E-News Blog

My mother worked for EPA for almost 20 years, instilling me with a respect for the world around me. The topic of O.R. and the Environment seemed like a natural (weak pun intended) fit. I was struck by the sentence in Patricia Randall's blog entry, "While I am certain it is possible to include green objectives in a model, I haven't had a client say 'Minimize my emissions or my carbon footprint'. Or have I?" Keep reading.

This new prize in analytics, sponsored by the new INFORMS Section on Analytics, recognizes creative and unique developments, applications, or combinations of analytical techniques to provide business insights and value. The deadline to apply is January, 31, 2012. Click here for additional information. You may send questions to the president of the Analytics section, Michael Gorman, at michael.gorman@udayton.edu. Submissions may be made to Michael as well.

Does your organization do a good job of integrating OR/MS and analytics into organizational decision making? If you think so, please nominate your organization for the 2012 INFORMS Prize. Click here for instructions and more information. Deadline is December 1, 2012. INFORMS Prize will be bestowed at the 2012 Analytics Conference. Send you nomination to committee chair, Michael Gorman, at michael.gorman@udayton.edu.

Read about the value of analytics, intelligent augmentation, soft skills as a "killer app" for analysts, and more in your popular industry magazine.

Karl Kempf and Evan Rash of Intel took home the coveted Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice at the INFORMS Annual Meeting. They won for describing the huge impact operations research and analytics has on product line design and scheduling at Intel, the world's largest semiconductor chip maker based on revenue. Intel's presentation and slides will appear in INFORMS Video Learning Center next month. The full paper will appear in the September/October 2012 issue of Interfaces.
Here is the abstract (contact Karl Kempf at karl.g.kempf@intel.com for more information):
We describe a holistic model for the product line design and scheduling problem that incorporates market requirements, design engineering capabilities, manufacturing costs, and temporal dynamics. The key idea is the decomposition of the problem into 1) an outer genetic algorithm layer handling resource constraints, scheduling, and financial optimization, and 2) an inner mathematical programming layer optimizing product design as classic set covering. The resulting algorithm solves problems of larger size and higher complexity than previously possible.

Many of our members take the opportunity to renew INFORMS membership at the Annual Meeting by registering for the conference as a non-member. (Non-member attendees are given automatic memberships for the upcoming year.) What some don't realize is that this does not include renewal of ALL memberships. If you are a member of a section or society, your local chapter or student chapter, and/or one of our fora, please remember to renew those memberships, too. We don't want to lose you!

Renew online or call Member Services at 800-4INFORMs to pay quickly and easily over the phone.

If you are a regular member of INFORMS, don't forget to choose two dues journals when you mail or fax in your renewal statement for 2012 renewal. The INFORMS Board of Directors has approved this great member benefit upgrade to double your personal access to the world's leading OR/MS scholarly information. If you prefer print journals, you will be asked to pay a modest surcharge to help with printing and mailing costs. Choose from among these great INFORMS journals.

Our profession is on the upswing. INFORMS membership is strong and rising. Now is not the time to jump ship! Renew today so you can take part in exciting activities in 2012 and serve your profession at the same time.

For decades, Al Blumstein has been making a mark on the scholarly and practice world of criminology, as well as INFORMS, where he served as President (he holds the distinction of having presided over INFORMS and both its predecessor societies, ORSA and TIMS). In a podcast that recaps a paper he presented at the INFORMS Annual Meeting, Al explains research on the safety of employers extending jobs to criminals who have completed their sentences without subsequent arrests. Hear him at www.scienceofbetter.org/podcast.

INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics & Operations Research 2012 - December 15 Deadline for Speaker Presentations

April 15-17, 2012, Hyatt Regency, Huntington Beach, CA
http://meetings.informs.org/Analytics2012
Present your work at the conference known for high-quality presentations on real-world analytics and O.R. Applications reports, case studies, best-practice examples, emerging topics and tutorials with a practice orientation are all welcome. Submit either a 50-minute oral presentation or a poster presentation. If accepted, you can receive a 35%-40% discount on conference registration. The deadline for oral presentations is December 15, 2011; for poster presentations, January 15, 2012.

INFORMS International Beijing 2012 - Abstract Submission Now Open

June 24-27, 2012, China National Convention Center, Beijing, China
http://meetings.informs.org/beijing2012
The abstract deadline is February 13, 2012. We urge you to submit early.

Winter Simulation Conference 2011 - December 11-14: Register Now

Arizona Grand Resort, Phoenix
http://www.wintersim.org
Online registration open through December 7 - register today.

ISMS Marketing Science Conference 2012 - Abstract Submission Now Open

June 7-9, Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA
http://www.bu.edu/marketingscience2012
Abstract submission deadline is February 6, 2012.

INFORMS Meetings Calendar

Go to http://meetings.informs.org for a complete conference calendar.