Resoundingly Human

Plastic pollution is a complex and growing global issue, with millions of tons of plastic waste reaching our oceans each year, killing thousands of seabirds, turtles, seals and other marine mammals. However new research has identified an approach to removing, recycling and reutilizing plastic that not only has a positive impact on the environment, but can also benefit communities in need in developing countries. Joining me to discuss how supply chain and block chain technology are being leveraged in innovative new ways to address the issue of plastic pollution is Opher Baron with the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management.

Cardiovascular disease, a term for a number of disorders of the heart and blood vessels, is a serious and steadily growing threat to global health, causing even more deaths every year than cancer. In the U.S. alone, nearly 660,000 people, or 1 in 4, die of heart disease annually. In particular, cardiovascular disease can lead to cardiac arrest, a serious condition in which the heart suddenly stops beating. One of the most effective methods of treatment for cardiac arrest is an automated external defibrillator, which can not only correct an episode of arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, but can restore the heart's beating if it suddenly stops. As with any medical emergency, time plays a critical factor and this is particularly true when someone is experiencing cardia arrest. Even a minute delay in defibrillation can leading to a 10% decrease in survival. My guest today, Tim Chan with the University of Toronto, is conducting incredible research exploring how drone technology can minimize delays in defibrillation for individuals in crisis, potentially even faster than traditional EMS can respond.

Even with the COVID-19 vaccine readily available throughout much of the country, and the age ranges of those who can receive it expanding, research shows that in the face of a new wave or variant of the coronavirus, the tools that we used at the onset of the pandemic, masking and social distancing, are still key to helping mitigate the spread of the virus. Joining me to share his research to help develop a model for social distancing policies to prevent surges in new cases and hospitalizations is Dave Morton with Northwestern University.

When you take a look back, even just over the past couple of years, the devastation caused by the seemingly growing threat of large-scale wildfires has made headlines around the world. From the unprecedented brushfires in Australia in 2019-2020, to California's record setting wildfire season later that same year, and most recently the Colorado prairie grass fires which occurred well outside of the traditional fire season, the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfire incidents are a growing global concern. Not only are these fires capable of causing billions of dollars in damage each year, but contribute to the deaths of thousands of people, not to mention have a devastating impact on local wildlife and ecosystems. But are there steps that can be taken to better prepare and position first responders and others involved in combatting and minimizing the physical and financial impact of these fires? Joining me to discuss his work using stochastic optimization to support better decisions regarding resource deployment both in the stages before a fire occurs as well as when multiple fires are underway is Lewis Ntaimo with Texas A&M University.

In this week's episode I'm thrilled to be joined by a very special guest, Sam Buttrey, an associate professor of operations research at the Naval Postgraduate School and winner of the first-ever Jeopardy! Tournament of Professors. Sam competed against professors from across the country and in a variety of disciplines to win not only the $100,000 grand prize, but an opportunity to further compete in the 2022 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.

Welcome to a brand-new year of Resoundingly Human podcasts! Whether this is your first episode, or you are a long-time listener, thank you for joining us and I hope you'll subscribe for for even more great content highlighting the incredible contributions of INFORMS members. To kick off the first episode of the new year, joining me is the 2022 INFORMS president Radhika Kulkarni, a member of the analytics industry for 35+ years, most recently as the VP of Advanced Analytics R&D at SAS.

What a year this has been! To start, I want to thank everyone who has tuned into the podcast this year, and whether this is the first episode you're listening to or the 50th, your support of the podcast has helped us share the incredible work of INFORMS members and the many ways their contributions are saving lives, saving money and solving problems. In fact, I'm thrilled to share that in 2021 we didn't just reach a major milestone, but blew it out of the water, when we surpassed 50,000 unique downloads of our episodes well ahead of our expectations! This year's episodes covered a wide spectrum of research, discoveries and ground-breaking applications in O.R., analytics, data science and more that are having a significant impact on the world around us. Let's take a look back over some highlights from 2021!

Since I first met with the 2021 INFORMS president Stephen Graves at the beginning of the year, INFORMS has achieved several significant milestones despite the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, to include the launching of a new strategic plan and a return to in-person meetings with the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Anaheim, CA earlier this fall. Now as 2021 draws to a close, Steve joins me for his final interview as president for a look back over the past year and all that INFORMS has accomplished.