Applying Science to the Art of Business: the 2009 INFORMS Conference on Operations Research Practice will take place at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown from April 26-28, 2009.
The conference highlights include:
- Decision Theater: A presentation by Professor Timothy W. Lant of the Arizona State University Decision Theater on Flexible Decision-Making Platforms for a More Sustainable Future.
- Technology World Series: The 38th Franz Edelman Award Competition. Every year, the competition recognizes outstanding examples of operations research-based projects that transform companies, entire industries, and people’s lives. This year’s finalists are CSX Transportation, HP, IBM, Marriott International, Norske Skog, and Zara.
- Clinton Foundation: Microbes, Medicines and Math: Applying Operations Research to Global Health by Dr. Justin M. Cohen of the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, Clinton Foundation.
- Your Kid’s Most Frustrating Electronic Purchase: What Went Wrong with Wii Demand Planning at Nintendo: How to Accurately Estimate Demand to Avoid the Same Pitfalls by Beau Martin, Co-Founder and President, American Choice Modeling.
- Risk in Tough Times: Fixing Broken Risk Management Processes by Dr. Louis Anthony (Tony) Cox, Jr., President, Cox Associates; Honorary Full Professor of Mathematics and Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, University of Colorado.
The keynote speakers are:
- Dr. Pierre Haren, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ILOG-An IBM Company. A leading figure in the European technology community, Pierre Haren is chief executive officer of ILOG. Haren co-founded ILOG in 1987, and after seeing quick growth in Europe, launched fully owned subsidiaries in Singapore, the United States and Japan.
- Thornton May, the IT Leadership Academy. Collecting data from all corners of the technology world, May synthesizes the insights of the top thinkers on the planet seeking to understand where we have been, where are we today and where are we going.
At the conference, operations researchers from major organizations will make presentations about successful O.R. techniques in business and government: the Phoenix-based office of Intel; McDonald’s, Merck, ILOG, HP, Southwest Airlines, Procter & Gamble, and FEMA.
Information about the dozens of speakers and topics at the conference is at http://meetings.informs.org/Practice09/program.html.
About INFORMS
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) is an international scientific society with 10,000 members, including Nobel Prize laureates, dedicated to applying scientific methods to help improve decision-making, management, and operations. Members of INFORMS work in business, government, and academia. They are represented in fields as diverse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, financial engineering, and telecommunications. The INFORMS website is www.informs.org. More information about operations research is at www.scienceofbetter.org.
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