Showing posts with label Chalmers University of Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chalmers University of Technology. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Spring Surprises in Sweden and a Unique Academic Genealogical Tree

Today is the first official day of spring and the weather is sunny and beautiful in Gothenburg, Sweden. I even saw crocuses blooming as well as some pretty white flowers.

This is my first visit to Gothenburg and I have begun my official Visiting Professorship appointment here.

However, I am not the only faculty member from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg. Two of my colleagues, Linda Smircich and Marta Calas from the Management Department are also here and, coincidentally, they arrived on the same day as I did. A colleague of theirs mentioned a notice for my talks here to them and what a surprise it was. They actually have offices down the hall from me at the Isenberg School and across a lovely courtyard here in Sweden.

I just saw Linda and Marta and we exchanged hugs. It is rather special that we are spending our spring break in this magical city and at the same business school!

Yesterday, I gave my presentation at Chalmers University of Technology and marched up a big hill to get there. Professor Ann-Brith Stromberg, who remembers meeting me at a dinner party in Linkoping, Sweden many years ago, was in the audience as well as a female PhD student, who is working on her industrial PhD. It was great to reconnect with Professor Michael Patricksson and to discuss the kinds of transportation and logistics projects that the optimization group at Chalmers is involved in. I also very much enjoyed speaking with an adjunct professor who works also at Volvo about the challenges faced by industry in Sweden.

While at Chalmers, I found out that my colleague, Lars-Goran Mattsson from KTH (the Royal Institute of Technology) in Stockholm, Sweden, will have another doctoral student defending his dissertation this spring. Amazingly (and I doubt that this has ever happened before in the history of academia), his doctoral student, PO Lindberg, whom I know as well, was actually Lars-Goran Mattsson's doctoral dissertation advisor. PO is now working on his second PhD and his former student is now his supervisor! So, the academic son is now his academic father's academic father!

Mattsson and his student, Erik Jenelius, and I and my former student, Patrick Qiang, both have papers in the special issue on transport vulnerability, which is now in press in Transportation Research A.

Travel is wonderful for creativity!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Medical Operations Research and More

What an amazing week it has been!

Last Friday, at UMass Amherst, several of my colleagues and I from the Isenberg School spoke at a Risk Management and Optimization Workshop, as part of a new funded project that we are researching through the UMass Innovation Institute. My presentation was on Networks, Performance Assessment, and Vulnerability Analysis, and, given the recent power outages in Boston, which affected even the Prudential Center, it was certainly timely.

Then, last Saturday, I flew to Gothenburg, Sweden, where I have been appointed a Visiting Professor. I just gave my fourth presentation since arriving at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg.

My presentation today was part of the Finance Seminar Series and I spoke on Financial Networks and Disruption Management. The audience was terrific and included faculty, postdocs, doctoral students, and even an Associate Dean, who I mistook for a student.

Next Tuesday, I will be giving a talk at the Chalmers University of Technology, which is also located in Gothenburg, Sweden.

According to the announcement, which is now posted, I will be speaking on Medical Operations Research. I think that the title got changed as the electrons crossed the Atlantic Ocean, but I do like it. The title of my presentation, however, is actually: Perishable Product Supply Chains in Health Care: Models, Analysis, and Computations.

In one week, and on opposite sides of the Atlantic, I will have given 5 talks and the one at Chalmers will make it 6. I am enjoying the questions and discussions tremendously.