so please purchase your tickets early!

During the luncheon, we will be presenting the WORMS award for the Advancement of Women in OR/MS. We have been fortunate to secure sponsorships from various institutions, and we will be hosting a table with our sponsors' recruitment materials and job ads, which we believe will be an excellent opportunity for networking and visibility.

We are looking forward to seeing you in Phoenix! Please join us at the WORMS luncheon!

Best Regards,
Ozgun


Ozgun C. Demirag, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Management
Sam and Irene Black School of Business
Penn State Erie
814-898-6717
ozc1@psu.edu