Highlights of INFORMS Boston Analytics Conference Through Photos

Today the sun has (finally) come out in Boston and it is the last day of the GREAT INFORMS Analytics Conference in Boston. I will be speaking later today on Cybersecurity and Financial Services, on research funded by the Advanced Cyber Security Center and the National Science Foundation.

I my previous post on this blog I included some photos of our UMass Amherst students who are attending this conference.

Below I have posted some photos from talks, networking events and also the Edelman Awards gala at which the CDC received the 2014 Edelman Award for its efforts in eradicating polio.

INFORMS Registration Area

 

Keynote Talk by Tom Davenport

Coffee with  Member

 Numerous Networking Opportunities

 Superb Supply Chain Talks

Serendipity of Seeing Colleagues and Students

The Edelman Gala with a Delicious Dessert

The analytics conference has been an intellectual and professional  feast!

The Value of Q&A Sessions with Top Operations Researchers from Industry

Last Friday, we had the pleasure and honor of hosting Dr. Mary E. Helander of IBM Yorktown Heights at the Isenberg School of Management through our UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter. I help the students to organize chapter activities and since Dr. Helander wanted to visit us, we decided to do something a bit different. The event was so successful that one of the students present said afterwards: "Professor Nagurney we have to have more of these Q&A sessions!"

 

Amazingly, it was almost entirely a female audience!

Dr. Helander told the students that they could ask her ANY question.

First, some background on Dr. Helander. She is on the program committee of the INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research that will take place in Boston next spring. She is a Master Inventor and Research Scientist and is currently the IBM Research Division leader for Consumer Products. Presently, she is the technical lead for two interdisciplinary research projects involving food safety and traceability.  Not only does she hold a PhD in Operations Research but she is also a Docent in Quality and Software Engineering from Linkoping University in Sweden. At lunch she and I talked about living in Sweden and she told me some mesmerizing stories about her surname -- I'll let you do the research -- another movie should be made.

Plus, Mary was part of one of the 2013 Edelman Award finalists:

McKesson: A Holistic Supply Chain Management Solution

Presented by:
Don Walker, McKesson; Kaan Katircioglu, IBM Research; Bob Gooby, McKesson
Authors:
McKesson Corporation: Robert Gooby, Nathan Mott, David Wagnon, Graeme Case, Matt Johnson
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center: Kaan Katircioglu, Pawan Chowdhary, Youssef Drissi, Mary Helander, Karthik Sourirajan, Lin Li, Karthik Subbian
IBM Global Business Services: James Kalina, Howard Smith
IBM Japan: Takashi Yonezawa.

The Edelman Award is like an Academy Award for analytics and operations research, so although her team did not win to be a finalist is a huge achievement!

From Mary we learned a lot about IBM, and about her research and contributions there. We learned about functional foods and microtoxins and my favorite takeaway and quote from the Q&A session.

Mary said: People that you work with will bring you joy.

Frankly, I think that it is Dr. Mary Helander who is making such a positive impact on all those around her and beyond through her great operations research contributions and dynamic personality, which the students really appreciated!

Thank you so much, Dr. Mary Helander, for coming to the Isenberg School at UMass Amherst!

You are an operations research rockstar!

Congrats to TNT Express on the Edelman Prize -- Global Logistics with Analytics and a Conscience

Although I could not be at the INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics & Operations Research Conference that is still taking place in Huntington Beach, California (April 15-17, 2012), one of my Center Associates, Dr. Padma Ramanujam of SAS, is there, and good news travels fast.

Yesterday, at the Edelman Awards Competition and Gala, the winner of this year's Edelman Prize (which is considered to be the Academy Award of Business Analytics and Operations Research) was announced.

This year's Franz Edelaman winner is TNT Express, the global logistics company!


According to the press releases:

 Every week 4.7 million parcels, documents, and pieces of freight must be transported by TNT Express to over 200 countries while maintaining the company's service standards. Until recently, this was done without mathematical support. In 2005 TNT moved to a fact-based decision-making system, the Global Optimization (GO) Program, which uses mathematical modeling.

TNT Express routinely uses such tools to enhance its transportation networks, resulting in more efficient routes and lower mileage.

"We are delighted to receive this award, which testifies to the sophistication and efficiency of TNT's operations," said TNT Express Managing Director Global Networks and Operations Chris Goossens. "Using operations research helps TNT save costs, improve service to customers and develop managers' skills."

The awarded GO program covers multiple aspects of TNT's operations, including site location planning, optimal truck routing, fleet management and staff scheduling. TNT Express carried out 200 network optimisation projects in 2011. Since 2005, TNT Express has saved 60 million kilometres of mileage and 54 million kg of CO2 emissions by optimising its domestic networks in Germany, France, Spain and Italy.

Isn't it wonderful to see network optimization, and the powerful tools of operations research, not only helping businesses but also the world by reducing the associated carbon imprint!

Congrats to TNT Express and to all the Edelman Prize finalists for showing the way -- doing good business can also mean being green.


Plus, just last week, in my Humanitarian Logistics and Healthcare class, I spoke about TNT Express and the World Food Program and how they had worked together, as well as on corporate social responsibility.