Schedule

Please check back for updates. Most recent update: 4/1/2021
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

Monday, April 12

9-9:50am	2021 Franz Edelman Competition: Alibaba
10am-12noon	Early Career Professionals’ Network (ECPN) (invite only)
10am-12:10pm	Technology Showcase
10am-10:25am	Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics Finalist Presentation: Optimal Schedules for Corn Planting and Storage
10-10:50am	2021 Franz Edelman Competition: UN World Food Programme (WFP)
10:30-10:55am	Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics Finalist Presentation: Optimizing Crop Planting Schedule Considering Planting Window and Harvesting Capacity
11am-12:15pm	Poster Sessions
11-11:50am	2021 Franz Edelman Competition: OCP
11-11:25am	Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics Finalist Presentation: A Multiobjective, Soft Constraint Solution to the 2021 Syngenta Crop Challenge
11:30-11:55am	Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics Finalist Presentation: Scheduling Planting Time through Developing an Optimization Model and Analysis of Time Series Growing Degree Units
12:30-1:30pm	Welcome: Stephen Graves, INFORMS President Greeting: Dayana Cope, Virtual 2021 INFORMS Business Analytics Conference General Chair INFORMS Roundtable Introduction, Kathy Lange Plenary: The Future of Human-Robot Interaction Dr. Kate Darling, Leading Expert in Social Robotics and MIT Media Lab Research Specialist
1:45-2:25pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Analytics Process Secrets of the Supermodelers: How to Build More Effective Models Max Henrion, Lumina Decision Systems Data Mining Big Data: Concerns and New Methods for Distribution Fitting Steven Harrod, Technical University of Denmark Decision & Risk Analysis Cooperative Decision Making with Artificially Intelligent Agents and Humans Isaac Faber, U.S. Army’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force Healthcare Harnessing Deep Reinforcement Learning to Coordinate Automated Guided Vehicles Johnny Davenport, Pathmind INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions 2020 Wagner Prize Reprise: Distribution Estimation & Efficient Optimization for Portfolio Management in Agribusiness Saurabh Bansal, The Pennsylvania State University; Genaro J. Gutierrez, The University of Texas at Austin; Mahesh Nagarajan, University of British Columbia Revenue Management & Pricing Banking on Revenue Management to Optimize Shopper Marketing Wes Chaar, Catalina Supply Chain Creating Value in B2B Supply Chains through Data and Analytics Shreyas Bhat, WESCO Technology Tutorials Combining Machine Learning and Optimization Techniques to Address the Full Lifecycle of Data Science Problems Ferenc Katai, IBM
2:40-3:20pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Analytics Process Addressing Algorithmic Bias and Ensuring Fairness in Analytical Projects Margret Bjarnadottir, University of Maryland Data Mining Data Fusion Using Kernel Based Methods Neta Rabin, Department of Industrial Engineering, Tel-Aviv University Decision & Risk Analysis Decision Analytic Principles for Data Science Leaders Brad Powley, Salesforce Healthcare From Dine-in to Takeaways – Surviving the Covid Disruption Asad Ata, Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions Game Theory for Business Paul Papayoanou, Dragonfly Revenue Management & Pricing Prescriptive Analytics in Retailing Felipe Caro, UCLA Anderson School of Management Supply Chain Supply Chain Analytics at Ford Motor Company Andrew Henry, Ford Motor Company
3:35-4:15pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Analytics Process Critical Steps in the Process for Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Ben Amaba, IBM Data Mining Building Statistical Models with Missing Data Kevin Potcner, SAS Institute, Inc. – JMP Division Decision & Risk Analysis Beyond Bigness: Problems and Solutions for Large Portfolios in Large Organizations Leslie Lippard, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Healthcare A Sentiment Analysis Dashboard of Covid-19 Tweets Sue Abdinnour, Wichita State University INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions Special Women in OR/MS Session: Embracing Worth and Value to Overcome Impostor Syndrome Jessica Dowches-Wheeler, Bright Space Couching Revenue Management & Pricing Integrating Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence into Pricing and Revenue Management Aang Daniel, Hilton Supply Chain Supply Chain Synchronization for Assembly Systems under Long and Highly Variable Supplier Lead Times Michael Prokle, Fortune Brands GPG
4:30-5:10pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Analytics Process The Art and Practice of Using Mixed Integer Programming to Optimize Computer Systems Pawel Lichocki, Google Data Mining Customizing Natural Language Processing Models for Domain-specific Entity Recognition for Geoscience Kyle Jones, Amazon Web Services Decision & Risk Analysis From Shamanism to Science — An Introduction to Factor Analysis of Information Risk Jack Jones, RiskLens Healthcare Accommodating Social Distancing in Classes through Day-of-attendance Assignment during Covid-19 at Clemson University Mary Beth Kurz, Clemson University Revenue Management & Pricing Panel: Driving Revenue and Pricing Performance in a COVID-19– driven Hospitality and Travel World Laura Calin, Oracle Hospitality; David Lopez Mateos, Pace Revenue Management; Dev Koushik, Amtrak Supply Chain Panel Discussion: Supply Chain Continuity Aaron Burciaga, ECS; Michael Prokle, Fortune Brands GPG; Andrew Henry, Ford Motor Company; Shreyas Bhat, WESCO
5:15-6:15pm	Birds of a Feather/Organized Networking
6-6:50pm	2021 Franz Edelman Competition: Lenovo Logistics
7-7:50pm	2021 Franz Edelman Competition: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
8-8:50pm	2021 Franz Edelman Competition: jd.com

Tuesday, April 13

10am-12:10pm	Technology Showcase
11am-12noon	Birds of a Feather/Organized Networking
11am-4pm	2021 Virtual Career Fair
12:30-1:30pm	Welcome to Day 2: Dayana Cope, Virtual 2021 INFORMS Business Analytics Conference General Chair Plenary: Data Science at The New York Times Chris Wiggins, Chief Data Officer, The New York Times and Professor, Columbia University
1:45-2:25pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Analytics in the Public Sector The PRECISE Uncertainty Project Sam Savage, ProbabilityManagement.org Analytics Leadership Culture Eats Analytics for Breakfast Jeremy TerBush Decision Analysis The Optimizer’s and Winner’s Curses: How Uncertainty Fools Decision-makers, Illustrated and Explained with Examples from Project Selection and Portfolio Optimization Gary Summers, Pipeline Physics LLC INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions Innovative Applications in Analytics Award Finalists (IAAA) 1:45-2:15pm Operations Research Improves Biomanufacturing Efficiency at MSD Animal Health 2:25-2:55pm Personalized Recommender System Design for an Online B2B Platform Machine Learning Optimizing Product Offers with Machine Learning and the Mixed Logit Model John Colias, Decision Analyst Parks, Recreation & Tourism Demand Data Collection and Benchmarking at Parks and Rec Kevin Roth, NRPA Supply Chain Analytics Leveraging Data to Better Facility Investment Decisions Jim Eselgroth, Definitive Logic Technology Tutorials End-to-End FICO^® Xpress Insight Tutorial: From Data to Decisions for Non-Technical Business Users Majid Bazrafshan, FICO
2:40-3:20pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Analytics in the Public Sector How to Measure Risk with Limited and Messy Data Douglas Hubbard, Hubbard Decision Research Analytics Leadership This Project Can’t Fail! …or, at Least, Probably Not Steven Escaravage, Booz Allen Hamilton Decision Analysis Telehealth Facility Location Optimization Model Deon Burchett, MITRE Corporation INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions Innovative Applications in Analytics Award Finalists (IAAA) 3:05-3:35pm Using Machine Learning to Improve Public Reporting on U.S. Government Contracts Machine Learning Deep Transfer Learning & Beyond: Applications of Transformer Language Models in Business Analytics Richard Gruetzemacher, University of Memphis Supply Chain Analytics Deep Transformation with Smart Supply Chain Digitization David Simchi-Levi, MIT Data Science Lab Technology Tutorials Building and Solving Optimization Models with SAS Rob Pratt & Ed Hughes, SAS
3:35-4:15pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Analytics in the Public Sector Advances in Process Mining John Bicknell, More Cowbell Unlimited Analytics Leadership Influencing Through Data Driven Decision Making Pooja Dewan, Otis Elevator Company Decision Analysis Quantifying the Impact of Acquisitions and Partnerships in the Computing and Communications Industries Using Network Analysis Dieter Armbruster, Arizona State University INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions Innovative Applications in Analytics Award Finalists (IAAA) 3:45-4:15pm Data-driven COVID-19 Vaccine Development for Janssen Machine Learning Deep Reinforcement Training and Machine Learning Applications for Industry 4.0: Optimization of Field Service Management and Manufacturing Operations Luigi Manca, Engineering Ingegneria Informatica Spa Parks, Recreation & Tourism Assessing “Benefit”: The Creation of Vocabulary for Green Investment Jon Bruno, The International Ecotourism Society Supply Chain Analytics Digital Twins: The Conduit for Successful Applied-OR Tools Richard Schrade, Automation Intelligence
4:30-5:10pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Analytics in the Public Sector Estimating Future Electric Vehicle Charging Demand Using Bayesian Networks Stefan Conrady, Bayesia USA and Bayesia Singapore Decision Analysis Combating Prejudice and Discrimination: Regression Modeling and Analysis for Hate Crimes Matthew Matlack, Commscope INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions Innovative Applications in Analytics Award Finalists (IAAA) 4:25-4:55pm Predictive Analytics for Detection of Metastatic Cancer 5-5:30pm Using Analytics to Understand and Improve Provider Accessibility for a State Medicaid Agency Machine Learning Improving Survey Design with Data-Driven Stratification: Predicting Fishing Likelihood with Machine Learning Models Katherine Slater, ECS Federal, LLC Supply Chain Analytics Transforming Logistics Networks with Location of Repair Analysis Robert Coleman, Systecon North America
5:30-7pm	Edelman Awards Ceremony (includes Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Prize, UPS George D. Smith Prize & INFORMS Prize)

Wednesday, April 14

9-10am	Birds of a Feather/Organized Networking
10-10:40am	Concurrent Track Sessions Emerging Analytics Data is Dirty: What AI Algorithms Actually Do and Why We Need Explainable Artificial Intelligence Robert Thomson, United States Military Academy Life Sciences Predicting and Preventing COVID-19 Outbreaks in Indoor Environments: An Agent-Based Modeling Study Mardochee Reveil, Corning Incorporated INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions UPS George D. Smith Prize Reprise, 2021 Winner Marketing Analytics Analytics in Personalized Marketing Seonah Lee, McKinsey & Company Risk Analysis Operationalising Resilience Management to Navigate Environments with High Uncertainty Hugo Herrera, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust Simulation Fueling Our Models: Generation of Probabilistic Scenarios Thomas Willemain, Smart Software, Inc. Technology Tutorials Supply Chain Optimization Using an Excel Add-on Efthalia Anagnostou, XLOPTIM
11-11:40am	Concurrent Track Sessions Emerging Analytics Adversarial Machine Learning Ananthram Swami, U.S. Army Research Laboratory Life Sciences Role of Network Analysis and Monte-Carlo Simulation in Target Profile Research in Pharmaceuticals Anshuman Panigrahi, Johnson and Johnson INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions INFORMS Prize Marketing Analytics 4 Secrets to a Happy, If Unlikely, Marriage: Wine, Data and Why It Works Cathy Huyghe, Enolytics Risk Analysis Cybersecurity Risk Spectrum Hilal Pataci, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Simulation Rapidly Developing Optimizing Simulations and Overcoming Barriers to Implementation Patricia Randall, Princeton Consultants
1-1:40pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Emerging Analytics Approaches and Open Questions in Fraud Detection: A Call to Action for the Analytics Community Arnie Greenland, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland Life Sciences Ways to Impact Patients from the Biotech/Pharma Industry Point of View: Adherence Erick Diaz Outten, Novartis INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions CAP Panel: A Certified Workforce: What Certified Analytics and AI Professionals Mean Towards Better Delivery and Eminent Ethics Aaron Burciaga, ECS; Kirk Borne, DataPrime; Rami Musa, Johnson & Johnson Marketing Analytics An Analysis of Auto-Repair Bundle Packages using Market Basket Tools Laureano Gomez, Epsilon Risk Analysis The Emerging Role of Analytics in Wildfire Management, or, “Moneyball for Fire” Matthew Thompson, USDA Forest Service Simulation Recruiting and Developing Generation Z: An Innovative Mixed-methods Approach Peter Revay, Group W Inc.
2-2:40pm	Concurrent Track Sessions Emerging Analytics Engineering Implementation of AI Principles Peter Santhanam, IBM Research Life Sciences Life Science Panel: Future of Artificial Intelligence in the Life Science Industry Tatiana Sorokina, Novartis; Fernando Schwartz, Merck; Inder Singh, Takeda; Iya Khalil, Novartis; Faisal Khan, AstraZeneca; Ranjit Kumble, Pfizer INFORMS Prizes & Special Sessions Practitioners and the INFORMS Analytics Capability Evaluation (ACE) Program Norm Reiter & Dave Saranchak, Concurrent Technologies Corporation Marketing Analytics Data Cleaning for Text Analytics Joyce Weiner, Intel Corporation Simulation Employment Application Arrival Model for Talent Acquisition Simulation and Management Thor Osborn, Sandia National Laboratories
3-4:00pm	Plenary: Edelman Reprise with Live Q&A and Closing Remarks IAAA & Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics winners will be announced.
3-5pm	Early Career Professionals’ Network (ECPN) (invite only)