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Artificial intelligence (AI) and operations research (OR) have long been intertwined because of their synergistic relationship. Given the increasing popularity of AI and machine learning in particular, we face growing demand for educational offerings in this area from our students. This paper describes two courses that introduce machine learning concepts to undergraduate, predominantly industrial engineering and operations research students. Instead of taking a methods-first approach, these courses use real-world applications to motivate, introduce, and explore these machine learning techniques and highlight meaningful overlap with operations research. Significant hands-on coding experience is used to build student proficiency with the techniques. Student feedback indicates that these courses have greatly increased student interest in machine learning and appreciation of the real-world impact that analytics can have and helped students develop practical skills that they can apply. We believe that similar application-driven courses that connect machine learning and operations research would be valuable additions to undergraduate OR curricula broadly.

Universities began operating in the present borders of Canada in 1802. As annual enrolments grew to 1,147,233 in 2012, so too did university expenditures. Government contributions to university revenues fluctuated from 62% in 1920 to 46% in 1935, reaching a high of 81% in the mid- to late 1970s, then falling to 48% in 2014. Annual university revenues increased about 275 times between 1920 and 2014 (in constant 2014 dollars), from $129.3 million to $35.5 billion. In the two centuries between 1813 and 2013, undergraduate fees (in constant 2013 dollars) increased by a factor of 24, from $236 to $5,720.

This project analyzes a long-standing school district-based leadership development program in British Columbia, Canada, and its transition to a partnership with the local university in which the students receive credit toward a graduate degree. The intent of this study was to explore the change process in leadership development from a school district-based program to a joint venture between the school district and the local university. Historical data was gathered to situate the pre-existing program. Interviews with key participants in the process of changing to program were held. Consideration of the research literature about current leadership program partnerships and a mapping to the interviews reveals this program to be in line with effective leadership development partnerships according to research findings, and highly innovative in the province of British Columbia. Future considerations are addressed.

The use of networks in public education is one of many knowledge mobilization (KMb) strategies utilized to promote evidence-based research into practice. However, challenges exist in the ability to mobilize knowledge through networks. The purpose of this paper is to explore how networks work. Data were collected from virtual discussions for an interim report for a province-wide government initiative. A secondary analysis of the data was performed. The findings present network structures and processes that partners were engaged in when building a network within education. The implications of this study show that building a network for successful outcomes is complex and metaphorically similar to finding the "sweet spot." It is challenging, but networks that used strategies to align structures and processes proved to achieve more success in mobilizing research to practice.

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of Competitive and Market Intelligence (CI/MI) Research as a potential source for improving the innovation capability of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) leading to successful new product/services/processes/capabilities development (Cooper & Edgett, 2002). This report highlights the background, methodology and findings of this study. Based on the findings, CI/MI service has the potential to contribute to enhancing a company's innovation capability by adding value at different stages of the research and development continuum, particularly at the early assessment stage as well as at a pre-commercialization stage. CI/MI research can lead to qualitative improvements in commercialization efforts. This, in turn, can contribute to a reduction in the high failure rate of new product commercialization, an ongoing problem identified at the beginning of this report.

Jeffery Baldwin died in 2002 in the care of his maternal grandparents. The case received intense media attention at various times over an almost eight-year period. Along with other public documents, the media coverage permits an analysis of the practice errors by Child Protection Services that are related to the failure to protect Jeffrey. Nine key themes emerged around core child protection practices: opening a file; the role of prior knowledge; issues related to assessment; knowing the child and their needs; the role of culture; case supervision; the child as the client; the enmeshment of child abuse; and the role of stability and healing. This analysis offers key lessons to be learned from such cases.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how a Canadian intervention based on a professional development (PD) model did or did not influence schools' capacities to absorb a Healthy School (HS) approach into their operations. This study is the second part of a research project: previously published results regarding this research provided a detailed description of the PD model and highlighted the relevance and effectiveness of PD in improving actors' HS-related knowledge and practices. The present paper focuses on the organizational impact of such PD intervention. Design/Methodology/Approach: The design was based on a realist evaluation approach, which helps to elicit a theory explaining how an intervention leads to particular outcomes. A multi-site case study of three schools with pre-(T[subscript 0]) and post-(T[subscript 1]) intervention comparison was adopted. Multiple qualitative methods were used to capture how the changes were achieved by collecting data from various stakeholders involved in the intervention. Findings: The PD model tested reinforced the schools' capacities to absorb this type of initiative. For one of the capacities examined, "exploitation", i.e., the ability to incorporate and maintain the initiative into schools operation, the evidence was less apparent. In congruence with the realist evaluation, the results are rendered in the form of a contextualized intervention theory identifying the links between the PD and the mechanisms that were likely necessary to explain what led to the changes in "absorptive" capacities (which refers to the capabilities of schools to acquire and assimilate HS knowledge, and also to transform and exploit them, in the context). Originality/Value: The refined theory, based on empirical findings, can enable facilitators and practitioners to gain a deeper understanding of the action mechanisms shown to be determining in the success of HS implementation.

In Canada, in-depth evaluations of federal programs are intended to occur every 5 years. As such, evaluation is a periodic retrospective (lag) indicator examining results achieved versus program objectives. In a Canadian context, stand-alone evaluations have proved challenging to implement, time consuming, and not well adapted to annual management accountability needs. Consequently, there are important benefits from developing parallel ongoing operational performance measurements, complementing periodic evaluations as an integrated system. With links to program evaluations, ongoing performance feedback can include predictive (lead) indicators of progress, through operational linkages to a program's intended long-term outcomes. The present case study examines program efficiency concerns demonstrating lead indicators as an "early warning system"--targeting problem areas, producing speedier program adjustments (including accountability and efficiency improvements) and also demonstrating potential to increase quality, timeliness, and usefulness of longer term in-depth evaluations. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

Patient scheduling is a difficult task involving stochastic factors, such as the unknown arrival times of patients. Similarly, the scheduling of radiotherapy for cancer treatments needs to handle patients with different urgency levels when allocating resources. High-priority patients may arrive at any time, and there must be resources available to accommodate them. A common solution is to reserve a flat percentage of treatment capacity for emergency patients. However, this solution can result in overdue treatments for urgent patients, a failure to fully exploit treatment capacity, and delayed treatments for low-priority patients. This problem is especially severe in large and crowded hospitals. In this paper, we propose a prediction-based approach for online dynamic radiotherapy scheduling that dynamically adapts the present scheduling decision based on each incoming patient and the current allocation of resources. Our approach is based on a regression model trained to recognize the links between patients' arrival patterns and their ideal waiting time in optimal off-line solutions when all future arrivals are known in advance. When our prediction-based approach is compared with flat-reservation policies, it does a better job of preventing overdue treatments for emergency patients and also maintains comparable waiting times for the other patients. We also demonstrate how our proposed approach supports explainability and interpretability in scheduling decisions using Shapley additive explanation values. History: Accepted by Erwin Pesch, Area Editor for Heuristic Search & Approximation Algorithms. Funding: Mitacs Accélération IT26995 and Canada Research Chair in Analytics and Logistics in Healthcare (HANALOG). Supplemental Material: The software that supports the findings of this study is available within the paper and its Supplemental Information (https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/suppl/10.1287/ijoc.2023.1289) as well as from the IJOC GitHub software repository (https://github.com/INFORMSJoC/2021.0342) at (http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7579533). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the current literature regarding nurse scheduling and physician scheduling in Canada is reviewed. Staff scheduling is a vital aspect of healthcare which has immediate positive benefits when optimized. It is also a very complex optimization problem, often involving conflicts, human evaluation and time constraints. Four categories of problems are reviewed: staff scheduling, physician scheduling, operating room scheduling, and outpatient scheduling, each focusing on a different aspect of resource scheduling and involving unique considerations. Numerous different heuristics and algorithms have been implemented and tested in dozens of hospitals across Canada with nearly universal positive results. Despite the obvious benefits, continued implementations of the optimization software is uncommon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In "Operations Research: Topics, Impact and Trends from 1952–2019," A. Calma, W. Ho, L. Shao, and H. Li retrospectively look at 68 years of publication of the Operations Research. Using 5,440 journal articles, they highlight the top contributing countries and authors and top research methods and problems investigated. Mathematical programming is the most common research method, whereas inventory is the most investigated problem. Investigations related to pricing are growing significantly. The United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom publish the most papers, with the United States and Canada having similar publication profiles per capita. Inventory is the most popular research problem studied by North American, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries, whereas European countries focus on scheduling problems. Network visualizations of the journal's last 10 years show dynamic programming as the most used method and pricing as the most studied problem. Coauthor networks on collaborations on both dynamic programming and pricing are also shown. This paper is a retrospective look at 68 years of publication output of Operations Research, revealing changes in its publications, its authors, and their impact over time and how these changes might affect researchers and practitioners in the present. A total of 5,440 journal articles from its inception in 1952 to 2019 are used. The analysis initially focuses on the most studied topics and then continues with the top research methods and research problems investigated. The top contributing countries and authors to the most investigated research problems are also studied. The results indicate that mathematical programming is the most common research method, whereas inventory is the most investigated problem. However, investigations related to pricing are growing significantly. The United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom publish the most papers, with the United States and Canada having similar publication profiles per capita. Inventory is the most popular research problem studied by North American, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries, whereas European countries focus on scheduling problems. In order to understand the latest research trend, we visualize the networks of the last 10 years of Operations Research that show dynamic programming as the most used method and pricing as the most studied problem. We further visualize the coauthor networks on both dynamic programming and pricing to identify the most significant clusters of researchers and the topics these research clusters collaborate on. Finally, we provide researchers information about where Operations Research is and where it is likely heading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne laser scanning (ALS) has emerged as a technology capable of generating descriptors of vegetation structure and best available terrain information. Research and operational implementations of ALS data have highlighted their value for characterizing forest structure and generating spatially explicit and objective spatial coverages and mapping products for forest management. Continued emphasis to enhance forest stewardship is promoting novel methods to integrate ALS to detail non-timber ecosystem values like habitat, soil, and water. Standardized criteria and indicator frameworks such as the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers provide a reliable starting point for where ALS has opportunities to characterize ecosystems objectively regardless of location. In this review of primarily Canadian work, we highlight how ALS is becoming an increasingly viable technology for deriving meaningful indicators to meet sustainable forest management criteria. We review and highlight the value of ALS for quantifying indicators of biological diversity, ecosystem condition and productivity, soil and water, and the role of forests in global ecological cycles. We conclude by highlighting the need for increased education, tech transfer, flexible software, and reporting frameworks alongside five key considerations for using ALS to derive meaningful indicators of sustainable forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Water Resources Journal / Revue Canadienne des Ressources Hydriques is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The unconditioned data retrieved from accumulating automated weighing precipitation gauges are inherently noisy due to the sensitivity of the instruments to mechanical and electrical interference. This noise, combined with diurnal oscillations and signal drift from evaporation of the bucket contents, can make accurate precipitation estimates challenging. Relative to rainfall, errors in the measurement of solid precipitation are exacerbated because the lower accumulation rates are more impacted by measurement noise. Precipitation gauge measurement post-processing techniques are used by Environment and Climate Change Canada in research and operational monitoring to filter cumulative precipitation time series derived from high-frequency, bucket-weight measurements. Four techniques are described and tested here: (1) the operational 15 min filter (O15), (2) the neutral aggregating filter (NAF), (3) the supervised neutral aggregating filter (NAF-S), and (4) the segmented neutral aggregating filter (NAF-SEG). Inherent biases and errors in the first two post-processing techniques have revealed the need for a robust automated method to derive an accurate noise-free precipitation time series from the raw bucket-weight measurements. The method must be capable of removing random noise, diurnal oscillations, and evaporative (negative) drift from the raw data. This evaluation primarily focuses on cold-season (October to April) accumulating automated weighing precipitation gauge data at 1 min resolution from two sources: a control (pre-processed time series) with added synthetic noise and drift and raw (minimally processed) data from several WMO Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (SPICE) sites. Evaluation against the control with synthetic noise shows the effectiveness of the NAF-SEG technique, recovering 99 %, 100 %, and 102 % of the control total precipitation for low-, medium-, and high-noise scenarios respectively for the cold-season (October–April) and 97 % of the control total precipitation for all noise scenarios in the warm season (May–September). Among the filters, the fully automated NAF-SEG produced the highest correlation coefficients and lowest root-mean-square error (RMSE) for all synthetic noise levels, with comparable performance to the supervised and manually intensive NAF-S method. Compared to the O15 method in cold-season testing, NAF-SEG shows a lower bias in 37 of 44 real-world test cases, a similar bias in 5 cases, and a higher bias in 2 cases. In warm-season testing, the NAF-SEG bias was lower or similar in 7 of 11 cases. The results indicate that the NAF-SEG post-processing technique provides substantial improvement over current automated techniques, reducing both uncertainty and bias in accumulating-gauge measurements of precipitation, with a 24 h latency. Because it cannot be implemented in real time, we recommend that NAF-SEG be used in combination with a simple real-time filter, such as the O15 or similar filter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Field measurements of operational plantations and research plots demonstrate that growth rates of exotic larches in unmanaged stands can exceed 12 m3 per hectare per year in Maine and elsewhere. This paper briefly reviews the recent history of exotic larch (Larix decidua , L. kaempferi , and L. × marschlinsii) in northeastern United States and Canada. Stands can be commercially thinned as early as 15 years; further thinnings add to significant volume accumulation, based on stand table projections. Genetic development of the hybrid (L. × marschlinsii) could yield additional volume. Even at current low stumpage values, exotic larch plantations offer positive returns at realistic discount rates. In map form, we report a current inventory of known trials and operational plantings across the Northern United States, including adjacent Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine oil spill response is a time sensitive and complex task, in which the management of oily wastewater generated from response operations could be a bottleneck limiting the response capacity and efficiency. This study developed a multi-agent decision support system to effectively coordinate mechanical containment and recovery (MCR) of spilt oil and oily wastewater management (OWM) operations. The system aims to minimize the overall response time, cost, and the volume of weathered oil by applying evolutionary optimization, oil weathering process, and response operational agents. The multi-agent system was used to manage an incident through a hypothetical case study in Canada. The system enables the scheduling of available response assets considering all complex operational details of MCR and OWM, such as available oily wastewater storage and transportation capacities and the competitive skimming process of various response vessels. Implementing the evolutionary multi-objective optimization led to a considerable reduction in response time (about 13.6% or 67 hr), cost (about 1.4% or CA$24,800), and volume of weathered oil (about 9.2% or 19 m3) compared to the shortest distance approach. The developed multi-agent system can facilitate decision-making in complex marine oil spill response tasks for maximizing response efficiency. [Display omitted] • A decision support system is developed for effective marine oil spill management. • Oil spill response and oily waste management operations were optimized together. • Overall response time and cost, as well as volume of weathered oil were minimized. • The multi-agent system was tested on a comprehensive case study in Western Canada. • Multi-objective optimization approaches outperformed shortest distance model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel algorithm reduces statistical errors in the correlation function matrix. • The new correlation function matrix improves the identification of modal parameters. • Statistical errors in the correlation function matrix are system and time dependent. • The statistical errors create an erratic behavior in the tail region matrix. In operational modal analysis, the correlation function matrix is treated as multiple free decays from which system parameters are extracted. The finite time length of the measured system response, however, introduces statistical errors into the estimated correlation function matrix. These errors cause both random and bias errors that transfer to an identification process of the modal parameters. The bias error is located on the envelope of the modal correlation functions, thus violating the assumption that the correlation function matrix contains multiple free decays. Therefore, the bias error transmits to the damping estimates in operational modal analysis. In this paper, we show an automated algorithm that reduces the bias error caused by the statistical errors. This algorithm identifies erratic behaviour in the tail region of the modal correlation function and reduces this noise tail. The algorithm is tested on a simulation case and experimental data of the Heritage Court Building, Canada. Based on these studies, the algorithm reduces bias error and uncertainty on the damping estimates and increases stability in the identification process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research laboratory is an important place for scientific research and personnel training in universities, and is based on the discipline construction and has the characteristics of subject advantages. It is also a main place for scientific research activities. The research laboratory is different from the public teaching laboratory. In general, it is highly specialized. The researchers are mobile, and the research task is complex and diverse. Through in-depth investigation of the same types of laboratories in Mcmaster University in Canada, Several specific measures are put forward, such as article claims to team leading, task oriented way, setting up a management tree structure, integrating resources based on the research subject unit, optimizing personnel and spatial layout, attaching importance to the examination and approval and the procedure of training, and strengthening management and sharing of professional instruments and equipment. At the same time, it should Improve the construction of the basic information of laboratory. In this way, we can standardize the daily operation mode of the research lab, perfect the resource utilization efficiency and achieve the goal of teamwork development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues: Drug consumptions rooms (DCR) and supervised injecting facilities (SIF) are expanding internationally. Previous reviews have not systematically addressed evaluation methodologies.Approach: Results from systematic searches of scientific databases in English until June 2017 were coded for paper type, country and year of publication. For evaluation papers, study outcome, methodology/study design and main indicators of DCR/SIF 'exposure' were recorded.Key Findings: Two hundred and nineteen eligible peer-reviewed papers were published since 1999: the majority from Canada (n = 117 papers), Europe (n = 36) and Australia (n = 32). Fifty-six papers reported evaluation outcomes. Ecological study designs (n = 10) were used to assess the impact on overdose, public nuisance and crime; modelling techniques (n = 6) estimated impact on blood-borne diseases, overdose deaths and costs. Papers using individual-level data included four prospective cohorts (n = 28), cross-sectional surveys (n = 7) and service records (n = 5). Individual-level data were used to assess safer injecting practice, uptake into health and social services and all the other above outcomes except for impact on crime and costs. Four different indicators of DCR/SIF attendance were used to measure service 'exposure'.Implications: Research around DCRs/SIFs has used ecological, modelling, cross-sectional and cohort study designs. Further research could involve systematic inclusion of a control group of people who are eligible but do not access SIFs, validation of self-reported proportion of injections at SIFs or a stepped-wedge or a cluster trial comparing localities.Conclusions: Methodologies appropriate for DCR/SIF evaluation have been established and can be readily replicated from the existing literature. Research on operational aspects, implementation and transferability is also warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we introduce an analytical framework based on discrete Likelihood Maximization techniques that provides estimates of operational level data of Queuing models and Transportation networks based on snapshots of data on movements of commodities in a network. We apply our methodology to detailed data on movements of containers imported from S.E. Asian ports to marine ports on the west coast of Canada, unloaded at these ports, moved to rail cars, and transported by rail to destinations in U.S. and Canada. We show how one can estimate operational level parameters such as the number of servers at the ports, schedules of departure and capacity of trains, and even speed of trains based on only snapshots of container movements in the network. Subsequently, we were able to calibrate the entire inter-continental transportation network, were able to identify the sources of variability in the network and were able to measure the reliability of the network to shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the 40-year experience of academia-industry interfacing in the operations research (OR) field in Montréal. We focus on five spin off companies that academic entrepreneurs from the CIRRELT and the GERAD created between 1976 and 2003: INRO Consultants, GIRO, AD OPT, Omega Optimisation/Planora, and ExPretio. The importance of university spin offs for knowledge transfer is well documented in fields such as biology and nanotechnology; however, few papers have studied university spin offs in OR. Yet, OR has an enormous impact on society, and university spin off firms play a key role in the diffusion of research to the world of practitioners. In this paper, we tell the story of five companies created by academics from two world-renowned OR research centers based in Montréal, and we derive lessons about academia-industry interfacing in the OR field. By so doing, we hope to improve our understanding of the creation of fruitful relationships between academics and OR practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OR methodology is applied to the contemporary concern of modelling language group interaction, with a view to language planning. The change in size of two unilingual language groups, and of a third bilingual population mediating the interaction of these, is modelled using system dynamics. The model is one of highest possible endogeneity, with the minimum of external intervention in modelling runs. The model is applied to the instances of modern Canada excluding Quebec, Quebec, all Canada and Wales, and conclusions drawn regarding the use of the model in determining language planning initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the author's personal view of the evolution of Operational Research since its military and scientific origins to the present day. It highlights some important milestones of its development, with an emphasis on Canadian contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights some of the main Canadian contributions to the field of location analysis. Each of the main fields of inquiry is first introduced either formally or informally. Then the contributions are briefly summarized and put into context. A critical evaluation of the contributions and a glimpse at present and potential future activities concludes the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Operational Research Society, we reviewed queueing applications by Canadian researchers and practitioners. We concentrated on finding real applications, but also considered theoretical contributions to applied areas that have been developed by the authors based on real applications. There were a surprising number of applications, many not well documented. Thus, this paper features examples of queueing theory applications over a spectrum of areas, years and types. One conclusion is that some of the successful queueing applications were achieved and ameliorated by using simple principles gained from studying queues and not by complex mathematical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the area burned by forest fires in Canada is due to the few fires that escape initial attack and become large. We developed a discrete event simulation model of the growth and suppression of large fires in the province of Ontario. Based on fire, weather and suppression data from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, our model includes a logistic regression component to predict the probability that a fire will escape initial attack and burn more than 100 ha, a component that simulates the growth of large fires based on weather and forest vegetation, and a component that simulates fire suppression by firefighters and aircraft. We used our model to predict area burned under mild and severe weather with varying levels of fire suppression resources. We found that, although severe weather limits fire suppression effectiveness, suppression has a significant effect on area burned even during severe fire seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wait times for medical procedures in Canada are universally thought to be too long, particularly for elective procedures. In this paper we point out the conceptual and practical difficulties surrounding wait list management in Canada. We suggest that while waits need to exist as a distributive allocation policy, the data to make informed decisions about wait times and their impact on patient care is absent. We also show that current wait list initiatives lack an underlying conceptual model of why waits occur. The paper concludes with a discussion of why operational research (OR) models are not in greater use for wait list management and suggest a program of research to improve knowledge uptake for OR models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the history of operations research (OR). Development of a system of air defense; Recognition of the value of OR work by the Canadian armed services in year 1942; Problem areas addressed by the OR groups during the war.

• To develop a unique stochastic DEA model to evaluate the efficiency of universities. • To utilize real data and to apply the model for universities in Ontario, Canada. • To identify inputs and outputs of the model, collect, and analyze the related data. • To provide discussions and managerial insights based on the results. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a popular operations research technique for determining the relative efficiency of organizations. The main goal of this study is to develop a unique stochastic DEA model to evaluate the efficiency of Ontario universities in Canada based on two inputs (i.e., Expenditures and Number of Academic Staff) and four outputs (i.e., Tri-council Grants, Student's Satisfaction Level, Enrolment (number of students), and Number of Publications). The satisfaction level is a unique parameter that has not previously been applied in this field. This study focuses on the stochastic model because of its ability to handle uncertainty in the parameters of the optimization model. Real data are utilized and applied in this research. Three types of universities are investigated including medical/doctoral universities, comprehensive universities, and primarily undergraduate universities. According to the results, there is some room for improvement of the efficiency in Ontario universities. Furthermore, the results of this study show that the selection of inputs and outputs plays a crucial role in determining the ranks of universities using DEA. The results also are discussed with details for each category. For instance, increasing the number of publications is a prominent factor to rise the efficiency scores of undergraduate universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grant Gisel has been president and CEO of Sierra Systems Consultants Inc. since 1973, shortly after he and a partner purchased the company. In 1998, Sierra Systems ranked in the top ten of Canada's 100 information technology service companies, according to a recent Financial Post survey. The firm provides information technology consulting services for administrative and operational systems, and has partnerships with vendors of mainstream applications including PeopleSoft, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, Netscape, and Sun Microsystems. Sierra works with these vendors' service staffs to implement financial, human resources, and other information systems for clients including PageNet, Cessna Aircraft, Algoma Steel, and government agencies. Sierra has offices in major cities throughout Canada and the United States. Mr. Gisel is active in the computing community as a past director of the Data Processing Management Association and past president of the Canadian Information Processing Society. He has also served as the director of the Information Technology Association of Canada, and chairman of the British Columbia Advanced Systems Institute. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba. In this interview, he discusses the importance of high technology alliances as an integral part of Sierra Systems' strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses an endogenous segmentation approach to model mode choice. This approach jointly determines the number of market segments in the travel population, assigns individuals probabilistically to each segment, and develops a distinct mode choice model for each segment group. The author proposes a stable and effective hybrid estimation approach for the endogenous segmentation model that combines an Expectation-Maximization algorithm with standard likelihood maximization routines. If access to general maximum-likelihood software is not available, the multinomial-logit based Expectation-Maximization algorithm can be used in isolation. The endogenous segmentation model, and other commonly used models in the travel demand field to capture systematic heterogeneity, are estimated using a Canadian intercity mode choice dataset. The results show that the endogenous segmentation model fits the data best and provides intuitively more reasonable results compared to the other approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the operating aspects of the materiel traffic system (MTS) of the Canadian Forces (CF). In support of the National Materiel Distribution System (NMDS), the Operational Research and Analysis Establishment within the Department of National Defense was asked to examine the operating aspects of the MTS of the Canadian Forces to ascertain whether the system met the approved system objectives, namely to deliver material safely, on time, and at least cost to its destination. The NMDS study was to consider CF material distribution in its full national context. A random sample of the traffic activity in the western region of Canada was chosen as the basis for a special data collection survey and the collected data was analyzed to establish the effectiveness and efficiency of the traffic movement. The results show that minimum of 40 percent (95 percent confident) of the MTS commercial shipments are delivered at least six days earlier than their assigned due dates by means of transport of low cost efficiency. On the other hand, at least 86 percent of MTS shipments are either delivered six days earlier than the due date or employed transport modes of low cost efficiency. Clearly, some scope exists for improving the cost efficiency of commercial shipments without reducing the current levels of effectiveness. However, within the MTS, opportunities for improvement are restricted by geographical and physical factors.

The article presents a commentary on the mathematical errors made in discussing about risk assessment and marketing. It analyzes the bias in computing for the chance that a given Air Canada flight will end catastrophically and finds error concerning the purchase of cat food. Perhaps the broader difficulty is that one often faces optimization problems without consciously realizing it. Buying a small box with a coupon increases the number of purchases that must be made without any discount. Hence the overall price per ounce actually goes up, except of course when the number of coupons approaches the number of boxes needed. For any enterprise viewed as potentially hazardous--whether it involves nuclear power plants, liquid natural gas tankers, or a new, low-fare airline--attention will be paid when the first accident strikes to the number of operations until the disaster. It will be most tempting to use the reciprocal of that quantity as an estimate of the future rate of accidents. Over time, the observed ratio of accidents to flights will oscillate randomly around P: it will jump up just after a crash, gradually diminish as succeeding months pass without incident, and then jump up again at the time of the next accident.

This paper reviews the experience of 174 of Canada's largest 1500 public and private sector corporations which have begun to incorporate sustainable development management and reporting as part of their operations. Answers are provided to three main questions: Why have they implemented this initiative? What progress has been made in terms of sustainability audit practice -- frequency, focus, organization of the audit team --, internal communication, and external reporting? And where has, and will the leadership for the sustainability audit movement come from as why? Sustainable development auditing and reporting in Canada is voluntary. Practice varies from an elementary level to a sophisticated integrated assessment of social, environmental, labour, sourcing and trading, and governance issues. The depth of practice and experience in this area depends on several factors, including: corporate commitment, the degree of public perception of sector-wide environmental issues, exposure to legal liability, and the extent of dialogue and transparency associated with the auditing process. Differences of opinion about accounting and auditing standards as well as whether all, or parts of, audits should be independent are explored. The sources of data used for this paper include the EthicScan Corporate 1500 DataBase, The Corporate Ethics Monitor, various reports prepared by EthicScan Canada, and the consultancies of both authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of INFOR is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of INFOR is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The authors have examined the issue of professionalism as it relates to CORS. They have identified the underlying factors leading to the creation of professional bodies and have considered each of these in relation to CORS. They conclude by recommending that CORS adopt a posture slightly inclined towards greater professionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, search and rescue procedures for crashed aircraft in the Canadian north attempt to use some quantitative data in a qualitative manner. The goat of this paper is to use search theory to improve the strategies and tactics of these search missions. The paper gives a mathematical model of decision-making for search based on existing data and statistics that can be obtained empirically. The model is a resource allocation problem (the scarce resource is time) and is constructed by the juxtaposition of two formulations originally given by Koopman. The model can be used to simulate the mix of aircraft used in a search mission and to simulate the impact of new equipment on search costs and strategies. The model can also serve as a foundation for the consideration of search as a co-operative process where survivors can take positive action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is agreed that the formulation of a policy aimed at increasing the effectiveness of research in Canada is a useful activity. Unfortunately, the "Senate Report" neglects the technology available to help in policy formulation, it is too arbitrary, and goes too far in terms of organization and policy statements for the initial report. The technology available includes systems science and operational research or management science, R & D management, and organizational behaviour, which have made useful contributions to policy formulation. In addition to this, there is an implicit assumption in the report that the policy makers know how research is created and implemented and hence on how this can be influenced. It is not believed that enough evidence is available on how the scientific community works to support the formulation of such an extensive policy at the present time. The assignment of a target to spend 2.5 per cent of GNP on research is an expenditure target which is easy to achieve simply by spending money. Similarly, the target to limit spending on basic research to 10 per cent of total research expenditure can be achieved (providing basic research can be identified). It would have been better to have undertaken research on the nature of science for purposes of establishing suitable research goals and from that determine the necessary expenditure. Many organizational arrangements are recommended in the report to further develop and implement science policy. Terms of reference such as evaluate, appraise, forecast, and select are used. There is considered to be far too much organization recommended in view of the lack of procedures to enable the terms of reference to be satisfied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on visits to 24 national operations-research societies (two in Germany) and to operations researchers in ten other countries. It considers each visit to a society specific-ally, plus some of the visits in countries not having societies. My purpose was to promote closer relations between the OPERATIONS RESEARCH SOCIETY OF AMERICA and operations researchers of other countries. The first visits were made during July-August of 1967,in conjunction with the Operations Research Around-the-World Meetings. Canada was visited in November, Central and South America in December-January, and the remaining countries in Europe during March-April of 1968. These visits included all of the world's major operations-research societies, and some others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents updates concerning the field of operations research as of 1960. The Seventh International Meeting of the Institute of Management Sciences will be held in New York City from October 19 to 22. The Argentine Operations Research Society had elected officers of its directing council. The Operations Research Association of Bangalore held its Third Annual General Meeting in Bangalore, India in February 27. The Canadian Operations Research Society has elected D. B. DeLury as president.

The article presents updates concerning the field of operations research as of 1959. The Operations Research Society of America is one of the three original members of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies. The first annual meeting of the Canadian Operational Research Society will be held in Toronto, Ontario from May 7 to 8. The Philadelphia Section of the Operations Research Society of America has elected Franklin H. Fowler, Jr. as chairman and Robert Mirsky as vice chairman.