Tutorial Sessions
SUNDAY, JULY 8
B06
10:00am-11:30am
Mathematical Programming in Sports
Cole Smith, University of Florida
This tutorial gives an overview of operations research in sports, with issues ranging from team-ranking algorithms, data analysis and tactical optimization problems. In particular, this tutorial places an emphasis on optimization challenges arising in arranging regular season and tournament schedules. These problems are of particular interest because they are often heavily constrained, multi-objective optimization problems. OR techniques promise an organized method for providing a feasible schedule free of the biases that may drive manually derived schedules.
SB22
10:00am-11:30am
Advances in Simulation Optimization
Marco Better, OptTek Systems, Inc.
This tutorial will demonstrate how these two traditional areas of OR are combined into a powerful decision-making system. Simulation can model uncertainty while optimization seeks best policies. The sense in which these represent decision-making will be explained in the tutorial, which will include several examples from finance, business process management and supply chain management.
SC06
1:30pm-3:00pm
Getting and Dealing with Media Attention for Your Research
Moderator: Candace A. Yano
University of California-Berkeley
Panelists: Sheldon Jacobson, University of Illinois; Eva Lee, Georgia Institute of Technology;
Gary Bennett, INFORMS
Panelists will offer suggestions on how to get media attention for your research, and how to deal with it when the attention finally arrives, based on their recent personal experiences.
MONDAY, JULY 9
MA06
8:00am-9:30am
When More is Better
David Simchi-Levi, MIT
A supply chain setting is inherently characterized by interactions between multiple products and agents seeking to maximize their own utility. In this presentation we use an axiomatic approach to explore the impact of product variety on customer demand, product price, system revenue and inventory levels. These results are applied to two supply chains. The first is a decentralized multi-retailer system where each retailer sells a single product and retailers compete on price. The second supply chain is a single retailer selling multiple competitive products. We use the insight from our analysis to answer the question of whether more consumer choices are better for the customers or the seller.
MB06
10:00am-11:30am
An Introduction to Semidefinite Programming and Its Applications
Samuel Burer, University of Iowa
Over the past 15 years, the field of semidefinite programming--which fits somewhere between linear programming and general convex programming--has grown tremendously. This growth can be
attributed to a wealth of applications in areas such as combinatorial optimization, machine learning and probability theory. In this tutorial, we introduce semidefinite programming, trace its history, touch on algorithms and software for its solution, and detail a number of applications.
MC06
1:30pm-3:00pm
Does More Money Buy You More Happiness?
Rakesh K. Sarin, UCLA
We examine empirical evidence on the relationship between income and happiness. The first empirical finding is that, within a society, richer people are happier than poorer ones. The second finding is that, for a given country, average well-being has not improved over time in spite of large gains in per capita income. We propose a model of adaptation and social comparison for valuing time streams of consumption. The model explains the puzzle: why do we believe that more money will buy us more happiness (when in fact it does not)?
MC08
1:30pm-3:00pm
Combinatorial Auctions
S. Raghavan, University of Maryland
Combinatorial auctions allow bidders to bid on combinations of goods being sold in an auction. When there are complement or substitution effects amongst goods being sold, combinatorial auctions permit bidders to better express their preferences, allowing for the efficient allocation of goods. However, this comes at a significant price in terms of the computational complexity of the auction. In this tutorial we provide an overview of current research in mathematical programming related issues in combinatorial auctions. We also discuss a number of applications of combinatorial auctions in both the public and private sector. Finally, we examine the topic of search auctions that today
are the largest source of revenue for search sites like Yahoo and Google.
TUESDAY, JULY 10
TA06
8:00am-9:30am
Linking Decision Analysis and Behavioral Decision Research
Robert Clemen, Duke University
Results from behavioral decision research can be used to improve prescriptive decision analysis (DA) methods. I will review several examples in the modeling of uncertainty and preferences and point toward possibilities for future work. Developing new DA methods will also require techniques for evaluating how well they work; the talk will also suggest procedures for studying the effectiveness of DA methods. My goal is to provide a starting point for reading and thinking about these issues.
TA08
8:00am-9:30am
Introduction to Social Network Analysis for the Operations Research and Management Science Community
Mary Helander and Kate Ehrlich, IBM Research
This tutorial introduces basic concepts of social network analysis (SNA) for the OR/MS community. SNA will be explored as an established methodology for revealing patterns of human communication and decision-making. Examples will illustrate SNA use to detect communication and other issues impacting team performance. Current advances in data capture, analysis and interpretation, as well as the connection to the current "social computing" movement will also be discussed.
TB06
10:00am-11:30am
Toward a Science of White-Collar Workforce Management
Wallace J. Hopp, Northwestern University
White-collar service and professional jobs dominate the U.S. economy, but the majority of operations management models and analyses focus on blue collar manufacturing systems. In this session, we discuss a framework for organizing existing research streams in various fields relevant to knowledge-based white-collar work, highlight
significant emerging results and point toward future research opportunities.
TC06
1:30pm-3:00pm
Symmetry in Integer Programming
Francois Margot, Carnegie Mellon University
This is an overview of techniques used to handle symmetries in integer linear programming problems. Three different approaches will be discussed:
reformulations (based on column generation and permutation groups), symmetry-breaking inequalities (associated with relatively simple symmetry groups), and isomorphism pruning (delete isomorphic sub-problems in the enumeration tree).
TD06
3:30pm-5:00pm
Modeling and Optimizing Nonlinear Systems in Integrated Computing Environments
Janos D. Pinter, Pinter Consulting Services Inc
Nonlinear optimization models are developed and solved across the sciences and engineering. In this tutorial, we place an emphasis on building and solving models in Maple and Mathematica. Both systems include advanced modeling features and nonlinear optimization functionality, enhanced by add-on optimization packages. A brief introduction to global optimization is followed by interesting examples and a review of real-world applications.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 11
WA06
8:00am-9:30am
Perl in an Hour
Vernon Austel, IBM
Perl is popular scripting language that makes it easy to change the format of a text file or extract information from it. One can accomplish a great deal using less than a page of code. This tutorial will introduce Perl with simple but useful examples. Only a basic knowledge of regular expressions will be assumed.
WA08
8:00am-9:30am
Healthcare Facility Evacuation – Plans, Requirements and Effectiveness
Kevin Taaffe, Clemson University
All health care facilities are required to have evacuation plans in place. While there are many tools for hurricane or transportation modeling, none of these tools address the complications in carrying out the tasks in a health care facility evacuation. In this tutorial, we will discuss three key elements of the health care facility evacuation problem: staffing, transportation and sheltering. We will offer a quantitative-based methodology for measuring a plan’s effectiveness.
WB06
10:00am-11:30am
Systems Decision Process
Gregory S. Parnell, U.S. Military Academy
We present a systems decision process for determining solutions to problems with uncertainties, complex alternatives, conflicting objectives and
significant resource implications. The process
phases are problem definition, solution design,
decision-making and solution implementation.
The process uses systems thinking, modeling,
multiobjective decision analysis, optimization,
simulation, life cycle costing and project management techniques. An example is given using Excel macros and add-ins.
WB16
10:00am-11:30am
FAQs about Dynamic Programming
Moshe Sniedovich, University of Melbourne
In this tutorial we shall address some of the
basic questions regarding the methodological,
theoretical and computational aspects of dynamic programming.
