Australian Society For Operations Research (ASOR)

In this issue, A. Khan, K. Marion and C. Bil have contributed a techinical paper on The Prediction of Ship Motions and Attitudes using Artificial Neural Networks . Elizabeth Warnes has also contributed an interesting non-technical paper, based on her practical experiences, on A Year in the Philippines: Improving Governance through Operations Research . We are delighted to be publishing these papers here for Bulletin readers.

I am pleased to inform you that the electronic version of ASOR Bulletin is available at the web address: http://www.cs.adfa.edu.au/~ruhul/asor.html. Although the electronic version is prepared as an HTML file, for technical reasons articles may be in PDF or PS format.

There is always a lack of articles being submitted for publication in the ASOR Bulletin. As in previous issues, I would again like to request all ASOR members, ASOR Bulletin readers and OR organizations in the country to contribute to the ASOR Bulletin. The editorial policy is available either from the web at http://www.cs.adfa.edu.au/~ruhul/edipolicy.html or from the inside back cover of the Bulletin. The detailed instructions for preparing the manuscripts is available in the URL: http://www.cs.adfa.edu.au/~ruhul/asor.html

Due to the random nature of the ship’s motion in an open water environment, the deployment and the landing of air vehicles from a ship can often be difficult and even dangerous. The ability to reliably predict the motion will allow improvements in safety on board ships and facilitate more accurate deployment of vehicles off ships. This paper presents an investigation into the application of artificial neural network methods trained using singular value decomposition and conjugate gradient algorithms for the prediction of ship motion. It is shown that accurate predictions of up to ten seconds can be achieved.

A Year in the Philippines : Improving Governance through Operations Research

Elizabeth Warnes

Abstract

A year spent teaching Operations Reasearch (OR) in the Philippines has convinced me that such efforts can genuinely improve the quality of governance in the developing world. Working with city-planning staff in a local government unit, a number of experiences demonstrated to me the potential OR presents for improving decision-making. This article relates some of my observations and will hopefully generate some interest in the use of OR to promote better governance in the developing world.

This promising suggestion presents a practical means for building more capable governance in weak and fragile states, a current endeavour of the aid program and national security efforts.

For full paper (PDF format) click

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ASOR Conference 2007

19th National Conference of the Australian Society for Operations Research

Melbourne , Victoria

3 – 5 December, 2007

The conference provides a forum for optimisation researchers and operations research practitioners to exchange ideas and discuss their latest research and applications.

Full details will be available soon on the conference website which is being established. Further information can be obtained from A/Prof. Baikunth Nath (baikunth@unimelb.edu.au) and Prof. Santosh Kumar (skumar@csm.vu.edu.au).

Call for ‘ASOR New Researcher Encouragement Medal’ – 2007

At a recent meeting held on October 6, 2006, the ASOR National Council established an encouragement medal for new researchers who have completed a research degree at Master or PhD level in OR or in a related field with significant contribution to the advancement of OR from any Australian university. Normally candidates will be considered who completed all requirements for their degree between the two consecutive ASOR National conferences. Since this award is offered for the first time, all candidates who have completed their degree requirements after August 2005 are considered eligible to enter this competition. The award will be conferred in a special ceremony to be held at the forthcoming National conference, scheduled to take place in Melbourne on December 3 – 5, 2007.

In general there will be one medal awarded in each category. However, the ASOR National council will make the final decision. There will be no appeal to the decision of the council.

The selection committee will rate work by each applicant on a 5 point scale, considering:

Originality
Contribution to Theory
Contribution to direct application, etc

Final decision will be based on sum of these ratings.

Interested candidate should submit, through their supervisor, an application in the form of a letter addressed to the Administrative Vice-President: skumar@csm.vu.edu. au so as to reach him latest by September 10, 2007.

An application for the ‘ NREM Award’ will be comprised of a letter with the following three attachments.

Attachment 1: Proof of completion for the Master/PhD degree.
Attachment 2. Summery of the thesis (highlighting OR contributions). This statement should not exceed 5 A4 pages in font size 12.
Attachment 3. A letter from the applicant’s supervisor to support his/her claim.

If necessary, the committee through the VP (Admin) may seek additional information from the applicant before making their recommendations.


THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY FOR OPERATION RESEARCH INCORPORATED
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