IBM Makes Math Cool, Current

IBM Makes Math Cool, Current

Archives: Story

Archives: Story: School Board Adopts New Redistricting Plan

From article:

The board retained Operations Research/Education Laboratory at N. C. State University to make a complete study of the Bladen school enrollments and the present and projected population status of the county, and then make recommendations on a new plan of districts.

University of Michigan

University of Michigan: Startups hold their own in commercializing early-stage inventions

ScienceDaily: Techniques For Making Barbie Dolls Can Improve Health Care

ScienceDaily: Techniques For Making Barbie Dolls Can Improve Health Care

From the article:

"By the end of the decade, the health care industry will realize that operations research, IT, and other advanced techniques that manufacturers have been using for 15 years to reduce the cost of making items like toys and computer chips will also improve health care delivery," said operations researcher William P. Pierskalla, the John E. Anderson Professor and former dean of the Anderson School at UCLA. "These techniques offer major cost, quality, and access improvements to the healthcare system."

USATODAY.com - Time Warner Cable tests technology to hold viewers

USATODAY.com - Time Warner Cable tests technology to hold viewers

From article:

Video-on-demand services and digital video recorders are seen undercutting traditional linear programming schedules, which networks use to set advertising rates. Advertising-supported television continues to drive the bulk of programmers' sales.

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Narrowing the odds

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Narrowing the odds

The Hindu Business Line : Reliance refining margins rise as light, heavy crude prices diverge

The Hindu Business Line : Reliance refining margins rise as light, heavy crude prices diverge

From article:

"At RIL, there is always a linear programming that is under way, based on the world crude prices and the product demand pattern. The return on the rather high investment made in infrastructure was paying dividends, especially when the delta between the price of sour and sweet crude was significant - a direct corollary of rising crude prices," an analyst said.

Researchers throw water on Internet comparison shopping - Austin Business Journal:

Researchers throw water on Internet comparison shopping - Austin Business Journal:

Top Farmer workshop tackles tough decisions

Top Farmer workshop tackles tough decisions

From article:

A popular workshop feature allows producers to enter information about their own farms into Purdue's linear programming software. Using the program, growers can test some of their own management situations, such as the optimum size of their operation for their current resources or whether buying a certain new technology will be profitable.

InformationWeek | Customer Service | UPS Seeks Reliability, End-To-End Visibility | March 7, 2005

InformationWeek | Customer Service | UPS Seeks Reliability, End-To-End Visibility | March 7, 2005

From the article:

A second project under way involves deploying "package-flow" technology in UPS's package centers, entailing a suite of custom-built software that combines operations research and mapping technology to optimize the way boxes get loaded and delivered. One goal is to cut the distance that delivery trucks travel by more than 100 million miles each year.

Innovation prize finalists announced in 'Science of Better'

Innovation prize finalists announced in 'Science of Better'
Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences sponsors this annual competition for the Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences. Finalists are the Athens 2004 Olympic Committee, Eli Lilly, General Motors, Nanzan Educational Complex, Proctor & Gamble, and Swift & Co.

WSJ.com - Plane Geometry: Scientists Help Speed Boarding of Aircraft

Operations Research (O.R.) cuts turn-around time of aircraft, "can add up to tens of millions of dollars." This research has been published in the journal Interfaces as well.

From the article (click the title above to go to the whole Wall Street Journal article from 11/02/2005; subscription required):

Mr. van den Briel's research has led to an innovative boarding system at America West Airlines called "reverse pyramid." The first economy-class passengers to get on the plane are those with window seats in the middle and rear of the plane. Then America West gradually fills out the plane, giving priority to those with window or rear seats, until it finally boards those seated along aisles in the front.

Anthony V. Mulé, senior vice president for customer services, says the system, introduced in 2003, has saved at least two minutes in boarding time. "This is a great illustration of how science helped improve both efficiency and customer service," says Mr. Mulé.

Mr. van den Briel is one of a small cadre of experts in the science of airline boarding. Their research has upset much of the conventional wisdom about how to get people quickly into their seats. Boarding from the rear to the front, still standard practice at many American airlines, is almost certainly not the fastest way, these scientists say. Among the faster methods may be letting everyone board randomly or calling out each individual seat number.

Lumina Adds State-of-the-Art Optimization Capabilities to Its Analytica Platform for Business Analytics

PRESS RELEASE Lumina Adds State-of-the-Art Optimization Capabilities to Its Analytica Platform for Business Analytics: "Analytica offers many advantages over traditional spreadsheets with its visual modeling and easy handling of multiple dimensions,' said Daniel Fylstra, CEO of Frontline Systems. 'This is important for optimization models, which frequently use many dimensions. We look forward to use of our Solvers by existing and new Analytica users."

ABC News: Professors Develop Spreadsheets for Water

ABC News: Professors Develop Spreadsheets for Water

The News-Gazette Online

The News-Gazette Online

Coburg council urged to investigate - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Coburg council urged to investigate - The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon, USA

"Somehow it was hidden in the gobbledygook of a huge spreadsheet, but at some point was there fraud?"

IT-Director.com: Managing Spreadsheets by Philip Howard

White paper on managing spreadsheets: IT-Director.com: Managing Spreadsheets by Philip Howard

Slashdot | $10B Annual Tab for Spreadsheet Errors?

Slashdot | $10B Annual Tab for Spreadsheet Errors?

Emptoris Congratulates GM -- 2005 Edelman Prize Winner

Emptoris Congratulates GM -- 2005 Edelman Prize Winner

GM won for
its entry entitled, "Increasing Production Throughput at General Motors."
Using operations research to achieve one of its signature benefits -- greater
efficiency -- GM has saved over $2 billion through improved productivity at 30
assembly plants in 10 countries.

Iconix Pharmaceuticals Announces Publication of Key Biomarker/Drug Signature Paper in Genome Research

Iconix Pharmaceuticals Announces Publication of Key Biomarker/Drug Signature Paper in Genome Research

The analysis focused on a family of new linear classification methods including Sparse Linear Programming (SPLP) and Sparse Logistic Regression (SPLR) and their performance classifying drugs in four categories

SAP wants to make analytics easier - Computerworld

SAP wants to make analytics easier - Computerworld

Risk-Reduction for Farmers. From DesMoinesRegister.com

DesMoinesRegister.com

Pitt researcher presents findings on when to accept organ transplants

Pitt researcher presents findings on when to accept organ transplants

Potential Impact of a Targeted Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Program for Older Adults on Survival from Private-residence Cardiac Arrest -- Swor et al.

Potential Impact of a Targeted Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Program for Older Adults on Survival from Private-residence Cardiac Arrest -- Swor et al. 12 (1): 7 -- Academic Emergency Medicine
Medical Research Application of Monte-Carlo Simulation. From the article:
Monte Carlo simulation (n = 10,000) and sensitivity analyses (n = 40) were used to assess median and the empiric 95% confidence intervals [CIs] for incremental survival with either intervention.

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.: Releases GeothermEx Report on Blue Mountain

Nevada Geothermal Power Inc.: Releases GeothermEx Report on Blue Mountain
Interesting Application of Monte-Carlo Simulation. From the article:
"The potential megawatt (MW) capacity of the Blue Mountain reservoir has been estimated by Monte Carlo simulation to have a minimum value of 30 MW (90% probability) and a most likely value of 47 MW. This is based on volumetric estimates of heat in place assuming an area of 5 to 8 square kilometers (2 to 3 square miles), a reservoir thickness of 350 to 1,500 m, an average reservoir temperature in the range of 145 to 220 degrees C."

Tips For the Last 10 Years of Work

Tips For the Last 10 Years of Work
From the article:
Time was when you would use simple average stock-and bond-market returns to calculate your investment goals. Stocks have risen on average 12.5 percent since July 1932 and bonds have gained on average 5.5 percent, says Ibbotson Associates. But in reality, stocks behave much differently, rising 54 percent in their best year and falling 35 percent in their worst year.

That's why most experts, including Susan Hirshman, managing director JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management in New York, recommend using a "Monte Carlo simulation" to predict whether you will build a sufficient nest egg.

The New Discipline of Services Science

The New Discipline of Services Science
Interesting article about the integration of IT, Operations Research, and Operations Management in creating competitive advantage.

Forestry Giant, JD Irving, Counting on Small Changes to Decision-making to Account for Big Gains to the Bottom-line - Articles

Forestry Giant, JD Irving, Counting on Small Changes to Decision-making to Account for Big Gains to the Bottom-line - Articles

Real-Life Optimization. This is a Linear Programming-Based Solution. From the article:

Specifically, the company is changing how (and when) it decides to allocate logs to manufacturing facilities, what products to produce and what markets to sell them in. "What we are talking about is optimizing the allocation of wood fibre with the aim of maximizing net cash flow from across all of our operations," explains Ian Taviss, JDI Management Forester, who is spearheading the program to change wood allocation decision-making within the organization.

T Rowe Price Report: Application of Simulation in Retirement Planning

T. Rowe Price Reports. The Winter 2005 Price Report contains a special section on retirement planning. The dominant methodology for analysis of retirement scenarios is Monte Carlo Simulation.

New Gamble in Predicting Returns

New Gamble in Predicting Returns

The Cornell Daily Sun - Profs Rethink Exam Times

The Cornell Daily Sun - Profs Rethink Exam Times

Robert Powell: Retirement investing just got trickier with rule change - Financial - General News - Financial Services - Personal Finance

Robert Powell: Retirement investing just got trickier with rule change - Financial - General News - Financial Services - Personal Finance

Supply & Demand Chain Executive > Research > Archived Articles > Manhattan Associates Inks Deals for Carrier Management Apps

Supply & Demand Chain Executive > Research > Archived Articles > Manhattan Associates Inks Deals for Carrier Management Apps

NPR : Scientists Seek to Make Waiting in Line More Bearable

NPR : Scientists Seek to Make Waiting in Line More Bearable

Sidebar: Operations Research: It's Not Just for Supply Chains Anymore - Computerworld

Sidebar: Operations Research: It's Not Just for Supply Chains Anymore - Computerworld

Sidebar: Operations Research Methods and Measures - Computerworld

Sidebar: Operations Research Methods and Measures - Computerworld

Modeling Magic - Computerworld

Modeling Magic: Computerworld February 7, 2005
Story about the use of Operations Research (O.R.) at Proctor & Gamble.

O.R. in Baseball: USA Today 12/9/04

Hard to cover all bases when creating schedule. Operations Research is behind the creation of the Major League Baseball schedule. Michael Trick (Carnegie Mellon University) uses optimization principles.

BusinessWire. A.M. Best's Rating Methodology: Life Settlement Securitization

AM Best released its methodology for life settlements, which utilizes Monte Carlo simulation.
Link to press release.
Link to full methodology.

Kiplinger.com. Eight Ways to Protect Your Nest Egg

From the article: "Double-check your estimates. Try a Monte Carlo simulation, which runs through thousands of investment scenarios and assesses the likelihood that you'll reach your retirement goals."

Link to article.

STRATEGIC STORAGE: Six ways to spend less for enterprise storage

The article talks about mass storage decisions companies need to make on an ongoing basis. From the article:

The trick is creating the optimal balance of low-end and high-end storage to perfectly match the value of corporate data, Zimmerman says. "There's some real linear programming that needs to go on to find the optimal mix of prime, secondary and tertiary storage," he says. "Nobody has an algorithm for the timed value of a piece of information. "

Link to story.

MIT team guides airplane remotely using spoken English

http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/
communication_media/report-35813.html

...The algorithm is based on mixed-integer linear programming (MILP), an optimization framework originally developed for operations research...