Volume 35, Number 4, August 2008

‘Quant’-um Leap Forward

• Peter Horner

In the history of the world, has any high school senior anywhere ever said,“Gee Mom, gee Dad, I’m really looking forward to studying O.R. in college because I want to be an operations researcher when I grow up”? I didn’t think so. High school seniors don’t envision themselves as operations researchers because they’ve never heard of operations research, let alone studied it. Heck, I bet most members of INFORMS – people who actually did grow up to teach and practice O.R. – never heard of the stuff before they got to grad school.

‘BAG-full’ of Ideas

Strategic planning within INFORMS is the responsibility of the INFORMS Strategic Planning Committee (SPC), chaired by the immediate past president of INFORMS. The 2008 SPC membership is Brenda Dietrich (chair), Cynthia Barnhart, Kenneth Chelst, James Dyer, Pinar Keskinocak, Erica Klampfl, Don Kleinmuntz, Radhika Kulkarni, Greg Parnell, Matt Saltzman, Glenn Wegryn and Mark Doherty. The mission of the SPC includes: 1) helping the INFORMS Board and its committees to identify and explore trends in society and the operations research–management science profession; 2) assisting the Board in defining areas of focus and recommending plans and strategies in these areas; and 3) providing continuity and focus through changes in INFORMS leadership.

Operations of a Small, Complex College

• Ellen Jordan

College students today are computer literate, highly demanding and have a good sense of immediate application. In order to compete in today’s market, colleges must understand the lifestyles and expectations of potential students. Colleges need to know who they are and what students fit their niche.

What do CEOs, Baseball Players and Polar Bears Have in Common? O.R.

• Barry List

Operations researchers take pride in the many interests that use math modeling to study a system’s workings and to weigh in on policy debates. That and a surprising sports angle were the subjects of news stories about O.R. practitioners and academics in recent months. Find links to the stories below and new ways that O.R. is improving the public weal in the “What’s New?” section at www.informs.org.

INFORMS Staff Eager to Advance Institute, Profession

Ten years ago, I was hired as the second executive director of INFORMS. To say the least, it’s been a wild ride at times. Thank goodness there have been more ups than downs. The Institute is in a very solid financial position. Our journals are highly thought of, and we are seeing record attendance at our meetings. In general, INFORMS is doing well with its core functions of intellectual and social capital. But I raise the question of what INFORMS should be doing to increase our support for the OR/MS community. The INFORMS staff has demonstrated its capacity to run the business. Now, how do we help the membership and profession going forward?

Singing the Silicon Valley Blues

• Vijay Mehrotra

A few weeks ago, I was out at the ballpark with my friend “Gus”when he told me about his work at a local technology startup. “We have a platform that can quickly analyze huge datasets and locate hidden patterns,” he explained.

Escape from Markov’s Prison

• John Toczek

After years of being captive in Markov’s prison you have decided it is time to escape. A sketch of the prison is shown in Figure 1. The path to freedom begins when you enter room No. 1 and exit the prison through room No. 16. Unfortunately, two very vigilant guards are on duty and have been walking through the rooms for years. If you and a guard are in the same room at the same time, you will be caught and sentenced to life in prison. Fortunately, over time, you have observed that the guards’ movements are dictated by the following probabilities:

It’s All About the Math at Wagner Associates

• Allen Butler

Daniel H. Wagner Associates is a Consulting Firm that develops mathematical models and software implementations of those models to aid a wide range of clients in solving challenging operational problems. The Department of Defense (DoD) is at the top of the firm’s client list. Other important client sectors include the financial industry, the health industry, the transportation industry and the oil and gas industry.

The Secret of Accreditation

• Doug Samuelson

The OR/MS analyst was troubled. He decided to consult, again, the oracle (actually a retired business executive) who had some time earlier revealed to him the secrets of wealth and power. The analyst explained, “I’m doing well, and I’m accomplishing much, partly thanks to your counsel, but now I have encountered a new frustration. I have become successful at developing computer models of complex systems. These models have gained enough acceptance that they are widely known, and I am asked for more. Lately, however, I am having to spend more and more time on what some of my clients call ‘accreditation’: convincing large numbers of other people, mostly nonexperts in modeling, that my models are fit for the use for which they were intended – whatever that means! I follow what most people in my field consider good practice about ‘V and V’ – verification and validation. Verification is making sure the model does what you think it does, and validation is checking how well it corresponds to the real problem or system. But this ‘accreditation,’ at least as some clients interpret it, seems to involve unrealistic expectations about knowing everything the model might do.You taught me about managing expectations, but now I think that, somewhere in here, there is some profound truth about managing expectations that I’m just not grasping, or failing to convey.”