Author: Max Libertore-Resnick

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Navigating the COVID-19 landscape with the 2020 INFORMS President

When I last spoke with 2020 INFORMS President Pinar Keskinocak, it was the beginning of the year, and the worldwide impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had not yet been realized. It has only been a few months since then, but it feels like a lifetime. And we are only halfway through the year! Needless to say, 2020 has thrown some unexpected challenges to all of us, in how we live and work. I am once again joined by Pinar to discuss the year so far and the role that O.R. and analytics has played in helping the world address many…

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Bias and social media: What’s the impact on your screen time?

I think many of us will admit that, in our current environment of social distancing, we are spending even more time online, in particular on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more. These sites, and the content we see, whether a shared article, comment, ad, or post from a friend or relative, are often controlled by an algorithm which, though based on our preferences and past behavior, can also be subject to bias. This takes on a more significant importance when you consider the impact this content, and how we interact with it, can have on our thoughts,…

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Mapping a return to live sports and concert attendance

In previous episodes of the podcast we’ve explored how O.R. can help create that bridge between our current COVID-19-reality of social distancing and sheltering at home and  being able to return to normal activities, such as reporting back to work, going to school, and in the case of this episode, attending large public gatherings like concerts and sporting events. Joining me is Irv Lustig with Princeton Consultants, who has created an advanced analytics approach to reopening stadiums and arenas that would allow us to attend our favorite events while maintaining safe social distancing.

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Irv Lustig

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Should your university reopen in the fall? Let mathematical modeling guide the way

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic this past spring saw universities across the country close their campuses and teachers rapidly transition their curriculums to a virtual classroom setting. Now, after months of social distancing and online learning, these same institutions are looking ahead to the fall semester. Simultaneously however, as states are beginning the process of reopening, many at different rates, we are also seeing a spike in infection rates. So in the face of this, can universities safely reopen their campuses? The answer may truly surprise you. Joining me to discuss how his university is approaching the upcoming fall…

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Looking ahead with the 2020 INFORMS president

It’s a brand new year at INFORMS and we are all looking forward to an incredible 2020, especially as this year marks the 25th anniversary of INFORMS! In this episode, I am joined by the 2020 INFORMS President Pinar Keskinocak, to discuss her goals and objectives over the coming year. 

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Working smarter, not harder, to improve healthcare transparency

Healthcare is a complex, often overwhelming subject, and the effort to match patients with providers based on patient needs and provider ability, known as the patient provider alignment (or PPA) problem, has consistently proven difficult to tackle. In the past, this was thought to have been exacerbated by the limited availability of information available to the public regarding providers and their performance, which could help facilitate better patient provider matches. However, despite efforts to increase transparency by making healthcare data open and available to the public, the PPA problem still persists.  In this episode, I am joined by Soroush Saghafian…

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How video game companies can “level up” their profits

The video game industry is growing at a phenomenal rate, generating a record $43.4 billion in revenue in 2018, an increase of nearly 20 percent from the year before. The largest area of growth within this industry has been in the online gaming community. But with players functioning at different skill levels and an even wider range of interest areas, how can companies ensure players remain engaged and their products continue to grow in popularity? Joining us for this episode to provide new insight into online gamer behavior is Yan Huang from Carnegie Mellon University, whose research which was recently…

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Is your favorite restaurant at risk of failing its health inspection?

Has this ever happened to you? Walking up to your favorite local restaurant, looking forward to a delicious meal only to discover … it has failed its restaurant inspection! Yuck. I think there are few events that will convince you to eat at home more. But what if there was a way to anticipate if a restaurant was at risk of failing an inspection well before this actually happened? In this episode, we will hear from James Howard, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, whose research has helped identify if a restaurant will fail an inspection before…

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