Executive Council Meeting

Date: January 31, 2002

Location: Nuts and Mud

Convened: 4:15 p.m.

Brown Bag Research Talks

This talk series is apparently attracting much attention, including some from students in the GSB. Future speakers will be scheduled on the first and third Thursdays of every month, and those interested in presenting should talk to Ozlem Yuksel. Ozlem is in charge of finding speakers, fixing the dates, and acquiring abstracts and titles. She will then give this information to Ting, so Ting can send out an email announcement and post flyers the Monday before each talk. A permanent poster display showing an upcoming speaker schedule and the abstract for the next talk may also be constructed.

Faculty Lunches

Dalerie has scheduled a lunch with Tom Byers on February 25 and plans to recruit another faculty member for either earlier in February or in March. For future lunches, the names and information of the attendees will be given to the faculty member in advance. We also hope to better document the lunches with photographs of each event. Faculty members interested in hosting a free lunch at the faculty club for undergraduates should contact Dalerie Wu.

Mentoring Program

Brandon and Ozlem still need to meet to hash out the details of the program. We have a small number of people who have already expressed interest in the program. We will need to see that these individuals are still interested and match them up, sending out an email to the mentor first. Then, we discussed having a small pizza or sushi party to have people meet each other. Interaction between mentors and mentorees would be informal after this.

Web Site Design

The Stanford INFORMS website now has updated pages for Members and for Events, including pages for the Brown Bag Research Talk Series and for the upcoming Pacific Regional Intercollegiate Symposium in the Management Sciences. Those interested in details can visit http://www.stanford.edu/group/informs

Pacific Region Intercollegiate Symposium in the Management Sciences (PRISMS)

On Saturday, March 2nd, we will be hosting the first PRISMS, drawing undergraduate and graduate students from Stanford, Berkeley, Naval Postgraduate School, Santa Clara University, and perhaps other Bay Area institutions. The event, taking place at and around Thornton, will be one half day beginning at NOON and ending after a pizza dinner and social that will begin at 5:30. Registration fees will be $3 in advance and $5 on the day of the symposium. Activities will include:

I- Student Presentation Competition

Intended primarily for graduate students, up to 16 students from the participating schools will present 12 minute talks on their research projects, with an extra 3 minutes for questions and discussion. Sessions will be open, and all symposium attendees are invited to glimpse the research being conducted by their colleagues at other Bay Area institutions. Participants will be competing for prizes, with a first place award of $200 plus free registration at the 2002 INFORMS conference in San Jose. Those interested should visit the Stanford INFORMS website to see the Call for Abstracts.

II- Case Study Competition

Intended primarily for undergraduate students, up to six 4-person teams from participating schools will be provided with a copy of the same case study, a set number of transparencies, and transparency pens. After departing to their assigned breakout rooms, teams will then have two hours to review the case and prepare their presentations. The original case will involve a web-based start-up company. The presentations will be open, and all conference attendees will be invited to hear the solution strategies proposed by the various teams. Teams will be competing for prizes, with a first place team award of $400. Those interested should visit the Stanford INFORMS website to see the Call for Teams.

III- Poster Competition

Students are invited to display their projects or research topics on a poster, which will be setup in the breezeway between Thornton 102 and Thornton 110 (easel provided). Symposium attendees will have the opportunity to view the research interests of their colleagues at other Bay Area institutions and ask questions. The displays will be judged, and participants will be competing for prizes, with a first place away of $150. Those interested in participating should visit the Stanford INFORMS website to see the Call for Poster Abstracts.

IV- Speakers

Symposium attendees are invited to hear an academic talk to be given by a world-renowned academic in the management sciences. We will also be hosting an academic discussion panel, with a topic yet to be determined. Harlan Crowder, principal scientist from HP Labs, will be giving our keynote address after the competition presentations.

V- Other activities

Those attending the symposium will be able to join us for an informal box lunch, coffee and cookies between sessions, and a pizza dinner after the presentation of awards. All are excellent opportunities to meet and socialize with other Bay Area students interested in operations research and the management sciences.