Author: Ashley Kilgore

2021 Franz Edelman Competition: JD.com

For more than four decades, winners of the Edelman Award have been recognized for transforming how we approach some of the world’s most complex problems. This year’s finalists are no exception, with revolutionary contributions in robotics, cancer radiotherapy efficiency, unmanned warehouse technology, mining efficiency and the impact to chemical facilities, scheduling and production at manufacturing plants, and food assistance amid emergency responses. Since its inception, finalists for the Edelman Award have contributed to a cumulative impact of over $302 billion, supported lifesaving efforts across the globe, and transformed how the world does business. Joining me for this episode are Hengle…

Tags: Franz Edelman Award, Hengle Qin, JD.com, Linwei Xin, unmanned warehouses

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Shining a light on the COVID-19 vaccine distribution

After a year dominated by the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 dawned with an optimistic look ahead, as we witnessed the start of the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine. But as we are still in the earliest stages of this effort, there are still challenges ahead and a great deal of uncertainty. Joining me to shine some light on this is Anna Nagurney, the John F. Smith Memorial Professor in the Department of Operations and Information Management in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is also the Founding Director of the Virtual…

Tags: Anna Nagurney, COVID-19, pandemic, supply chains, vaccine

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Looking ahead to a year of new possibilities

Welcome to a brand-new year of Resoundingly Human podcasts! Joining me for the first podcast of the new year is the 2021 INFORMS President Stephen Graves. A long-time member of INFORMS, Steve is the Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management and a professor of operations management at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. He also has a joint appointment with the MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Tags: advocacy, DEI, MIT, Stephen Graves, strategic planning

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Protecting election security, how safe is your vote?

At the heart of who we are as Americans and what our country was founded on and represents, is our right to vote, and for that vote to be counted. People have marched, protested, fought and died to ensure that right is preserved and protected. And the potential that this right to vote could be threatened, whether by forces foreign or domestic, especially during perhaps one of the most divisive presidential elections in our history should be of great concern to us all. For this episode I am joined by Natalie Scala, professor at Towson University to discuss election security,…

Tags: 2020 elections, election security, Natalie Scala, presidential elections, voter fraud, voter integrity

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Will we be facing long lines at the polls?

The upcoming 2020 presidential election is building up to be one of the most unprecedented in recent history, if ever. And adding to an already volatile and emotionally-charged situation are concerns with voter safety relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Joining me for this episode is Laura Albert, professor of industrial & systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s College of Engineering, to discuss what Americans, election officials and volunteers could be facing when they hit the polls in just a few short weeks, as well as ways to ensure voting remains safe and accessible.

Tags: COVID-19, Laura Albert, polling, ppe, presidential elections, waiting times

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Virtual queues: How managing wait time information can improve the customer experience

No one likes waiting in lines, it’s a fact. Whether at the grocery store checkout searching desperately for the shortest line, or watching the clock tick while waiting our turn at the dentist’s office, or at an amusement park, looking at the long lines and deciding how badly we really want to ride our favorite ride, most of will do everything we can to avoid waiting. And even since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, when so many aspects of our lives are now conducted virtually, we still find ourselves waiting in lines, or in this case, in virtual queues,…

Tags: coronavirus, Georgia Tech, Qiuping Yu, virtual queues, waiting in lines, waiting rooms

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What makes an analytics project great?

From large scale analytics projects that have a lifesaving impact, or realize millions of dollars in savings, or transform an entire industry, to those that simply help an organization better utilize its data and improve its day-to-day functionality, how is success measured? Joining me for this episode are Pooja Dewan, Vice President and Chief Data Analytics Officer with Otis Elevator, and Carrie Beam Teaching Associate Professor at the University of Arkansas and Principal of Carrie Beam Consulting. Both Pooja and Carrie have played a pivotal role in the Franz Edelman Award competition over the years. Pooja served as the 2019…

Tags: Carrie Beam, Franz Edelman Award, Intel, Pooja Dewan

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2020 Franz Edelman Award finalist Deutsche Bahn

This podcast is part of a series highlighting the finalist teams of the 2020 INFORMS Franz Edelman Award competition, to be held on September 29. Joining me for this episode are Hanno Schülldorf, an Expert for Mathematical Optimization and Project Manager at Deutsche Bahn, and Ralf Borndörfer, Professor of Discrete Mathematics at Freie Universitat Berlin, Head of the Optimization Department at the Zuse Institute Berlin and co-founder of LBW Optimization GmbH, to discuss Deutsche Bahn’s finalist entry for the 2020 Franz Edelman Award.

Tags: Deutsche Bahn, Franz Edelman Award, railroad, railroad scheduling

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2020 Franz Edelman Award finalist Intel

This podcast is part of a series highlighting the finalist teams of the 2020 INFORMS Franz Edelman Award competition, to be held on September 29. Joining me for this episode are Karl Kempf, Senior Fellow and Director of Decision Engineering, and Shamin Shirodkar, Senior Director of Supply Chain Decision Solutions, both with Intel, to discuss Intel’s finalist entry for the 2020 Franz Edelman Award.

Tags: 2020 Franz Edelman Award Competition, Franz Edelman Award, Intel, karl kempf

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