UF ISE Attends 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Seattle

Students, faculty and staff from the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISE) at the University of Florida made a trip to the Pacific Northwest in October to attend the 2024 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Annual Meeting at the Seattle Convention Center. The department had a range of representation, which included an exhibit booth showcasing the department and its graduate programs, student and faculty research presentations, and a co-hosted reception alongside a handful of various universities. 

“The INFORMS Annual Meeting is the most important large-scale venue for students and faculty in the discipline of operations research and data analytics,” said Aleksandr Kazachkov, Ph.D., ISE assistant professor and faculty advisor for the INFORMS UF Student Chapter. “It offers opportunities to efficiently communicate research findings to a wide audience, meet collaborators to start or progress projects, learn about the latest research and trends through technical talks, affect the future of the field through important society business meetings, connect with companies that can highlight the latest methodological areas that can benefit from research, and attend mentoring sessions for faculty with funding agency representatives and by students with future employers.”

At the exhibit booth, the department hosted a Tetris 99 challenge as a way to engage attendees on the topic of operations research. Over three days, participants battled for the high score and the grand prize of a UF ISE pickleball set. This gave the department the opportunity to showcase the Center for Applied Optimization (CAO) to a broad audience, requiring them to answer a question about the center before playing. The Tetris 99 winner was Chrysafis Vogiatzis, Ph.D., a teaching associate professor in the Department of Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a UF ISE alumni.

“Seeing that Chrysafis was our winner and that he earned two degrees with our department was exciting,” said Iris V. Rivero, Ph.D., department chair and the Paul and Heidi Brown Preeminent Chair in Industrial and Systems Engineering. “It showcases the reach UF ISE has around the country, and it turned out to be a fun way for him to represent his alma mater all the way in Illinois.”

In addition to networking at the exhibit hall, INFORMS allows students, faculty and others who are interested to present their research in various sessions. The theme for this year’s annual meeting was “smarter decisions for a better world,” which presenters were to incorporate into their research projects.

“Presenting at the INFORMS Annual Meeting provided a valuable platform to share my research with experts in the field and receive insightful feedback,” said Connor Johnston, doctoral student in ISE and president of the INFORMS Student Chapter at UF. “For Ph.D. students, presenting at a large conference like the INFORMS Annual Meeting is important because it offers exposure to cutting-edge research, networking opportunities with industry professionals, and the chance to refine communication skills. It’s an invaluable step in our academic and professional development.”

During the second day of the conference, the department co-hosted a networking reception at the Hyatt Regency hotel with eight other universities. The reception encouraged collaboration with peers from other universities and allowed former faculty members and alumni to reconnect.

“The turnout for the reception was great, and I enjoyed connecting with colleagues and alumni,” Rivero said. “Receptions like these are a great way to network in a casual environment and they give us all a chance to reconnect with friends and peers at other institutions and industries. Some notable connections included former UF ISE assistant professor Xiaochen Xian, Ph.D., who is now at Georgia Tech, and former department chair and Dean’s Leadership Professor David Kaber, Ph.D., who is now at Oregon State.”

To view a photo album from the annual meeting, click here.


Brady Budke
Marketing and Communications Specialist
Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering