Contents

• Editorial
• Multicriteria Modelling And Decision Engineering Of A Chemical Extrusion Process by Laszlo Nandor KISS, Kazimierz ZARAS, Christian FONTEIX and C. René DOMINIQUE4
• Listen to our Senior Members
• Mathematics in Industry
• Forthcoming Conferences
• Job Opportunity
• Ph.D. Scholarship

First of all, I would like to announce that I have appointed Emma Hunt as Associate Editor of the ASOR Bulletin, from May 2002, to share some load and responsibilities with me, and to introduce some new ideas to promote the ASOR Bulletin. Let us congratulate Emma on her new responsibility.

In the June 2002 issue, we are featuring a technical paper on “Multicriteria modelling and decision engineering of a chemical extrusion process” as a refereed article. This paper was initially submitted for presentation by Professor Laszlo Kiss, a leading Canadian OR specialist, at the 16th National Conference of the Australian Society for Operations Research held in Adelaide last year and we are delighted to be publishing it here.

Recently, the National Library of Australia informed me that the number 0812-860X had been allocated as the ISSN of the ASOR Bulletin in 1981. Since we were not aware of that ISSN, we applied for a new ISSN for the ASOR Bulletin in February 2002. We subsequently received the number 1446-6678 as our ISSN.  According to the serial publication rule, a serial cannot have more than one ISSN. So, after discussions with the person responsible for ISSN allocation at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, I have decided to keep the old number 0812-860X as our ISSN for the printed ASOR Bulletin and to use 1446-6678 as the ISSN for the electronic version of the ASOR Bulletin. As a result, from this issue, you must quote the number 0812-860X as our ISSN.

I am pleased to inform you that the electronic version of ASOR Bulletin is now available at this web site. Although the electronic version is prepared as an HTML file, for technical reasons articles may be in PDF or PS format.

Address for sending contributions to the ASOR Bulletin:

Abstract

In the optimization of industrial processes, decision-makers are often confronted with multi-objective problems. For example,  in manufacturing it is often necessary to optimize  many conflicting objectives, subject to market constraints.

Using the concept of Pareto dominance, we present a multi-objective optimization procedure which yields an optimal zone containing the solution. Pair-wise points are compared, and non-dominated points are collected in the Pareto region. Then a ranking is established and the decision-maker selects the first-best solution. Finally we give an application of our procedure to the chemical engineering process of manufacturing cattle feed.

Prof. Bruce Craven and Mr David Hoffman are life members of the Australian Society for Operations Research. The Editor of the ASOR Bulletin requested both of them to tell him about themselves, Operations Research (OR) and their professional activities as OR academics and practitioners. The Editor supplied a set of questions as a guide. Both of them responded to the request with great interest and provided thoughtful and insightful responses. Let us now hear from them directly about their days of OR.

Prof. Bruce Craven

ASOR (Q#1):   Please give your short biography for ASOR Bulletin readers first.

BC : After completing degrees at Melbourne University (B.Sc. in mathematics and physics, M.Sc. in electronics), I worked in England for a year, then returned to Melbourne in 1955, to a research position with Australian Paper Manufacturers (APM). I worked there on the physics of paper, and also, to an increasing extent, applying statistics and mathematics to questions ranging from quality control to production scheduling, where I could see that some increased efficiency could be gained. In fact, I introduced Operations Research to this company. My OR projects included production planning (by linear programming) and cutting stock problems. At that date, no suitable software was available, and I had to write it. Along the road I acquired another degree (B.A. in statistics).

In 1962, I migrated to a position in the mathematics department at Melbourne University, where I stayed for the rest of my career. My research has been in many areas, ranging from pure mathematical analysis to queueing theory to continuous optimization. The latter began with the optimization questions I had worked on at APM, and extended, much of it in collaboration with Professor B. Mond at LaTrobe University, to such topics as duality in nonlinear optimization, nonsmooth optimization, fractional programming and optimal control. Much of this theory has not yet found application in OR. However, my books on fractional programming and optimal control discuss many applications, especially to planning and financial questions.

Along the road, I obtained a D.Sc. degree in 1973, and published 160 papers and five books.  My teaching has been in many areas of mathematics; from about 1980 on, mostly in OR. For consulting, see my answer to Question 9.

After retirement in 1996, I continue active research in optimization, including the application of optmal control to some economics questions.

ASOR(Q#2) : You are basically a mathematician. When did you first hear about Operations Research?

BC: I was always a mathematical person, from an early age. However, as stated above, I was working in OR before I made mathematics my profession.

ASOR(Q#3) : How and when did you become involved in Operations Research?

BC : During my time with APM, I found first statistical questions, and then planning questions, which needed solving. So I worked on them, with some success, and in the process introduced OR to APM.

ASOR(Q#4) : Do you consider Operations Research as an area of mathematics? What is the link between OR and mathematics?

BC : OR is not just an area of mathematics. OR calls for model building, and then the application of quantitative methods, from mathematics, statistics and computing, to deal with them. This process has motivated a good deal of mathematical theory, which hopefully will find later application in OR. Some substantial parts of it already have.

ASOR(Q#5) : Did you ever actively involve yourself with the professional societies in OR, like ASOR, APORS, ORSA, IFORS, INFORMS and others? If so, please highlight your roles and years.

BC : I have been a member of ASOR, and of ORSA (now INFORMS), for more years than I remember. I have not sought committee positions.

ASOR(Q#6): For years people have struggled to define Operations Research. How do you define Operations Research?

BC : Please see my answer to Question 4.

ASOR(Q#7): Although the vast majority of business and industry leaders use Operations Research techniques for their decision-making processes, they have never recognised Operations Research as an important discipline. What is your comment in this regard?

BC : I managed to successfully apply OR without being overly concerned with the label.  However, many OR techniques have now been reduced to routine and computer software, thus reducing the demand for OR practitioners for, at any rate, the simpler projects.  In addition, the "bean counters" focus attention on immediate profitability, so tending to neglect longer-term development. In time, this will be regretted, I think.

ASOR(Q#8) : When we look at Australian industries and businesses, "supply chain management" has received more recognition than Operations Research. Supply chain management is more of a catchy term than a new concept and it is successful because of Operations Research. Why is Operations Research not getting its proper recognition in Australia?

BC : Please see my answers to Question 7. Concerning "supply chain", there is some analogy to what happens with quality control, which seems to need a new name and gimmick every few years to keep up the attention on it. The decline in the Australian manufacturing industry has not helped, since the research is now often done elsewhere.

ASOR(Q#9) : What are your research interests in OR? Why did you choose those areas of research?

  BC : I have listed some research interests in my response to Question 1.   To a considerable extent, questions on continuous optimization came and knocked on my door, and I found I could solve them.    I then found, 25 years ago, then much of the technique of mathematical programming would also work for optimal control, and this has led to considerable developments.

Applied questions, and "consulting jobs", are a matter of what problems people have brought to me. These include for example a transport scheduling problem and a problem relating to networks.

ASOR(Q#10) : I know that you have written several books. What was your motivation behind writing these books? A brief summary of your books will be useful for ASOR Bulletin readers.

BC : I have published five books. Those relevant to OR are: Mathematical Programming and Control Theory (1978), Control and Optimization (1995) and Fractional Programming (1988).

These books are concerned with optimization with continuous variables, rather than "combinatorial" questions with discrete variables.  As well as theoretical topics, the "Control and Optimization" book discusses also various applications (for example to  management planning), and says something on computational methods.  The Fractional Programming book deals with mathemtical programs where the function to be optimized has the structure of a quotient; this quite often occurs in real models.

Why did I write books? To spread the ideas around, more effectively than I could by articles in specialized journals.

ASOR(Q#11): Do you have any memorable contribution to the field of OR which you would like to tell us about?

BC : It is hard to pick out landmarks in a continuous process over forty years. I recall my development, in 1962, of an algorithm and software for the cutting stock problem, before the Gilmore-Gomory method was available. My unified approach to mathematical programming and optimal control (see my 1977 book) has contributed to understanding of these areas (though I discovered later that Luenberger had said similar things before me).  This theoretical approach has motivated some developments in computing control (which is now practicable on a desktop computer). My efforts on "invex" functions, which are relevant when, as often, the textbook assumption of "convex" does not apply, have added to understanding; however the substantial applications in this area are still coming.  My "Fractional Programming" book was the first book in English on this topic.

ASOR(Q#12) : It seems to me that OR is not that popular in Australia compared to North America and Europe. Do you agree with me? If so, how can we increase the awareness of OR in Australia?

BC: OR seems less popular in Australia, largely because of the decline in the manufacturing industry.  Moreover, in situations where profitability depends less on efficiency than on sone quasi-monopoly, OR may seem of little relevance.  See also my answer to Question 15.

ASOR(Q#13) : After spending so many years with OR, do you consider yourself a mathematician or an operations researcher?

BC : Both.  I decline to be typecast !

ASOR(Q#14) : Are there any memorable events involving OR and/or ASOR which you would like to share with us?

BC: The beginnings of OR in Victoria, and perhaps in Australia, were largely attributable  to  Prof. M. H. Belz, in the Statistics Dept.  at Melbourne University. May I recall the notable pioneer occasion when Alison Doig (now Harcourt) and others undertook a cutting stock optimisation by a simplex method calculated by hand, with a tableau stretching across a room.  I recall also my own first feasibility study of a scheduling program by linear programming, which involved a 20 by 40 data matrix, and a week's calculation using a desk calculator. (And then I wrote a computer program.)  I recall also my cutting stock program in 1962, which had to be shoe-horned into an IBM 650 computer with just 2000 words of memory. We have left these computing limitations far behind.  However, I wonder whether the early days were more fun?

ASOR(Q#15) : Finally, your advice to young OR practitioners and researchers?

My advice to young OR people is to seek jobs, however labelled, where they can hope to apply their modelling and analytic skills. This does not only mean big projects - a simple approach, in the right place, is sometimes very productive.

Success can be its own best recommendation, for an individual, and for OR.
 

Mr David Hoffman

Being asked for a short biography, I reflected on the diverse nature of the discipline, and how I came to be involved. Trained as a statistician, it was for this that I joined the Mathematics Department at Royal Military College (RMC), Duntroon, Canberra in 1967.

In 1978 I spent a year in the Operational Research Department at RMCS Shrivenham, UK.

In 1983, while on a 6 month sabbatical in Central Studies Establishment, Department of Defence, I transferred to the School of Computer Science at ADFA, when it split from the School of Mathematics. I was Head of School in 1990.

In 1993 I spent three months at the University of Warwick, UK, followed by three months at the University of Arizona, in Tucson USA.

Over my academic career, my research interests have evolved from simulation and military gaming, timetabling algorithms, to analytic tools to assist group decision- making.

Having partially “retired” in 2000, I have retained my links to the School of Computer Science as an Honorary Visiting Fellow.

I am now employed as OA Manager for ADI Limited, with a primary responsibility of bringing OR techniques to the organization.

Editor : How and when did you become involved in Operations Research?

DH : In 1968, soon after joining the department I became aware that something representing OR was being taught by the Department of Engineering, so moved to take over the teaching responsibilities (empire building?). Subsequently, when the Department of Mathematics employed another statistician, I made the move to create an OR stream within the department.

Editor : Do you consider OR to be a branch of mathematics?

DH : While many of the models used by practitioners involve systems grounded in mathematics, it is always important to realize that we are providing a support system to managers involved in decision making. Thus any teaching of the discipline is inadequate unless it addresses their requirements.

Editor : What was your involvement with professional societies in OR?

DH: I joined the Canberra branch of ASOR in the mid 1970s, within a few years of its creation. The small nature of the branch, and a concentration of members as colleagues has resulted in my being Vice President in 1984-5, President 1985-9 and 1991-2 and Treasurer since 1995.

When the ASOR Bulletin ran into trouble finding someone to produce its Bulletin, I took over editorship in 1989, holding the position for eleven years. This also qualified me for membership of the ASOR Council.

During this period I also convened two ASOR National Conferences in 1988 and 1995.

While not an active member of any of the international bodies, I had the opportunity to attend the IFORS conferences in Portugal in 1983 and Vancouver in 1996.

Editor : For years people have struggled to define Operations Research. How do you define Operations Research?

DH : In many of the early ASOR National Conferences, there were plenary sessions where members attempted to define and position the discipline. In particular there was much discussion about attempting to combine with other groups, such as the Simulation Society, an organization members perceived as being within the OR umbrella. My feeling is that the underlying philosophy of the discipline requires an amalgam of different backgrounds, an approach pursued with the original groups created to assist the WW2 effort. Consequently I prefer not to prescribe narrowly the discipline, but rather regard it as the aggregation of analytic tools that can be deployed to assist managers in their decision- making process.

Editor : Although the vast majority of business and industry leaders use Operations Research techniques for their decision-making processes, they have never recognized Operations Research as an important discipline. What is your comment in this regard?

DH : Having just joined one of the major prime contractors to the Department of Defence, specifically to create an OR unit, to be applied to projects throughout the company, I may be badly placed to comment!

However I believe that there are two major problems in this area. The first is that most managers come to their position from a non-mathematical background, and hence are ignorant of the tools and techniques that can assist them. I see a partial solution to this in having an appreciative course in OR included in all business management programs.

The second problem involves the ebbs and flows that beset all companies. It is an unfortunate fact that in times of financial pressures, those providing OR are seen as dispensable. While organizations are quick to dispense with these services in time of hardship, they are slow to re-establish when things improve. This creates an environment where Operations Research is seen as a transient discipline within business.

Editor : You were the Editor of the ASOR Bulletin for many years. What are your views on its publication?

DH: My philosophy as Editor was that the Bulletin should be two things, an enjoyable read resulting in a selection of articles that were not mathematically complex, and an avenue for articles by practitioners, not requiring the rigor of professional reviewing.

Since most of the contributors come from the academic community, it was unfortunate when during the 1990s, there was an increase in the specification of reviewing associated with published articles that could be listed in people’s, and schools’, publication lists. This resulted in both a drop off in submitted articles, and a push for an increase in the level of reviewing associated with the Bulletin, both of which I regarded as unfortunate.

I would like to see more short articles on the application of OR, allowing readers to be exposed to the experience of others, and to develop insights into the difficulties encountered and overcome in the implementation of techniques.

Editor : Do you have any memorable incidents involving the ASOR Bulletin that you would like to tell us?

DH : Eleven years is a long time to have edited a publication, and yet when I reflect, I cannot recall any memorable incidents. In some way this is a reflection on the support that I received from the School of Computer Science, and particularly the administrative officers over the years primarily responsible for meeting my specific standards for formatting.

However on the teaching side, to explain the need for managers to employ analytic tools rather than “shooting from the hip”, I have always exposed my students to the following game matrix, along with $1 for each student to play:
 

Having explained fully what is involved, including that the game is favourable to the students, and that I have not cheated by having already chosen my option, hidden at the bottom of the transparency, over 20 years I have always won between 50c and $1.30 on average. My only regret is that I have never been able to get the students to pay up.

Editor : It seems to me that OR is not as popular in Australia compared to North America or Europe. Do you agree with this?

DH : Yes. I believe the reason for this is tied up in the philosophical approach by companies. Overseas there is a significantly greater commitment to R&D, which naturally results in a higher involvement in the use of Operations Research. Until we can change Australia’s approach to risk taking when it concerns investment, from individual (do I mean gambling?) to corporate, it is unlikely that this situation will change.

Editor : After spending so many years with OR, do you consider yourself a mathematician or an operations researcher?

DH : Definitely the latter, since the last ten years of my life has been spent interacting with the commercial world, developing applications that allow business to operate in a more efficient manner by employing operational analysis tools. In particular my involvement with the development of an Australian-made EMS (Electronic Meeting System) has provided much satisfaction. However like the discipline in general, it is unfortunate that more business are not exposed to the efficiencies that use of an EMS can provide.

Editor : Finally, your advice to young OR practitioners and researchers?

DH : Having been aware of the bad attitudes developed by operations researchers during the 1960s, when there was an emphasis on the tools, rather than the support to managers, I have always tried to instill into students the need to fully understand the requirements of any manager requesting assistance, and a need to ensure you stay with the resultant analysis until it is finally implemented.

Call for Papers for an edited book on Mathematics for Industry

Mathematical representations of real situations arise in all walks of life; you may be an executive, a scientist, an economist, an industrialist or a researcher. The mathematics associated with a given situation may be elementary or sophisticated or may even require development of new mathematical tools. All situations to some extent are challenging, when applied to a real-life situation. Thus industry is a never-ending source for new applications of mathematics, which provide motivation, challenge and satisfaction to mathematicians. Motivation comes from the diversity of applications; the challenge is to provide an answer to industry; and satisfaction is in mathematicians’ ability to meet the required challenge and provide an answer to industry in the limited time available. Thus in this fascinating and fertile area, there is always going to be a need for a new book putting forward recent contributions, and existing available literature would never be sufficient.

The proposed book on “Mathematics for Industry” will be published by Science Publishers, Inc., Enfield, New Hampshire USA. All submitted contributions would go through a normal refereeing process followed by the professional journals.

This proposed book will include papers on using methods of operations research, statistical techniques and applied mathematical modeling approaches applied to various fields in science, commerce and industry. Original papers dealing with some real life applications would be encouraged. However, other papers with a potential application would also be considered. Generally papers should not exceed more than 15 pages. Papers should be written in English and posted to one of the two editors:

Professor Santosh Kumar, School of Communications and Informatics, Victoria University, PO Box 14428, Melbourne, MC 8001 Australia, email: skumar@sci.vu.edu.au
Professor V.S.S. Yadavalli, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002 South Africa, email: yadavalli@postino.up.ac.za

Authors are requested to forward a short abstract of their proposed paper and interested authors will be advised with regard to the style requirements of the publisher.

Important dates

• Initial intent: As soon as possible
• Full paper: 20 December 2002.
• Revised paper: July 2003
• Expected publication date: early 2004.

Report on the MISG2002

The annual Mathematics-in-Industry Study Group Workshop (MISG) was once again held in Adelaide from February 11-15, 2002.  This year six projects were presented from a range of companies and organisations, and the Workshop was attended by over 100 delegates from universities in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the USA and Hong Kong.  These delegates included a number of postgraduate and undergraduate students, who, apart from using this as an excellent learning experience, made some significant contributions to the outcomes.

The projects considered this year were:

• Modelling the red wine cap in open vat fermenters (Beringer Blass)
• Risk Analysis in supply delivery for the Electricity market (ETSA Utilities)
• Scheduling the charging of batteries (Exide Technologies)
• Identification of future ADF vehicles and trailer fleets for project Overlander (DSTO)
• Grease recovery and dirt removal in wool scouring (GH Michell)
• Terrain induced Slugging (Santos)

Significant progress was made on all projects. Equation free summaries will be published in May with the full Proceedings available later in the year.

- David Panton, Director, MISG’2002 (University of South Australia)

IFORS 2002
8-12 July, 2002, Edinburgh
The sixteenth triennial conference of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies, hosted by the UK Operational Research Society, will be held from 8 - 12 July, 2002 at the University of Edinburgh in the centre of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland

Website: http://www.som.umd.umich.edu/ifors2002

This will be a historic conference - the first IFORS conference of the new millennium and a return by IFORS to the United Kingdom, the country that hosted the first IFORS conference and was the originator of OR as we know it. The conference will feature an eclectic mix of plenary sessions, and invited and contributed talks from practitioners and academics. We hope to have a substantial practitioner contribution, generating a strong interaction between those who have to address the real problems of industry and commerce and those who have knowledge of the techniques and methodologies of Operational Research. This conference will be at the cutting edge of research. It will not only discuss some of the problems of the new economy but also use new technology - you will be able to submit a paper and book on the web. Programme details and other information about the conference will also be provided via the web. Conference Secretariat: Chris Barrett, OR Society, barrett@orsoc.org.uk Tel: 0121 233 9300

MOPTA 02
2nd Annual McMaster Optimization Conference: Theory and Applications
August 1-3, 2002, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Website:  http://www.cas.mcmaster.ca/~mopta

The 2nd annual McMaster Optimization Conference (MOPTA 02) will be held at the campus of McMaster University. It will be hosted by the Advanced Optimization Lab at the Department of Computing and Software and is co-sponsored by the Fields Institute.

Scope: The conference aims to bring together a diverse group of people from both discrete and continuous optimization, working on both theoretical and applied aspects. We aim to bring together researchers from both the theoretical and applied communities who do not usually get the chance to interact in the framework of a medium-scale event.

Distinguished researchers will give one-hour long invited talks on topics of wide interest.

Contributed Talks: Each accepted paper will be allotted a 25 minute talk. Authors wishing to speak should submit an abstract in ASCII or LaTex source, to terlaky@mcmaster.ca

Registration information is available on the conference website.

ICOOC
August 13 - 17, 2002, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia:
International Conference on Optimization and Optimal Control   http://www-rocq.inria.fr
Website: http://www-rocq.inria.fr/adopt/mongolia2002.html

Endorsed by the Mongolian Mathematical Society, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, and Mongolian State University.

GENERAL INFORMATION

The conference will take place at the Mongolian State University and Center of Science and Culture of Mongolian Academy of Sciences located in the center of the city.

The conference aims to review and discuss the most recent advances and promising research trends in optimization and optimal control. It will also feature important applications of optimization in control, economics, finance, networks, operations research and other areas of science and engineering.

CONFERENCE THEMES: Optimization theory, methods and algorithms; Global optimization; Combinatorial optimization; Parametric optimization; Optimal control; Semidefinite programming; Applications of optimization in Engineering and Economics

PLENARY SPEAKERS: R.T. Rockafellar (USA), P. Pardalos (USA), T. Ibaraki (Japan) and O.V. Vasiliev (Russia).

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: R. Enkhbat, I. Tsevendorj, P. Pardalos

 THE CONFERENCE MAILING ADDRESS: Dr N.Tungalag, Conference Manager, P.O.BOX 46/635 Ulaanbaatar-46, Mongolia, e-mail: tungalag@ses.edu.mn

For more information please contact the organizers: R. Enkhbat (renkhbat46@yahoo.com), I. Tsevendorj (Ider.Tsevendorj@inria.fr), P. Pardalos (pardalos@cao.ise.ufl.edu). or visit the conference website.

OCA2002
August 18-22, 2002,  Tunxi City, China
The Second International Conference on Optimization and Control with Applications
Yellow Mountain International Hotel, Tunxi City, AnHui Province, China.

Website: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/~ama/events/conference/OCA2002/an1.html

Topics:
· Duality
· Financial Optimization
· Global Optimization
· Nonlinear Programming
· Optimal Control
· Software of Optimization and Control
· Stochastic Programming
· Structural Optimization
· Systems of Nonlinear Equations
· Variational Inequalities

Organizing Committee
· Directors: Liqun Qi (PolyU) and Kok Lay Teo (PolyU)
· Scientific Advisors: David Gao (USA), Lei Guo (ISS) and Xinghe Zhou (NUU)
· Local Chair:  Wenxiang Zhang (HIT)
· Program Chairs: Wenyu Sun (NNU), Shouyang Wang (ISS) and Xiaoqi Yang (PolyU)
· Treasurer:  Zhicai Xu (HIT)
· Program Secretary: Eva Yiu (PolyU) maevayiu@polyu.edu.hk

Location and Tour
The Yellow Mountains (Huangshan) is one of the most beautiful places in China and in the world.  For registered participants and accompanying persons, there is a free tour to this most beautiful place. There is an international airport at Tunxi, which is connected by flights with Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
 

JSOM 2002
September 2002, Kyoto
The Sino-Japanese Optimization Meeting (SJOM) is a conference series which aims to provide a forum for researchers from the Asia-Pacific region working in the area of optimization to gather together .

Website: http://www-optima.amp.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp/JSOM2002/ or http://vanilla.eie.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/JSOM2002/
 

TOPICS INCLUDE
 Linear and Nonlinear Optimization; Smooth and Nonsmooth Optimization; Integer and Combinatorial Optimization; Convex Optimization; Global Optimization; Network Flow; Complementarity and Variational Inequalities Problems; Semi-Definite Programming; Multiobjective Programming; Stochastic Programming; Generalized Convexity; Metaheuristics; Optimal Control; Scheduling; Data Mining Applications

ENDORSEMENT
The Second Japanese-Sino Optimization Meeting (JSOM 2002) is endorsed by The Mathematical Programming Society (MPS), The Operations Research Society of Japan (ORSJ), the Pacific Optimization Research Activity Group (POP), the Chinese Mathematical Programming Society and the Research Association of Mathematical Programming (RAMP), Japan.

LOCATION
The meeting will take place at the Rihga Royal Hotel Kyoto. The hotel is located in the south of Kyoto City and is ten minutes walk from the JR Kyoto Station.  A free shuttle bus is available from the station.

DATES AND DEADLINES

• May 31,2002: Deadline for early registration
• June 30,2002: Deadline for abstract submissions
• Evening of September 24, 2002: Registration & Reception
• September 25-27, 2002: JSOM 2002
• Evening of September 26,2002: Banquet

REGISTRATION FEE
Before May 31 After June 1
Regular-A JPY 24,000 JPY 29,000
Regular-B JPY 19,000 JPY 24,000
Student-A JPY 14,000 JPY 19,000
Student-B JPY   9,000 JPY 14,000 Regular-A and Student-A include refreshments, lunches (9/25,26,27), reception and banquet. Regular-B and Student-B include refreshments, lunches (9/25,26,27) and reception.

ORGANIZING AND PROGRAM COMMITTEE of JSOM 2002
 Masao Fukushima  (Kyoto University), Co-Chair
 Satoru Ibaraki  (Nagoya City University)
 Masakazu Kojima  (Tokyo Institute of Technology),  Co-Chair
 Kouich Taji (Osaka University)
 Keiji Tatsumi (Osaka University)
 Nobuo Yamashita (Kyoto University)

Organization Committe e-mail: jsom@amp.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp.

CALL FOR PAPERS
Papers on theoretical, computational and practical aspects of optimization are all welcome. Titles and abstracts of contributed papers must be received by June 30, 2002. (Deadline for early registration is May 31, 2002.)

PAPER SUBMISSION
Authors are invited to submit abstracts their papers by e-mail to jsom@amp.i.kyoto-u.ac.jp. Abstracts should not exceed one page and should be written in LaTeX or Word according to sample files available on the website.
With each submission, the following information should be attached:
1. Contact author's name, affiliation, mailing and e-mail addresses
2. Name of speaker
3. Submitted for organized session or not? (If yes, the session organizer's name)
4. One or two research topics most closely related to your paper (A list of topics may be found in the sample files.)

ORGANIZED SESSION CLUSTERS
Proposals of organizing session clusters on various topics are welcome. Those who are interested in organizing a cluster may contact the Organizing and Program Committee Members.

SPECIAL ISSUE
A refereed proceedings volume containing the papers presented at the meeting will be published as a special issue of the journal Optimization Methods and Software. The co-editors of the special issue will be Masao Fukushima and Ya-xiang Yuan. All papers should be submitted in electronic form (ps file) by email to Masao Fukushima ( fuku@i.kyoto-u.ac.jp ) by October 31, 2002. To prepare a manuscript, please follow the Instructions for Authors on the journal webpage.

The next SJOM conference will be held in 2005.  It is expected to be held every three years from now on.

Persons interested in organizing the next SJOM conference may contact the Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee of SJOM.
 

Industrial Optimisation Symposium and Optimisation Day
September 30-October 3, 2002, Perth.
A Symposium on Industrial Optimisation and an Optimisation Day conference will be held in Perth in September 2002. The tentative dates are:

Industrial Optimisation Symposium :  September 30th – October 2nd, 2002.

Optimisation Day :  October 3rd, 2002.

These meetings will be run through WACEIO (Western Australian Centre of Excellence in Industrial Optimisation). For more information please contac the conference director:

Professor Louis Caccetta, School of Mathematics and Statistics, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth WA 6001
Phone: (08) 9266 7234 (W)      Fax: (08) 9266 3197     E-mail: caccetta@cs.curtin.edu.au
 

OMS02
December 15 - 18, 2002, Hangzhou, China:
The first International Conference on Optimization Methods and Software (OMS 2002)

Website:  http://www.cityu.edu.hk/ma/conference/oms2002.html

Conference email address: maopt@math.cityu.edu.hk

OBJECTIVES
The conference aims to review and discuss recent advances and promising research trends in optimization theory, methods, applications and software developing.
 

TOPICS INCLUDE
 Linear and Nonlinear Optimization; Integer and Combinatorial Optimization; Convex and Nonsmooth Optimization; Global Optimization; Semi-definite Programming; Semi-infinite Programming; Multi-objective Optimization; Stochastic Optimization; Complementarity and Variational Inequality Problems; Network Optimization; Scheduling Problems; Optimal Control; Automatic Differentiation; Optimization Software

CONFERENCE VENUE
The New Building of the Center for Mathematics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

HOTEL ARRANGEMENTS
A block reservation with discount rates has been made in the Jinxi Hotel of Hangzhou.  The three-star hotel is within a walking distance to the conference venue, and is near the West Lake, one of the most beautiful places of the city.  Shuttle bus service between the hotel and the university will be available during the conference period.  More details on room reservation will be given in the second announcement.

ABOUT HANGZHOU
Hangzhou is located in the Yangtse River Delta of China, about 150 km southwest of Shanghai.  Hangzhou is the capital city of Zhejiang Province, and the population of the city is about two million.  Hangzhou is well-known for its picturesque scenery.  After touring Hangzhou, which had been the capital of China's Southern Song Dynasty, the renowned 13th century Italian traveler Marco Polo exclaimed in admiration that it was the most beautiful city in the world.  "Up in the sky there is the paradise, down on the land there are Suzhou and Hangzhou."  This is how Chinese people have described Hangzhou's fame for hundreds of years.  Each year, over 17 million tourists visit Hangzhou.  The detailed traveling information via air or train will be included in the second announcement.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Those interested in participating the conference are invited to submit abstracts of their papers by email to oms@math.zju.edu.cn.  Abstracts should not exceed one page and should be written in either LaTeX or Microsoft Word

It is preferable for the participants to submit their abstracts as an attached file, together with an email containing the following information:

1.    Contact author's name, affiliation, mailing and email address.
2.    Name of the speaker if the paper is a co-authored one.
3.    Name of the session organizer if the paper is for an organized session.
4.    One or two research topics most closely related to the paper.

SESSION ORGANIZATION
Proposals of organizing sessions on various topics are welcome and can be sent to J. Sun of the Scientific Committee by email: jsun@nus.edu.sg.  Titles and organizers of such sessions, approved by the Committee before 31 August 2002, will be published in the second announcement.

CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS
Papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in a peer-reviewed proceedings which will appear as a special issue of the journal Optimization Methods and Software.  The co-editors of the special issue are Cornelis Roos and Jian-Zhong Zhang.  All papers should be submitted in electronic form (PS, PDF or DVI file) by email to maopt@math.cityu.edu.hk by 31 January 2003.  To prepare a manuscript, please follow the "Instructions for Authors" which is available on the journal's web site:
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/g-authors/191/191-nfc.htm

DATES AND DEADLINES
Deadline for abstract submissions: 31 August 2002.
Notification of acceptance: 30 September 2002.
Release of the second announcement: 30 September 2002.
Deadline for early registration: 31 October 2002.
Deadline for hotel-booking at the special rate: 30 November 2002.

REGISTRATION FEE
Early registration fee on or before 31 October 2002: US$200.
Late registration fee: US$250.
Student registration fee: US$150.

The registration fee includes reception, banquet, working lunches, refreshments, transportation expenses and tickets for a one-day tour.
 

ICORD'2002
December 27-30, 2002, Chennai
International Conference On Operations Research For Development (ICORD 2002) & XXXV Annual Convention of ORSI, December 27 – 30, 2002, Chennai, India

Website:  http://www.annauniv.edu/orsi-chennai/

Theme: Operations Research in Emerging Technologies and Societal Transformation.

Dates and Venue: The International Conference on Operations Research for Development (ICORD 2002) under the auspices of the Operational Research Society of India (ORSI) will be held during December 27 – 30, 2002 in the College of Engineering, Guindy Campus of Anna University, Chennai (Madras), India and is jointly organized by the Chennai and Bangalore Chapters of ORSI.

Scope: The prevalence of Operations Research in the Nation’s economy reflects the growing complexity in managing large organizations that require the effective use of human & other resources, available technology and alternate solutions. Such applications play a major role in transforming the Society towards a better living.  This conference aims at bringing together the researchers and practitioners of Operations Research to a common platform to focus on current state-of-art in the relevant areas.

Call for papers: The Conference will be conducted in English and abstracts submitted for presentation must be written in English.  Persons who intend to present a paper or participate in the Conference are requested to write in the prescribed format so as to reach the Conference Secretariat by June 2002. Abstract of contributed papers are to be sent via e-mail in the format provided in the website:
http://www.annauniv.edu/orsi-chennai/

A number of distinguished speakers will deliver invited lectures on both theoretical and applied Operations Research.

Publications: All the submitted papers will be peer reviewed for publication in the Proceedings (which will be brought out after the Conference). In addition to the proceedings, a special volume of a well-known book series ' Annals of Operations Research' will be reserved for top quality papers. The presentation of the papers at the Conference is a pre-requisite for inclusion in the Conference Proceedings and consideration in the special volume.

Important Dates
Pre-registration form submission : asap
Submission of Abstract: July 15, 2002
Submission of Extended Abstract: Sept 15, 2002
Intimation of accepted of Papers : Sept 30, 2002 (for presentation)
Submission of Registration / :Oct 31, 2002
Accommodation form with

Contact details: ICORD 2002 Conference Secretariat, Industrial Engineering Division, Anna University, Chennai – 600 025, India, Phone : +91-44- 2351126 (Ext. 3189), Fax : +91-44-2350397
Email: icord2002@rediffmail.com  or   icord2002@annauniv.edu
 

ASOR’2003
The 17th National Conference of the Australian Society for Operations Research Inc., Sydney, Australia 7-11 July 2003

The 17th National Conference of Australian Society for Operations Research will be held in Sydney, as part of the 5th International Congress on Industrial and Applied Mathematics, ICIAM 2003, in Sydney, during 7-11 July 2003. The web site for ICIAM 2003: www.iciam.org

Submission deadlines
· 31 August 2002: early deadline for minisymposia proposals;
· 31 Oct 2002: normal deadline for minisymposia proposals & deadline for contributed presentations (proposals received after this date will be by poster session)
· 31 January 2003: deadline for abstract submissions: minisymposia and contributed talks & final deadline for abstract submissions to poster sessions.

Registration deadlines
· 30 Nov 2002: deadline for early-bird registration
· 31 March 2003: deadline for normal registration fee.
· 30 June 2003: deadline for late registration fee.
· 14 June 2003:  distribution of final announcement, with timetables.

Reference Number: 01/M43
Position Title: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship - Supply Chain Optimisation
Division:       Mathematical and Information Sciences
Location:       Clayton, VIC
Salary range:   $49K - $55K + superannuation
Tenure:         Specified Term 3 years