Resoundingly Human

In this episode we will explore three different applications of O.R. and analytics in sports, from basketball, to baseball, and beyond! Joining me for this episode are Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois to discuss NCAA March Madness basketball brackets, Michael Trick of Carnegie Mellon University to give insight in to Major League Baseball game scheduling, and Walt DeGrange of CANA Advisors and past chairman of the INFORMS SpORTS Section to discuss current and developing applications of O.R. and analytics in sports.

In this episode we will learn how O.R. and analytics are helping the men and women of law enforcement and the corrections systems, from improving the health of prison inmates, to simplifying the assignment of inmates to the appropriate prison, to helping New York city police men and women better predict and respond to crime. Joining us for this episode are Tamas Terlaky, president of Optamo and professor at Lehigh University, Mohammad Shahabsafa, chief operating officer at Optamo and Anshul Asharama, Chief Information Officer at Optamo, who share their INFORMS Wagner prize award winning research on improving inmate scheduling for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. In addition, we will hear from Alex Cholas-Wood, former Director of Analytics for the NYPD and Evan Levine, Assistant Commissioner of Data Analytics at the Office of Crime Control Strategies with the NYPD, who have created a new system called Patternizr to aid the NYPD in identifying and predicting crime patterns. Finally, we are joined by Turgay Ayer of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who will discuss his research to identify a protocol for treatment that could significantly reduce the number of Hepatitis C infected prisoners.

In this episode we will hear from the new INFORMS president Ramayya Krishnan who will share some insight on what exciting things are in store for INFORMS in the coming year, Shane Henderson and David Shmoys of Cornell University on their INFORMS Wagner Prize winning research on bike share programs, and Alina Sorescu of Texas A&M university whose research takes a deep dive into the ups and downs of the financial stock market over a period of nearly 200 years.

In this episode, I am joined by a very special guest, Santa Claus, who called into the podcast all the way from the North Pole to share the role that O.R. and analytics plan in his annual journey to deliver toys around the world. In addition, you will hear from the INFORMS volunteers and the nonprofit leadership of the INFORMS Pro Bono Analytics projects for the Baltimore Teacher Supply Swap and Young Audiences: Arts for Learning of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, who share how O.R. and analytics helped these organizations better serve their communities.

This is the second of two special podcasts produced this month, both recorded during the INFORMS 2018 Annual Meeting. We will be speaking to a number of INFORMS member who are presenting during the meeting on topics that highlight the ways O.R. and analytics are being used to save lives, save money and solve problems. In this episode, we will be discussing how O.R. and analytics are providing valuable insight into some of the most complex problems facing our world today, including improving aviation security precheck procedures, protecting the security of elections in the U.S., and increasing the success rates of kidney transplants in underserved populations.

This month, we will be producing two special podcasts, both recorded during the INFORMS 2018 Annual Meeting. We will be speaking to a number of INFORMS member who are presenting during the meeting on topics that highlight the ways O.R. and analytics are being used to save lives, save money and solve problems. In this episode, we will be discussing how O.R. and analytics are providing valuable insight into some of the most complex problems facing our world today, from calculating the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., to using drones to  provide healthcare to patients with chronic illness in rural settings, to  helping improve outcomes for human trafficking victims. 

In this episode, we will be taking a sneak peek at our upcoming Annual Meeting, and some of the exciting topics and sessions that will be covered, as well as diving into some of INFORMS' unique programs and efforts. Joining us for this episode are James Cochran of the University of Alabama to discuss the newly published INFORMS Analytics Body of Knowledge; Carrie Beam of the University of Arkansas to introduce an exciting new competition, Freestyle O.R. Supreme, that will debut at this year’s Annual Meeting; and Alan Briggs from Data Robot, to share the impact of the Certified Analytics Professional certification on his career path.

In this episode, we explore three unique ways that operations research and analytics are being used to save lives, save money, and solve problems. Our guests include John Dickerson of the University of Maryland and Tuomas Sandholm of Carnegie Mellon University whose research on improving kidney exchange success could significantly improve the number of successful kidney transplants; Eva Lee of the Georgia Institute of Technology whose research in pediatric heart surgery has unexpectedly provided new insight to help fight America’s opioid epidemic; and Tallys Yunes of the Miami Business School who has some very valuable insight that can help all the fantasy football fans out there use O.R. to improve their lineups.

INFORMS is very excited to share the launch of our brand new podcast series, Resoundingly Human, which is dedicated to bringing O.R. and analytics to life by highlighting the incredible contributions of our members who are using O.R. and analytics to save lives, save money, and solve problems. Our first episode features members of INFORMS leadership to explore different ways that INFORMS is helping to spread the word on the important role that O.R. and analytics play in our everyday lives. Our guests in this episode include the 2018 INFORMS president Nicholas Hall, Brian Denton, who served as the 2017 president, and the Director of public affairs and marketing for INFORMS, Jeff Cohen. Each will provide special insight into INFORMS current objectives and goals, as well as new initiatives and a look ahead to next steps.

INFORMS as an organization has a mission of elevating our members and our brand. As part of that goal, we work to educate policymakers about the value of operations research and analytics in decisions that they make that impact the American people. We have had great success in nurturing relationships in Washington and making a real difference. As of late, a big focus has been on artificial intelligence and some of INFORMS most prominent members are involved in the work. On this episode, I’m pleased to welcome our incoming 2024 INFORMS president, Julie Swann,, our current president Laura Albert, and two past presidents, Radhika Kulkarni and Ramayya Krishnan, to discuss their recent meetings on Capitol Hill related to artificial intelligence. 

Human trafficking is a global crime, impacting an estimated 27.6 million individuals each year. And while we might think that trafficking is a problem present in distant locations far from home, the sobering fact is that it is everywhere including in our own communities.  And while I think most are familiar with the existence of some of the perhaps better recognized forms of human trafficking – including sex trafficking and labor trafficking - it might surprise listeners that organ trafficking – in particular, kidney trafficking – is another significant form of human trafficking. In fact, it’s a $1.7 billion industry worldwide. Joining me to share some insight into organ trafficking, it’s prevalence and impact, and the complications in combatting it, is Naoru Koizumi with George Mason University. A specialist in in medical policies – including those relating to organ transplantation and end-stage kidney and liver diseases – Naoru is leading a team of researchers awarded NSF funding to learn more about organ trafficking and most importantly, how to combat and disrupt the associated supply chains.

With members in more than 90 countries, INFORMS truly represents a global and diverse community of OR/MS and analytics students, researchers, educators, practitioners and industry leaders. Members whose work is saving lives, saving money and solving complex problems, through ground-breaking research and transformative applications. And if you are part of this community, you know just how significant opportunities to connect, collaborate and grow your professional network are for furthering this incredible work. But for some, especially students or those just starting out in their career, or even experienced researchers who want to branch out into new areas, you might feel uncertain or even uncomfortable taking the first steps towards building professional relationships with new people. Luckily, events like the upcoming 2023 INFORMS Annual Meeting, which will bring together thousands of members of the INFORMS community from October 15-18 in Phoenix, AZ, provide myriad opportunities to meet potential collaborators and friends from around the world. Now, if you listened to the most recent episode of the podcast, you’ll already have heard me discuss this week’s guest, a professor with Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Brazil, and host of my new favorite podcast, Subject To: as well as author of the new OR/MS Today column of the same name, Anand Subramanian. Anand and I will be discussing the importance of meeting and connecting with others in your field for idea exchange, collaboration, or even just sharing admiration for another’s work, and how to best leverage both in-person and virtual networking opportunities in order to do so.

Summer is here and the time is right … for getting the heck out of dodge! With temperatures soaring and kids off for summer break, scores of people are planning to travel at some point this summer. In fact, 85% of Americans are planning to take a trip this summer and of those more than 50% plan to travel to their destination by plane.  But in their efforts to get away from it all, many might be experiencing more of a stressful scenario than they had anticipated, as airports across the country are experiencing at worst, canceled flights and at best significant delays. What’s surprising is that these disruptions are even extending to folks who are registered for TSA PreCheck. Joining me today to take a look behind the scenes at what is causing these delays and cancelations, what can be done to address them, and what would-be vacationers can do to limit the impact and stress on their vacations, is Laura Albert, professor and department chair of industrial & systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the 2023 INFORMS president.

It feels like in the blink of an eye, ChatGPT is everywhere. This AI-driven natural language processing tool can answer questions and help you create written content at lightning speed and is proving a valuable tool that is transforming content creation across the board. But where the heck did it come from?! How long has this technology actually been around? And while this is a fantastic tool, as with all things, is there the potential that this technology that could be leveraged negatively? Joining me from Temple University is Subodha Kumar, to share special insight on how ChatGPT came to be, how its currently being leveraged and where it is taking us!

Move over AI and supply chain, there’s a new buzzword in town! Digital twin, a term that’s been popping up more and more in mainstream media in recent months. But what is digital twin technology? Basically, it’s using data to create a digital version of a real world, physical object, process or system for a wide range of purposes. Now that’s a pretty basic explanation of what really is pretty complex technology, so today I’m joined by Michael Heiner, with Heiner Innovation Company, who will help us take a deeper dive into digital twin technology, what it is, why it has recently found itself in the spotlight, the potential for future developments and what makes him excited about the work he is doing in this space.

In honor of Pride month, this week’s episode will feature audio from a previous video interview I conducted for the INFORMS Community Showcase highlighting the newest INFORMS community, the PRIDE Forum! In this interview I’m joined by Priyank Arora, President of the INFORMS Pride Forum, and Pritha Dutta, Board Member of the INFORMS Pride Forum. We take a look inside this new forum and its role in the INFORMS membership, and its goals in the larger OR/MS and analytics community. It is truly an honor to work for an organization that not only embraces, but prioritizes diversity, equity and inclusion in its membership. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I do!    

Historically, baseball has been described as America’s national past time. However, there might be another activity better suited to this title … and that is playing video games. That’s right, video games. Over 227 million people in the U.S. play video games for at least one to a few hours per week, which equals out to about 70% of all Americans are video game fans. But what I’d bet most gamers don’t know, is the role that operations research (O.R.) plays in nearly every aspect of video game development, from design to production to selling. Joining me today to dive into the world of O.R. and video games is Xiao Lei, assistant professor with the University of Hong Kong, a self-confessed lover of video games who is also lucky enough to get to help advance the role of O.R. in gaming.

The U.S. Coast Guard is the oldest continuously operating naval service of the United States and has deployed to support and fight in every major U.S. war since 1790. In this episode, we explore the role analytics plays in supporting the Coast Guard as it achieves its many missions and learn how the U.S. Coast Guard Academy is preparing the next generation of those serving in its ranks to employ analytics in new and exciting ways. Joining me for this episode are Commander Matthew Williams, head of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s Department of Mathematics; Ian Frommer, professor in the mathematics department; and Elise Birkhaeuser and Clayton Forfinski, who are both first-class cadets majoring in operations research and data analytics at the Academy.

With 2023 well underway, it’s time to circle back and check in with the INFORMS president Laura Albert, professor and department chair of industrial & systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for an update on the latest and greatest at INFORMS.

My guest for today’s interview is Shima Mohebbi, with the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason University who recently completed a collaborative National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded study that explored how to improve community and infrastructure resiliency by better understanding and identifying the underlying dynamics and causal relationships to improve responses during disruptions, with a focus on mobility and public water resources.  We’ll be taking a look not only at her work, but sharing some insight on the experience of receiving (NSF) funding to support your research.