Operations research was born in the same incubator as computer science, and it has spawned many new disciplines, such as systems engineering. Although people from many disciplines routinely use OR, we are still in a state of affairs where scientific researchers, engineers, and others do not understand basic OR tools and how these tools can help them.
Disciplines ranging from finance to bioengineering are the beneficiaries of what we do--we take an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving. Our strengths are modeling, analysis and algorithm design. We provide a quantitative foundation for a broad spectrum, from economics to medicine, from environmental control to sports, from e-commerce to computational geometry. We are both producers and consumers because the mainstream of OR is in the interfaces.
Our theme looks at the past for inspiration but also looks at the present and the future to see how to use our strengths to become involved in critical development in science, business and society, where OR has not yet become a watchword. We believe that OR people should pour more energy into reaching and educating the engineers and chemists and biologists and pysicists about what we can do for them.
The conference program will reflect the belief that our roots make OR a means for creating and enhancing science and technology. We invite you to know the OR profession in its breadth and depth, in its decades of service to science and society, in its future of bringing excellence to our world.
Manuel Laguna
General Chair |
