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Welcome back to Resoundingly Human, the podcast brought to you by INFORMS, the leading association for professionals and students who apply science, math, technology, and analytics to make smarter decisions for a better world.  I’m your host Ashley Kilgore and thank you for joining me for the next episode in a special series highlighting the 2024 Franz Edelman Award finalist teams! The Franz Edelman Award is awarded each year to an organization that has made a transformative contribution to society, all with the power of advanced analytics. In the leadup to the 2024 INFORMS Analytics Conference in sunny Orlando this April, we’ll be highlighting the incredible contributions of this year’s finalists. The winner will be announced at the conference, during the Edelman Gala.   For the next episode in this year’s Edelman finalist series, I have the pleasure of speaking with the team from McDonald’s China to share some special insight into their finalist project, which accurately forecasted and delivered on record growth in the Chinese market for McDonalds.

The Franz Edelman Award is awarded each year to an organization that has made a transformative contribution to society, all with the power of advanced analytics. In the leadup to the 2024 INFORMS Analytics Conference in sunny Orlando this April, we’ll be highlighting the incredible contributions of this year’s finalists. The winner will be announced at the conference, during the Edelman Gala.   To kick off this very special series, which just so happens to feature my favorite episodes throughout the entire year, I have the pleasure of speaking with the team from Tata Steel Limited to share some special insight into their finalist project.

Welcome to a brand-new year of Resoundingly Human, the podcast brought to you by INFORMS, the leading association for professionals and students who apply science, math, technology and analytics to solve the world’s most critical challenges. Basically, our member’s work informs smarter decisions to make our world a better place and the Resoundingly Human podcast is dedicated to sharing their amazing stories. I’m your host Ashley Kilgore and thank you for joining us as we kick of another great year of thought-provoking and inspiring content!  Joining me for our first episode of the new year is the 2024 INFORMS President Julie Swann, the A. Doug Allison Distinguished Professor and Department Head of the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University.

As 2023 draws to a close, it’s a great time to reflect on the past year with our 2023 INFORMS President Laura Albert, professor and department chair of industrial & systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Welcome to the latest episode in a special series of the Resoundingly Human podcast, recorded in person at the 2023 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Phoenix. For this episode I am joined by Hamsa Balakrishnan with MIT. Hamsa is delivering the keynote session, “Advanced Air Mobility: Are We There Yet?” and she is joining me today to explore this topic.

In a special episode recorded at the 2023 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, I have the opportunity to sit down with long time INFORMS member and professor and dean with the Culverhouse College of Business at the University of Alabama, Jim Cochran. We cover a lot of ground from adventures abroad with Visiting Scholar opportunities, to combatting urban blight and human trafficking, to increasing access to dental care and food donations for those in need, but most importantly explore the power of analytics to give back and make a difference.  

If you’re anything like me, a glass of wine at the end of a long day is a terrific way to relax and unwind. And whether your glass contains a deep, rich Cabernet, a crisp, floral Sancerre, or a dry, refreshing Pinot Grigio, they all share one thing in common, and that is – you guessed it – analytics! That’s right! Just like a delicious charcuterie or cheese plate, analytics also pairs great with wine! From the grape all the way to the glass, analytics play an important role in the modern production of wine. Joining me to walk us through the wonderful world of wine analytics is Burak Kazaz, professor of supply chain management, and the executive director of the Brethen Institute  at Syracuse University.

It’s been a busier (and more exciting) summer than usual for INFORMS! INFORMS president Laura Albert, professor and department chair of industrial & systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides an update on the latest and greatest at INFORMS.

This episode is a continuation of our previous episode, featuring our incoming 2024 INFORMS president, Julie Swann, our current president Laura Albert, and two past presidents, Radhika Kulkarni and Ramayya Krishnan, in which we'll be discussing their recent meetings on Capitol Hill related to artificial intelligence. 

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.