Author: Ashley Kilgore

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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2020 Franz Edelman Award finalist Walmart

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 Yixian Chen, Senior Data Scientist and Prakhar Mehrotra, Senior Director of Machine Learning, both with Walmart Labs, to discuss Walmart’s finalist entry for the 2020 Franz Edelman Award.

Tags: Franz Edelman Award, retail, Walmart, Walmart Labs

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2020 Franz Edelman Award finalist IBM

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 George Stark, Distinguished Engineer, statistics and quality at IBM, and Dorothea Wiesmann, Program Director and Technical Assistant to the Director of IBM research to discuss IBM’s finalist entry for the 2020 Franz Edelman Award.

Tags: advanced analytics, Franz Edelman Award, IBM, PASIR

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Data privacy vs. data security: Overcoming our fear of sharing data

We are living in an increasingly digital world. Never has this been more apparent than our current reality of social distancing, as we are forced to commit to conducting more and more of our daily lives online, from business meetings, to shopping, to interacting with our families. In this new normal, questions and concerns regarding maintaining the security and privacy of our data have moved even further into the spotlight. For this episode I am joined by Rachel Cummings, professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech to discuss the relationship between data…

Tags: 2020 U.S. Census, coronavirus, COVID-19, data privacy, data security, data sharing, Georgia Tech, pandemic, Rachel Cummings

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Got a case of “The Mondays”? Your organization might too.

Many of us might admit that it can take us a bit of time to get into the swing of things on a Monday morning. This is often referred to as a case of “The Mondays” or the “Monday Blues.” But does the same hold true for businesses as a whole, with significant performance variations occurring based on what day of the week it is? To take a deeper dive into this topic, I am joined by Oliver Yao, professor and association dean of graduate programs of the College of Business at Lehigh University to discuss his research recently published…

Tags: Lehigh University, Monday Effect, Oliver Yao, supply chain

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Creating better YouTube content for patients with chronic disorders

Many of us rely on YouTube for instruction on a wide range of interest areas, from beauty tutorials, to a new recipe, to basic DIY home improvement projects, and more. But what if YouTube tutorials could improve our lives in a different way, by helping us better understand and manage our health and wellness? Joining me for this episode is Rema Padman, trustees professor of management science and healthcare informatics at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, whose research has identified guidelines for organizations to provide YouTube video content for individuals with chronic health conditions…

Tags: Carnegie Mellon University, diabetes, healthcare, Rema Padman, YouTube

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