2010-2011

News Release

REF NO.: 62

SUBJECT: The Role of Operational Research in Transportation Planning public lecture

DATE: November 5, 2010

Transportation issues are large and complex, but operational research can offer a solution. Join Dr. Gilbert Laporte, Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management, HEC Montreal, as he presents The Role of Operational Research in Transportation Planning, on Monday, Nov. 8 at Memorial University.  
Operational research (OR) is the application of analytical techniques to the solution of complex decision-making problems. In this public lecture,
Dr. Laporte will illustrate how OR techniques can resolve transportation issues which can result in savings for industry and society. Dr. Laporte will explain how some of the most successful applications of operational research are encountered in the field of transportation including railways, trucking, maritime transportation and public transit.
“Transportation systems such as airlines and trains are so large that they can only be managed through the combined use of operational research and information technology,” explained Dr. Laporte. “Over the past decades, the application of operational techniques to the transportation industry has translated into savings in the tens of billions of dollars.”
Dr. Laporte obtained his PhD in operations research at the London School of Economics in 1975. He is professor of operations research at HEC Montréal and Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management. He has authored or co-authored 15 books, as well as more than 360 scientific articles in combinatorial optimization, mostly in the areas of vehicle routing, location and timetabling. In 2009 he was inducted as the 42nd honorary member of the INFORMS International Omega Rho Society, and received the Robert M. Herman Lifetime Achievement Award in Transportation Science from the Transportation Science and Logistics Society of INFORMS.
Hosted by Memorial’s Faculty of Business, this free public lecture begins at 7 p.m. in the Engineering Lecture Theatre, room EN-2006, S. J. Carew building on Memorial’s St. John’s campus. Parking is available in Lot 16/16A. A reception will follow.

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