Profiles in OR/MS: Jeffrey Huisingh and Randy Zimmerman

Questions & Answers

Q. Why was the OffSite Travel Reinvention Laboratory established and what is its primary function?

A. The Director of the Defense Logistics Agency, Lieutenant General Henry T. Glisson, United States Army, established The Federal Travel Optimization Reinvention Lab on November 17, 1998. The lab is an interagency partnership between the 34th Education Squadron (USAFA) located in Colorado Springs Colorado and the Defense Logistics Agency Office of Operations Research and Resource Analysis (DORRA) in Richmond Virginia. The purpose of the lab is to continue promoting OffSite as a planning tool for Federal employees. For more information regarding the Federal Travel Optimization Reinvention Lab visit: http://www.dscr.dla.mil/dorra/offsite/homepage.htm.

According to Dennis Fischer, GSA Chief Financial Officer, the Federal government spends roughly $7 billion on travel annually. Our customers need to know where the least expensive locations are to hold meetings, conferences, or training events given geographically dispersed participants. We developed OffSite99 as an easy to use tool for meeting coordinators to quickly compare travel costs between a wide variety of alternative locations.

(For more information on OffSite99, check out the article written by both Randy and Jeff and published in the Defense Logistics Agency's publications "Dimensions"

Q. What are your main responsibilities with the Federal Travel Optimization Reinvention Laboratory?

A. We serve as Co-Directors and focus our efforts on updating travel cost data, customer support, advertising, and distribution. We also act as configuration managers for the software; evaluating, implementing, and tracking program enhancements.

Q. How does OffSite99 work?

A. We developed a methodology for selecting conference and training sites from 277 cities using a cost function that minimizes both travel and temporary duty costs for attendees. Users enter each participant's departure location and the conference duration. OffSite 99 returns a rank ordered selection of potential conference sites. This schema invokes Dijkstra's algorithm modified for non-capacitated shortest-path/least-cost network optimization as well as computation of inter-airport distances using latitude and longitude data.

Q. What were some of the difficulties you encountered while developing the Offsite99 product?

A. One of the hurdles we faced while working on this problem was the realization that the government-contracted airfares and established per diem rates we obtained were inconsistently presented. Considering all data suspect, we manually verified every single data point (40,000+) prior to including it in the model. Another challenge of the project was that Jeff and I were on different coasts and in different time zones. Jeff lived in Monterey, California and I was in Richmond, Virginia. To overcome this problem, we used the Internet and teleconferencing to get the majority of the work done. One technique that we used a lot was to email files and ideas to each other while we were on the phone and then discuss the concept.

When we started we had a concept about how to solve the problem but didn't have any data. We found all of the source data for the model, the FORTRAN code that we used to optimize our network, and the algorithm used to calculate the inter-airport distances by searching the Internet. I know that we couldn't have made this project happen without leveraging the Internet and today's technology.

Q. How much money has OffSite99 saved for the Federal government?

A. Test cases using actual conference attendee data, yield 20-40% savings in travel costs when using OffSite99 over conventional selection techniques. Without question, this program represents significant savings potential within the Federal government.

Jeff and Randy won Government Executive Magazine's "Travel Managers of the Year Award" which aims to encourage innovation and celebrate excellence in government travel.

Q. How does your work for the lab fit in with your current job assignments?

A. (RZ) The challenging thing about working on a reinvention labs is that the work is either concurrent to or in addition to our regular duties. When Jeff started working on the project it was an extra "out of box" project that he took on because it was interesting and challenging. For Jeff, the lab is an extra duty done primarily on his own time and during his limited free time at work. For myself, the project and the lab are a much bigger part of my job. It's a lot easier for me to devote more time to the lab since my agency is the primary sponsor for the lab and providing the funding. Currently, I am working on one other project and split my time about 60% lab/OffSite and 40% other projects and tasks.

Q. How long will the Federal Travel Optimization Reinvention Laboratory continue to function?

A. (RZ) We plan to keep the lab open as long as there is work to be done on the project. One of the great things about the reinvention lab concept is that it is more of a process than a place. When we requested to become a lab, Jeff was assigned to the US Army Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center in Monterey, California. Earlier this month he was reassigned as an instructor at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. With the approval and support of his new commander and the reinvention lab coordinators, the lab's location moved to Colorado. I think that we will continue to have the ability to leverage technology and maintain our involvement in the lab in the foreseeable future.

Q. Why did you decide to pursue a degree in operations research?

A. (RZ) I have always had an interest in optimization and early in my Army career, I was encouraged to work in the OR field. My interests are in applied O.R. so I studied at the Colorado School of Mines under Dr. Gene Woolsey and Dr. Ruth Maurer. They gave me an outstanding education in applying O.R. techniques to solve problems for senior DoD managers.

(JH) While a cadet at West Point I met Professor Gene Woolsey. He inspired me with his no nonsense problem solving approach applied to real world problems. When it came time in my military career to pursue graduate education, the O.R. program at the Colorado School of Mines was my first choice.

Q. What other OR/MS projects have you found especially memorable and rewarding? What tools and OR/MS techniques did you use to solve these problems?

A. (RZ) OffSite is the most rewarding project of my career.

(JH) I once assisted in solving a three-year tripartite labor dispute in the underground utility locating industry. While the work involved extensive experimental design and some integer programming, understanding the underlying political landscape of all parties involved was the most complex and important aspect of the problem. When all parties accepted my results, I was especially pleased.

Q. What are the most valuable technical skills that you believe are needed to be successful as an OR/MS practitioner?

A. (RZ) I feel that the ability to understand and model a process is the most important skill that an OR/MS practitioner needs.

(JH) The beauty of operations research is the ability to bring any relevant problem solving technique to bear on a problem under consideration. To single out a particular technical skill as more important than another incorrectly assumes that an O.R. practitioner solves all problems the same way and may limit the scope of valid solution techniques.

Q. What are some of the most valuable non-technical skills that you believe are needed to be successful as an OR/MS practitioner?

A. (RZ) Dr. Woolsey had a few expressions that captures this question the best "A manager would rather live with a problem that he can not solve than accept a solution that he does not understand." "The only data that you can trust is the data that you collect yourself." I have found these quotes to be absolutely on target.

(JH) Understand the political aspects of a problem prior to formulation. Oftentimes, a political consideration represents a very real constraint. Also, there is no substitute for understanding a process through hands-on experience. Viewing a process alone is not enough. Only the knowledge garnered by performing a task or process yourself, provides the requisite experience to provide truly unique and useful insights to a decision maker.

Q. In what ways do you continue to expand your knowledge of new technologies and techniques in OR/MS?

A. (RZ) I subscribe to and read Interfaces and Operations Research journals. Additionally, I attend and brief at professional development conferences and I am pursuing my PhD in O.R. with Walden University.

(JH) I read traditional professional journals, attend conferences, and read articles and papers published on the Internet.

Q. What do you find most rewarding about working in the OR/MS field?

A. (RZ) I love working on tough problems that when the solutions are implemented save real money.

(JH) I enjoy the entire problem solving process. Since I came on active duty in 1987, the mantra of the post-Cold War Army has been "do more with less." My greatest satisfaction comes from delivering a cost-saving solution to a customer's problem.

Q. What advice do you have for those just starting out in the military and wishing to pursue work in the OR/MS field?

A. (RZ) It's rude to tell someone how to do his or her job if you have never done it. Never try to tell someone how to do his or her job unless you have done it and can perform to the required standard.

If you are interested in OR/MS read some of the literature, Interfaces, ORMS Today, etc. and begin applying some of the techniques discussed in your everyday job.

If you're not already doing it, begin questioning why your unit or office does a particular process. Try to determine if there is a better way. If you decide there is a better way, talk to some of the old timers and see if your "new" technique has been tried before implementing your technique.

(JH) Army OR analysts are typically selected in their fifth year of service with a predominant number selected from combat arms branches (infantry, armor, field artillery, air defense artillery, and aviation). This gives the Army a pool of analysts with operational or "muddy boots" experience with troops in the field. The trade-off for the Army is a lower percentage of logisticians trained in O.R. techniques with some analysts solving logistical problems without hands-on experience. I recommend future military OR practitioners strive for diverse pre-O.R. careers and then actively seek hands-on experience when working an OR problem in an unfamiliar area.

Q. What do you predict the future has in store for the role of OR/MS in the military?

A. (RZ) I think the future of military OR is really bright. We are having a greater impact on the Army and the DoD every day. I feel that senior decision-makers know O.R. practitioners bring a methodological, detailed analysis of the problem with feasible solutions to the table today and in the future.

(JH) Joint Vision 2010 is the Department of Defense template for transforming information dominance into increased joint war fighting effectiveness. JV 2010's four new operational concepts of dominant maneuver, precision engagement, focused logistics, and full dimensional protection provide unlimited possibilities for O.R. analysts to provide decision makers with relevant, comprehensive, and timely analyses. As technology evolves, O.R. tools may change, but the fundamental need and use for O.R. in the military will remain steadfast.