An Operations Research Conference in a Castle in Italy

I arrived in Reggio Calabria, Italy yesterday afternoon after twenty hours of travel from Amherst, Massachusetts to Boston Logan and flights via British Airways to Heathrow and then onwards to Rome with the final leg via Alitalia. A big shoutout to both of these airlines for fabulous service and comfort.

Reggio Calabria is in (very) southern Italy and is located in the "toe part" of the boot shape that is Italy. One can see Sicily past the Mediterranean ocean and the journey was definitely worth it. I am here, thanks to the invitation of my wonderful colleagues, Professor Sofia Guiffre' of Reggio Calabria and Professor Patrizia Daniele of Catania. They are among my dear co-authors and our paper is now in press in the International Transactions in Operational Research (ITOR).  Coincidentally, while I was at the Rome airport, during a 3 hour layover - none other than the Editor of ITOR, Professor Celso Ribeiro, emailed me and told me that he, too, is now also in Europe - on sabbatical in (snowy) Oslo, Norway.

Tomorrow I will be giving a keynote talk at the VINEPA 2018 conference, which focuses on some of my methodological loves - variational inequalities and Nash Equilibria!

The venue of the conference is truly unique and, this morning, after an exquisite breakfast at my hotel with an amazing view,

I ambled to the conference venue which is a historic castle. I marched up to the top and took photos of the panorama.

On the second floor of the caste there was artwork and the staff was getting our space ready for the conference.

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of the one window in the conference room.

At the conference, I will see many operations research colleagues from various countries, some of whom I have not seen in quite a while, so I am very excited!

Thus far, I have managed to walk for miles (my cure for any jetlag) and walking along the Mediterranean with the astounding landscape, vegetation, architecture, and the kindness of the locals (more on this later)  make all the hard work on research (which is actually a joy in itself) worth it. Massachusetts is bracing for another snowstorm so I made it out, just in time!

I am a real tree hugger and the last time that I was so awe-struck by the vegetation of a country was when I gave a keynote talk in New Zealand. I have my favorite tree in Auckland. And, speaking of New Zealand, next week I will be at Lancaster University in England, giving a masterclass, and will see Professor Matthias Ehrgott, who is now on the faculty there and who was my host when I was in NZ!

The kindness of the Italians in Reggio Calabria is truly special. Not many speak English but that is not a problem, and, last evening, not only did a waiter run up to help me with my trenchcoat but another one treated me to a dessert from the selection below (of course, I chose one the chocolate ones).

I love watching the locals promenade along the beautiful mile walkway along the Mediterranean Ocean and also on the main street (which is for pedestrians only) and is filled with elegant shops. I marvel at the elegance of the people and how they acknowledge one another and (this must be the academic in me since we tend to fit anywhere) acknowledge me with a greeting.

The places that doing Operations Research can take you on our fascinating planet never fail to inspire.

What I Am Very Much Looking Forward to in 2018!

We are in the New Year and the frigid temperatures in the Northeast USA with a pending major snowstorm make this a good time to reflect on what to look forward to in 2018.

There is much on the horizon to be excited about and thinking of all of these forthcoming events and projects is warming me today!

I just signed off on a contract with Springer to produce another edited volume on Dynamics of Disasters, which I am co-editing with my great colleagues, Professor Ilias S. Kotsireas of Wilfrid Laurier University and Professor Panos M. Pardalos of the University of Florida. This volume is a followup to our conference in Kalamata, Greece last summer and already we have some terrific contributions, all of which will be refereed. We had previously published a Springer volume in 2016 based on our conference in 2015 but, given the number of disasters, as well as the associated challenges for both researchers and practitioners, another volume is clearly warranted. Plus, working on this volume is very synergistic with the course: Humanitarian Logistics and Healthcare that I will, again, be teaching this spring at the Isenberg School and am very excited about.

This will be a very busy, event-packed semester. As part of the UMass Amherst INFORMS Speaker Series we will be hosting Professor Hari Balasubramanian of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at UMass Amherst on February 9. Professor Balasubramanian is an expert on healthcare and we are very much looking forward to having him kickoff our "spring" semester Speaker Series. Then, on February 23, 2017,  I am thrilled that Professor Jim Orlin of the Sloan School at MIT will be the guest speaker. Professor Orlin is renowned for his work on networks and is an INFORMS Fellow and I (and the students) are delighted that he will be coming to Isenberg! On March 23, 2017, we will welcome Dr. Les Servi of Mitre Corp, who will be speaking in our series. Dr. Servi is an INFORMS Fellow and one of the most active INFORMS members that I know. We are eagerly awaiting his visit and presentation. We are also finalizing a speaking date for Dr. Davit Khachatryan, an Isenberg PhD alum in Management Science, who has worked at PWC and is now at Babson College.  The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter started a fabulous initiative last semester of interviewing our speakers and posting the interviews on youtube. We hope to continue this new tradition this semester.

Given that I am the Faculty Advisor of the wonderful UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter I try to be present at all the speakers' talks and host the lunches as well. This always requires some juggling but as operations researchers we tend to be experts at scheduling. Below is a photo of this year's Chapter Officers and several members.

On February 16, 2018, I will be speaking at the Foisie School of Business at WPI, and was invited by my former doctoral student, Dr. Sara Saberi, who is now a professor there. She has terrific colleagues and I am looking forward to speaking there very much.

On February 24, 2018, the Isenberg Women in Business Conference will take place, always one of my favorite Isenberg events, which has become an annual tradition. The speakers, panelists, discussions plus lunch and snacks are all amazing!

And, on March 8-9, 2018, I will be a keynote speaker at the Vinepa conference in Italy and will speak on cybercrime and cybersecurity.

That will begin my "spring break" which will also include giving lectures at Lancaster University in England!

On April 6, 2018, I will be at the University of Wisconsin Madison to speak in the colloquium series at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. What a marvelous group of speakers this department has lined up and I am deeply honored to be part of their series.

I may have one or two conferences in April - still undecided as to whether I will be going or will have doctoral students go.

In early May, it will be that joyful time of year in which we see our students obtain their degrees at the Isenberg School and UMass Amherst graduation ceremonies - a true highlight of academic and personal achievements  as well as a very celebratory time for all concerned.

And, on May 16-18, 2018, I will be giving a keynote at the Swiss Transport Research Conference in idyllic Monte Verità, Ascona, Switzerland. The conference organizers are flying me business class and providing accommodations for a week, which is humbling, to say the least.

The summer will be busy with other opportunities, conferences, and, of course, a lot of research and mentoring of students, and, come Fall, the wonderful academic cycle will begin anew. September 11-13, 2018, OR60 is taking place at Lancaster University in England  and I will be one of three plenary speakers. 

Dream Course

The invitation came through email from a chaired professor and I was very intrigued.
 

The invitation stated: It is our pleasure to invite you to participate in the Presidential Dream Course titled “Understanding and Engineering Systems”.  

Dream Courses at the University of Oklahoma (OU) were initiated beginning in 2004 by President David L. Boren. The Dream Course program provides extra resources to enhance educational aspects of certain courses, in part for use to invite distinguished external speakers to campus. OU is particularly interested in courses that cover important topics for concerned and engaged citizens in the 21st century.

Recognizing the increasing importance of systems, our School has recently re-configured itself to become a School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. This lecture series will help us to focus attention on systems and systems engineering. 

We expect attendees to include students and faculty from various colleges from the OU Norman and Tulsa campuses.   We expect between 20 to 50 people to attend this lecture.

On behalf of the course coordinators it is my pleasure to invite you to be one of the key note speakers. 

In addition, we invite you to offer a lecture to the public during your stay with us.  We expect between 50 and 100 people to attend this lecture, including faculty, students, and the interested public, with backgrounds in engineering, economics, business, political science, humanities, and business. If time and travel constraints allow, these lectures are often accompanied by a reception and are covered by the daily university newspaper.

The invitation came from Professor J. K. Allen, who is also the Chair of the Dream Course Committee. She is an MIT grad and a UCBerkeley PhD and had previously been at Georgia Tech -- a great role model!

Since I work on network systems, the theme of the Dream Course was perfect and, since I have never, ever been to Oklahoma, this was a great opportunity. 

I also commend OU and its President for such a wonderful initiative!

 

In doing some additional research, I found that Dr. Boren has been President of OU since 1994 and he has had an amazing professional career, having graduated from Yale and then going on to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, after which he obtained his law degree. He has been a Senator and has advised President Obama, among others.

Of course, I said yes to the invitation and, in early April, after returning from Sweden, I will give a lecture in Professor Allen's Dream Course entitled: Grand Challenges and Opportunities in Supply Chain Networks: From Analysis to Design. My public lecture will be on: Assessing the Performance and Vulnerability of Networks from Transportation to the Internet, Financial Networks, and Supply Chains: What Nodes and Links Really Matter?

I am very much looking forward to this speaking engagement.

Interestingly, President Boren is also on the Board of Directors of Mayor Bloomberg's Foundation.  Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of NYC, and his philanthropy, especially to his alma mater, the Johns Hopkins University, were the subject of my most recent post.

What Was in the Heavy Package from China?

Virtual communications are terrific but receiving a heavy package at your door that has traveled thousands of miles and comes as a complete surprise is something special.

Such an experience happened to me yesterday and above is a photograph of the contents of the padded package from China. The inscription reads: PAKDD 2011 With gratitude to Professor Anna Nagurney for her keynote speech at the conference.

How extremely thoughtful of the organizers of the PAKDD2011 Conference in Shenzhen, China to thank a keynote speaker in this way and to take the time and effort to have such a gift produced and mailed!

My keynote speech on Supernetworks: Opportunities and Challenges for Decision-Making in the 21st Century can be viewed (and heard) using different media here and the presentation, in pdf format, can be downloaded here.

As a Finance colleague of mine at the Isenberg School said, before I brought the beautiful engraved crystal creation (see photo above) to my office yesterday, we, in the Western world, should learn how to thank and recognize our speakers as the Chinese do!

Keynote Talk on Supernetworks in Shenzhen, China

The PAKDD 2011 Conference begins today in Shenzhen, China.

My keynote talk, prepared for this conference, is: Supernetworks: Opportunities and Challenges for Decision-Making in the 21st Century.

In the presentation, I emphasize the importance of capturing the complex behavior of decision-makers on networks today, in an era of congestion and nonlinearities, from multimodal transportation and multitiered supply chains to electric power generation and distribution networks to financial networks and the Internet. The lecture discusses the reality of networks today from their large-scale nature, to network interactions. I illustrate the Braess paradox, both in static and time-varying forms, as well as the wisdom of crowds phenomenon. I also highlight how we capture network efficiency / performance and identify which nodes and links really matter in that their destruction has the biggest impact. The lecture addresses issues of network design, through appropriate link addition/deletion, the integration of networks as in mergers and acquisitions, the evolution of social networks with supply chains and financial networks, as well as the challenges faced in humanitarian operations in disasters and the potential of identifying synergies through cooperation/collaboration.

The audio/video of my keynote can be downloaded here.

A rich media version was also generated.

The pdf of the presentation slides only can be accessed here.

This keynote will be delivered virtually.

Yalta Optimization Conference on Network Science Featured in The Ukrainian Weekly

I was very pleased to see that The Ukrainian Weekly ran a recent feature article on the Yalta Optimization Conference on Network Science that took place in Ukraine this past summer.

It was fascinating to visit the country of my first language and the birthplace of my parents. Although I was born in Canada, I did not learn English until my family immigrated to the US and I entered kindergarten.

The editor of The Ukrainian Weekly, Ms. Roma Hadzewycz, has given me permission to post the feature article on this terrific conference. The issues of this newspaper go online one year after print publication.

You may read the article, which is in pdf format, here. The photos therein are in black and white so I have included color versions above.

It was a privilege to deliver the first keynote lecture at this conference: Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain Age.

You can read more about this wonderful conference and my travels and adventures in Yalta on my earlier blogposts.

Network Science in Yalta, Ukraine and Keynote

After the International Conference on Computational Management Science in Vienna, Austria, I will be off to give a keynote talk at the 3rd Yalta Optimization Conference, which will take place in Yalta, Ukraine, at the beginning of August. The theme of this year's Yalta conference is Network Science. Of course, this scientific conference should not be confused with the famous historic Yalta Conference of 1945!

I am looking forward to seeing this very scenic location on the Black Sea and to practicing both my Ukrainian and Russian. Plus, it will be great to reconnect with wonderful colleagues and friends there and to listen to the talks. Special thanks to the organizers: Professors Butenko, Prokopyev, and Shylo, for letting me deliver the keynote talk with title and abstract below.

Title: Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain Age

Abstract: The growing number of disasters globally has dramatically demonstrated the dependence of our economies and societies on critical infrastructure networks. At the same time, the deterioration of the infrastructure from transportation and logistical networks to electric power networks due to inadequate maintenance and development as well as to climate change, has resulted in large societal and individual user costs. This talk will focus on recently introduced mathematically rigorous and computer-based tools for the assessment of network efficiency and robustness, along with vulnerability analysis. The analysis is done through the prism of distinct behavioral principles, coupled with the network topologies, the demand for resources, and the resulting flows and induced costs. The concepts will be illustrated in the context of congested transportation networks, supply chains under disruptions, financial networks, and dynamic networks such as the Internet and electric power networks. We will further explore the connections between transportation networks and different network systems and will quantify synergies associated with network integration, ranging from corporate mergers and acquisitions to collaboration among humanitarian organizations.

Computational Management Science in Glorious Vienna

I am very much looking forward to the International Conference on Computational Management Science that will take place in Vienna, Austria later this month. Vienna is a center of scholarship, culture, architecture, music, and intrigue.

The last time that I was in Vienna was back in March 2009 when I spoke on Synergies and Vulnerabilities of Supply Chain Networks in a Global Economy at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and was hosted by my esteemed and wonderful colleague there, Professor Manfred Fischer.

At the Computational Management Science (CMS) 2010 conference, which will be at the University of Vienna, I will be giving a keynote / plenary talk, entitled, Supply Chain Networks: Challenges and Opportunities from Analysis to Design, and the abstract is below.

Abstract: Supply chain networks provide the backbones for our economies since they involve the production, storage, and distribution of products as varied as vaccines and medicines, food, high tech products, automobiles, and even energy. Many of the supply chains today are global in nature and present challenging aspects for modeling and analysis. In this talk I will discuss different perspectives for supply chain modeling, analysis, and computation based on centralized vs. decentralized decision-making behavior, along with suitable methodological frameworks. I will also highlight applications to mergers and acquisitions and even humanitarian logistics through supply chain network integration. Such timely issues as risk management, demand uncertainty, outsourcing, and disruption management in the context of our recent research on supply chain network design and redesign will also be discussed. Suggestions for new directions and opportunities in healthcare and sustainable supply chain networks will conclude this talk.

I thank the organizers of CMS 2010 for giving me the opportunity to deliver this talk.