News Room

The INFORMS International Conference, held for the first time this year in Taipei drew international top scholars from 25 countries around the world. Participants agreed that in addition to academic research and discussion on the latest trends, they were also impressed by the energy of Taiwan’s industry innovation and Taipei’s progress and friendliness.

Mary Beth Kurz, INFORMS member and professor with Clemson University, talks about the little things her grandfather did with her that made a huge impact on her as an engineer and as a person.

Jack Levis, INFORMS member and senior director of process management for UPS, a winner of the INFORMS Edelman Award, discusses the company’s On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation (ORION) system, which uses IoT technology to allow more control over its operations. This ORION system is constantly collecting information from several sources, including drivers, vehicles and packages, and data from all sources is integrated and analyzed to create a full picture of the operation. With IoT technology, UPS has cut the miles driven per year by 100 million, ultimately cutting CO2 emissions by 100,000 metric tons, using 10 million fewer gallons of fuel and saving the company $350 million to $400 million per year.

While many may dread campaign season because of the bad energy associated with negative political advertising, a new study has found that such ads actually work. Negative advertising in politics works, but it’s more effective if the advertising comes directly from a candidate or candidate’s campaign. That’s according to a new study in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science.