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S.06-90

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

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Senate Committee on University Priorities

Memorandum

FROM:

RE:

Centre for Operations Research &

2006 meeting SCUP reviewed and approved the proposal for the

creation of the Centre for Operations Research and Decision Sciences (CORDS). This

Centre will be a Schedule B Centre based at SFU Surrey.

Motion

That Senate approve and recommend to the Board of Governors the creation of

the Centre for Operations Research and Decision Sciences (CORDS) as a

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

MEMORANDUM

OFFICE OF VICE-PRESIDENT, RESEARCH

TO: Sarah Dench, Secretary

FROM: B. Mario Pinto

Senate Committee on University

Vice-President, Research

Planning (SCUP)

RE: Centre for Operations Research and DATE: May 17, 2006

Decision Sciences (CORDS)

Attached is a proposal from Dr. Abraham Punnen, Department of Mathematics,

for the establishment of the Centre for Operations Research and Decision Sciences

(CORDS) as a Schedule B Centre.

The Governing Committee for Centres and Institutes recommends that the

Centre be granted approval by SCUP. Once approved by SCUP, the proposal is to be

forwarded to Senate, followed by submission to the Board of Governors.

Governing Committee:

Dr. John H. Waterhouse

Vice-President, Academic and Provost

Dr. B. Mario Pinto

Vice-President, Research

Attachment

C: ?

Dr. Michael Plishke, Dean Faculty of Science

Dr. Abraham Punrien, Department of Mathematics

Dr. Tom Archibald, Chair, Department of Mathematics

SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

DEAN OF SCIENCE

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BLJRNABY. BRITISH COLUMBIA V5A 1S6

Telephone: (604) 291-3771

Fax Number (604) 291-3424

April 7, 2006

Dr. B.M. Pinto

Vice President Research

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6

Dear Mario:

I write in support of Abraham Punnen's proposal to establish a Schedule B research

center, the Center for Operations Research and Decision Sciences (CORDS), to be based

at SFU-Surrey. Dr. Punnen's proposal is an ambitious one and has the potential to make

SFU-Surrey much more visible, both locally and nationally. Operations Research is one of

the priorities for the Faculty of Science at SFU-Surrey and we have already made three

tenure track faculty positions available to the Department of Mathematics in this area.

Dr. Punnen has asked for secretarial support for the Centre for a three-year period. The

Faculty will be creating a CUPE secretarial position at SFU-Surrey in the summer of 2006

and the person hired will be available to provide support to the Centre, as well as to other

Science personnel at the Surrey campus. If more support is needed, I will be prepared to

consider making a second secretarial position available.

The proposal anticipates that the Centre will be self-supporting after an interim period of

perhaps three years. I consider this to be a likely scenario, given the opportunities for

consulting that exist.

In summary, I can see no downside to this proposal and am strongly in favor of creating

the center.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Plishke, Dean

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.&afiam P FunnJ_'n, P1D

11 February 2006

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cFrofessorocOpratioizsRs&zrc/

Department of Mathematics

14th Floor Central City Tower

13450

102nd

AVE

Surrey. British C3umb

CANADA V3T 5X3

Dr. Mario Pinto

Dr. John Waterhouse

Vice President Research

Vice-President, Academic and Provost

Simon Fraser University

Dear Dr. Pinto and Dr. Waterhouse,

Attached please find my application for the creation ,a. new research

centre - Centre for Operations Research and Decision Sciences (CORDS) - at

SFU Surrey. This is part of a major interdisciplinary effort in creating

. significant research strength at the Surrey campus, drawing expertise from

various departments, supported by several recent hiring in Mathematics in the

area of operation research.

• ?

I look forward to your support and help in making the centre a reality.

Please let me know for any questions or comments.

Operations research, the science of optimal decision making, is the discipline

dealing with applications of advanced analytical techniques to choose better de-

cisions among feasible alternatives or to generate the set of feasible alternatives

itself. Although the discipline of operations research has its roots in planning

military operations during the Second World War, modern day applications of

operations research goes far beyond assistance in military missions. Operations

research techniques have been successfully applied in various day to day op-

erations in industry and government including, routing and scheduling in the

transportation industry; production planning in manufacturing; pickup, deliv-

ery, storage, and retrieval of containers at container terminals; supply chain

management; radiation therapy treatment planning in cancer care; telecommu

nication network design; environmental management, forecasting and queuing;

financial planning, cluster analysis for medical decision making and biological

networks in medicine. Peripheral areas of applications of the discipline include

cost-benefit analysis, policy analysis, and data mining. Thus the relevance of

operations research in the nation's economy is undisputable.

At SFU, expertise in operations research is spread over various faculties and de-

partments such as Business, Computing Science, Engineering, Interactive Arts

and Technology, Mathematics, Resource and Environmental management, and

Statistics and Actuarial Science. The Mathematics department recently decided

to focus its activities in Surrey centered on operations research and made a se-

nior professor level appointment and two assistant professor level appointments.

The assistant professors will join in September 2006 and the department is plan-

fling two more appointments in the area of operations research for the Surrey

campus. The Business faculty has strength in Management Science and is plan-

ning to hire in the area of supply chain management and computing science has

significant strength in the area of algorithms. Thus SFU in general and SFU

Surrey in particular has acquired significant strength in operations research and

is well positioned to take a leadership role in operations research education in

Canada and to undertake challenging and complex research projects of funda-

mental importance or of applied nature in the area of operations research. In

addition to fundamental research, significant opportunities for consulting activ-

ities with industry and governmental entities also exist in the field of operations

research.

To reinforce and strengthen high quality research in operations research at SFU

and make SFU a vital focal point in the area of operations research education

and research, we propose the creation of a Schedule B centre called

Centre for

Operations Research and Decision Sciences

(CORDS) to be located on the Sur-

rey campus with a university wide mandate. The Centre will invariably fortify

the research profile of the Surrey campus and assist further development of the

campus. Many colleagues from various departments at the Burnaby campus

kindly offered support and active involvement in this endeavor and the Cen-

tre will be an exemplary interdisciplinary collaborative research unit between

the two campuses and across various departments. It is noteworthy that similar

centers exist at other prominent research universities across the globe. These in-

clude the operations research centre at MIT, Cambridge; Centre for Operations

Research and Econometrics, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium; Supply

chain and logistics engineering center, University of Florida; Centre for research

in transportation, University of Montreal; CASTLE lab, Princeton University;

RUTCOR at the Rutgers University, to cite a few. We have research ties with

many of these centers and the successful operations of these fine research insti-

tutions provide renewed enthusiasm to undertake this major initiative at SFU

Surrey.

2 Computing Facilities

We are in the process of creating a "Computational Optimization Laboratory"

at SFU Surrey. Space for the lab is already allocated. A two processor SUN

• Blade 2000 workstation from the NSERC Equipment grant of Abraham Pun-

nen and another single Xeon processor Dell work station, which also belongs to

Abraham Punnen, will be located in the lab. We also plan to acquire about

10 computers which will be used as the front end to access these workstations

and the highly parallel WestGrid network and other computing facilities within

SFU and elsewhere. The lab will be equipped with state of the art software

and a library of software manuals and reference books for operations research

applications. Some of the software licenses and manuals are already in place.

The computational optimization laboratory will be the primary computing fa-

cility dedicated to operations research applications. Other computing labs at

various locations in both Burnaby and Surrey will also have access to operations

research applications software since the Centre will have members from various

departments and research groups.

3 Specific Activities

The activities of the Centre are planned in such a way that the Centre will be

self supporting in about three years time. We hope to get initial secretarial

support from the department/Dean to sustain the interim developmental pe-

riod, which will not exceed three years. There are no other additional resource

implications. The current activities planned include attracting major research

contracts and consultancy works, organize seminars and workshops for indus-

try, government, and academia and organize short-term non-credit courses. As

a long term goal, subject to approval of participating departments, the Centre

also plans to coordinate interdisciplinary M.Sc and PhD programs in the area

of operations research.

Training Aspects

The Centre will be involved in training graduate students

and post-doctoral fellows. It will also be a place for hosting distinguished visit-

ing scholars for short durations.

Major Research Contracts:

Another primary objective of the Centre is to

attract external research grants.

This includes various grants from NSERC,

CIHR, MITACS, Federal and provincial governments, other funding agencies

and direct industry research contracts. The Centre, as a collection of individu-

als from various departments, with complementary expertise under a common

umbrella provides additional edge in obtaining and completing group projects.

This will be a significant source of income for the Centre.

Consultancy Work:

These are short projects with immediate applications of

existing knowledge. Again, this will be a revenue source for the Centre.

Seminars and Workshops:

Seminars and workshops provide a forum for

exchange of scientific ideas. ?

We have already started a major international

symposium series, the first of which was held at SFU on January 27, 2006. We

plan to continue this each year. Further, we have initiated a weekly operations

research seminar series on the Surrey campus. Once this Centre is established,

the seminar series will be coordinated by the Centre.

Non-Credit Courses:

We also plan to conduct short-term non-credit courses

in relevant areas of operations research for specialists in industry and other in-

terested general public. This will be another source of income for the Centre.

Software Development

The Centre plans to develop optimization software

for academic as well as Industrial use. Academic software development will be

under open source structure and work closely with COIN-OR (Computational

infrastructure for operations research) , an international body for open source

software in Operations Research. Lou Hafer, director of COIN-OR will also lead

the software development activities of the Centre.

Other advantages:

The contacts and visibility generated through the activi-

ties of the Centre will be valuable assets for SFU with indirect benefits.

Long term goals:As

a long term objective, subject to the approval of par-

ticipating departments, the Centre plans to facilitate interdisciplinary graduate

programs in operations research. This is a major deviation from the activities of

other research centers on campus. This activity is modeled after a very success-

ful program at the operations Research center, MIT, Cambridge. Plans include

a dual M.Sc. degree identical to the dual degree M.Sc. program of the opera-

tions research center at MIT, Cambridge with their collaborating departments

and M.Sc and PhD programs in Operations Research.

4 Centre Governance

Schedule:

CORDS shall be a Schedule B university centre under the authority

of the Vice President, Research.

Location: CORDS shall be located at the Surrey campus of SFU.

Administrative Officer:

Vice President, Research at SFU shall be the ad-

ministrative officer for CORDS.

Director:

CORDS shall have a director who shall be elected for a renewable

three-year term. Associate directors may be appointed by the Director in con-

sultation with the membership. Day-to-day administration of CORDS shall be

the responsibility of the Director. The Director shall exercise the rights of the

Centre under the terms of Section 5.1 of R 40.01 and shall meet the obligations

set out in Section 5.2 of R 40.01.

Steering Committee:

The Steering Committee consists of the Director and

four additional faculty members of SFU, elected from the general membership

of the Centre. The Director of the centre shall call meetings of the Steering

Committee. All meetings of the Steering Committee shall be chaired by the

Director. The membership on the Steering Committee shall represent at least

three different departments or faculties, whenever possible. The Director, with

majority vote of the Steering Committee could appoint additional members to

the Steering Committee, from outside SFU, such as reputable industries or gov-

ernment agencies. These appointees shall have voting rights in the Steering

Committee meetings and the number of these external members on the Steer-

ing Committee shall not be more than two at any given time. The term of a

member on the Steering Committee shall be for three years.

Membership:

The Director and Associate Director(s) of the Centre shall be

regular employees of SFU. Since one of the long term goals of the Centre is to

coordinate a graduate program in Operations Research, regular membership in

the Centre shall be available only to faculty members of Simon Fraser University,

including adjunct pyofessors and lecturers. Regular membership in the Centre

shall be obtained through a majority vote of the Steering Committee following

application to the Director. Associate memberships, which entitle individuals

to all the benefits of regular membership, except a vote in Centre proceedings

,A-

dealing with academic matters, shall be available to other individuals with an

interest in operations research. Associate members must be approved in the

same fashion as regular members. Only regular members of the Centre are el-

igible to participate in discussions and meetings related to academic matters.

Additional categories of membership may be established by the Director in con-

sultation with the membership and with the approval of the Administrative

Officer.

Changes:

Any additions and/or changes in the governance procedures outlined

above shall be made with majority approval of the regular members, the Steer-

ing Committee and the Administrative Officer.

Initial Membership:

The initial membership of the Centre for Operations

Research and Decision Sciences will include the following individuals, who have

agreed to participate:

Initial Director:

Abraham P Punnen (Mathematics, Surrey)

Initial Steering

Committee:

(Bojan Mohar, Lou Hafer, Kristine Rothley,

Randall Pyke)

Members:

Binay Battacharya (Computer Science, Burnaby)

2. Petra Berenbrink (Computer Science, Burnaby)

Funda Ergun (Computer Science, Burnaby)

Luis Goddyn (Mathematics, Burnaby)

Arvind Gupta (Computer Science, Burnaby)

Lou Hafer (Computer Science, Burnaby)

Pavol Hell (Computer Science, Burnaby)

Natalia Kouzniak (Mathematics, Surrey)

Ramesh Krishnamurty (Computer Science, Burnaby)

10.

Vive Kumar (SlAT, Surrey)

11.

Ernie Love (Business Administration, Burnaby)

12.

Zhaosong Lu (Mathematics, Surrey, from September,2006)

13.

Bojan Mohar (Mathematics, Burnaby)

14.

Adam Oberman (Matheamtics, Burnaby)

15. Abraham P Punnen (Mathematics, Surrey)

16. Randall Pyke (Mathematics, Surrey)

17.

Kristine Rothley (REM, Burnaby)

18.

S. Cenk Sahinaip (Computer Science, Burnaby)

19.

Mehrdad Saif (Engineering, Burnaby)

20. Tamon Stephen (Mathematics, Surrey, from September 2006)

Associate Members:

Various associate members from other universities, NRC,

and local industries shall join as associate members.

SFU Library Home> About the SFU Library> Collection

s> Librar

Course Assessments> cords.htm

Library Assessment for

Centre for Operations Research and Decision Sciences (CORDS)?

June 2, 2006

This is the Library's report on the proposed Centre for Operations Research and Decision Sciences.

The SFU Library supports the establishment of this Centre as outlined in the proposal. The SFU Library is actively

collectin g

in the areas of Operations Research at the Burnaby Campus. As the Centre will be located on the SFU Surrey

Campus, there are library costs associated with it. There are several subject headings in the Blackwell's profile (SFU's

major book wholesaler) that will cover most of the published materials to support research at this centre. The main

subject heading is (6380) Operations Research, which generates approximately 30 new titles

year at an average book

price of $120. It is recommended that the Surrey Library add this heading to its book approval profile. Doing so will

enable the comprehensive collecting required to maintain an upper-level research collection suitable for this Centre.

Total library cost:

$2,000 one-time money to build a core collection

$3,600

year ongoing money

The Library will request funding from existing allocations designated for the Surrey campus. There are no costs to the

Centre, or the Department of Mathematics.

Maintained by: Megan Crouch [mcrouch@sfu.ca

]

Content last modified: 02/06/2006

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