Monday, Nov 23, 2009 59°F/20°C Stanford, CA
Located in the Silicon Valley, we are uniquely positioned to study high-tech firms, high-tech workers, and the role othat technology plays in the workplace. This area of research explores strategy and innovation in high-tech firms, entrepreneurship, and the interaction between technology and those who design and use it.
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Organizations, Tech. & Entrepreneurship
Firms generate new ideas, and sometimes new ideas lead to the creation of new firms. Meanwhile, workplaces are profoundly affected by new ways of doing things. This area of research studies the many intersections between innovation, commerce, and organizations.
Systems Modeling & Optimization
People engaged in such diverse tasks as deploying a mesh of environmental sensors, or trying to route merchandise from a coastal port to stores across the country, need to understand the task mathematically to succeed…optimally.
Economics & Finance
The movements of markets affect billions of people. Engineers have the mathematical and systems savvy to illuminate the deep complexity of vital but volatile financial instruments. They can model economic behavior, providing insight toward achieving market and social goals.
Decision Analysis & Risk Analysis
Decisions are part of everyday life, but so are uncertainty and its cousin, risk. People rarely can know what the outcome of an action will be, but engineering provides tools to identify the course of action most likely to succeed, and to identify how big different risks probably are.
Production & Operations
Firms ranging from manufacturers to telecommunications service providers have important operational goals that can be difficult, but essential, to achieve. In this area, faculty and students work on the design and analysis of optimal manufacturing, production, and service systems.
Probability & Stochastic Systems
If life often seems random, that’s because most aspects of it are indeed influenced by unpredictable variables. Outcomes are more or less probable, but rarely certain. Research and teaching in the department concern mathematical tools to address life in a statistical universe.
Strategy & Policy
The strategy that a government or a corporation chooses to employ can have an impact that lasts for generations. The study of the rational foundations for strategy- and policymaking is therefore crucial in society.
Information Science & Technology
Networks, most notably the Internet, are based on information theory and rapidly-advancing technology, but they are also commercial entities that are heavily influenced by individuals, communities, and governments. Management Science and Engineering brings all these considerations under one discipline.
