| March 2013 |
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| February 2013 |
| 26 |
Feb |
Orange juice and analytics
Coca-cola build a “flight simulator” to ensure consistent orange juice. |
| 26 |
Feb |
Algorithms to replace authors, well not really!
Sophisticated programming mimicking the thought process behind formulaic writing may replace authors in the not too distant future. |
| 18 |
Feb |
Driving further and faster, in Motorsport
Analytics appears to be gathering momentum in velocity driven sports! Speed combined with agility has long been a hallmark of F1 racing, so it is no surprise that advanced data analytics has been applied by some teams to exploit the new technologies available and raise performance levels. |
| 12 |
Feb |
ACME is now seeking 3 new members
The Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME) provides advice to the Government and its agencies, and other policy makers on mathematics education issues in English schools and colleges between the ages of 5 to 19. It is seeking 3 new members to start in Sep2013. |
| 06 |
Feb |
Predictive Analytics Gains in Insurance Industry
According to a recent survey, the use of predictive analytics is on the rise in the insurance industry. Insurance providers are increasingly interested in data or analytics solutions to help manage producers and improve their performance, according to a recent survey. |
| 04 |
Feb |
Young mathematicians are being let down in England
According to the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME), England is failing to develop able maths students and the situation is reaching a critical point. | |
| January 2013 |
| 30 |
Jan |
INFORMS to Offer Analytics Professional Certification
The shortage of data analytics professionals forecast for the next few years means enterprises may be hiring people without knowing if they can do the job. INFORMS hope the organization’s new certification program will be the industry’s proverbial gold seal of approval for analytics professionals. |
| 21 |
Jan |
O.R. vital for firms in today's climate.
Operational research is vital for firms in today's climate, says leading Warwick Business School professor Juergen Branke. Professor Branke believes the field of operational research is becoming more and more popular with employers after a new study put the subject in the top 10 biggest earning degrees in the UK. |
| 14 |
Jan |
Cyber thieves pose as Google+ social network
The lapse let cyber thieves trick people into thinking they were Google+. Web browser makers have rushed to fix a security lapse that cyber thieves abused to impersonate Google+. |
| 08 |
Jan |
Toyota previews self-drive car
Toyota gives sneak preview of self-drive car ahead of tech show in a video clip. |
| 04 |
Jan |
Mathematical science research is worth £208 billion
According to the study 'Measuring the Economic Benefits of Mathematical Science Research', the value added to the economy by MSR directly is £208billion – around 16% of the UK’s total Gross Value Added. | |
| December 2012 |
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| November 2012 |
| 26 |
Nov |
New mathematical weapon against pandemics
University of Warwick researchers have created a mathematical model to predict the impact of future pandemics in real-time as they strike. |
| 19 |
Nov |
Social Analytics in extremis
British Physicist Stephen Wolfram once described as “The Man Who Cracked the Code to Everything”, and the genius behind Wolfram Alpha, Mathematica and the Computational knowledge engine, has now taken a step in the direction of social media enthusiasts. |
| 16 |
Nov |
Warning over shortage of engineering graduates
Firms across the UK are struggling to recruit engineers. The UK needs to increase by as much as 50% the number of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) graduates it is creating. |
| 06 |
Nov |
How much home insurance should you be paying?
Predictive Analytics is allowing insurers fighting for a share of an increasingly competitive marketplace to increase profitability without sacrificing insurance cover to its insureds | |
| October 2012 |
| 29 |
Oct |
Analytics provides O.R. with fashion industry foothold
According to information obtained from a recent SAP Performance Benchmarking analysis, fashion companies on average are able to track fewer strategic Key Performance Indicators and less able to use analytics than their peers in the retail and consumer products industries. |
| 24 |
Oct |
Credit card debt landscape changes
Credit card debt landscape has altered, says CCCS charity. The number of borrowers seeking help from a charity over credit card debts has fallen, but problems are starting earlier. |
| 22 |
Oct |
Hard problems at OR54
At OR54, this year’s annual conference held 4-6 September in Edinburgh, NP hard problems were very much in evidence. One of the papers was given by Guido Diepen who has used a constraint programming approach to the problem which is apparently particularly good at solving Sudoku type problems. |
| 11 |
Oct |
EU: split risky trading from banks
The EU says banks should split risky trading from retail banking. Europe's biggest banks would be affected, should these changes be brought about. |
| 1 |
Oct |
Data analytics application available free for academic research
Datameer, Inc., a data analytics company providing applications that discover insights and trends in data, is offering free licenses of its data analytics application for qualifying academic research. | |
| September 2012 |
| 26 |
Sep |
Google is changing the way it calculates search results
Google is changing the way it calculates search results in an effort to make sure legal download websites appear higher than pirate sites. The world's biggest search engine announced the change in a blog post on its website. |
| 19 |
Sep |
40% graduates to come from two countries
By the end of this decade, four out of every 10 of the world's young graduates are going to come from just two countries - China and India. |
| 12 |
Sep |
Elderly people could spend less time in hospital.
Elderly people would need to spend less time in hospital if care in England were better organised, experts say. A review by the King's Fund found there was scope to reduce the number of overnight stays by 2.3 million. |
| 7 |
Sep |
Campaign group has attacked plans for maths teaching
A campaign group promoting maths has attacked plans to overhaul maths teaching in primary schools in England as "undeliverable". In a letter to the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, National Numeracy says the draft curriculum is "overloaded" and relies too much on rote learning. |
| 6 |
Sep |
Food price fears prompt plans for emergency talks.
There are widespread concerns about the impact of the dry weather in the US. The US, France and Mexico are planning talks to consider whether an emergency meeting is needed to tackle the soaring price of grain. | |
| August 2012 |
| 29 |
Aug |
Mobile phone coverage in peril
A George Osborne-led plan that aims to deliver full mobile phone coverage, including voice and 3G, to rural areas may be in peril after Three announced that it is considering backing out of the £150 million project. |
| 29 |
Aug |
Layoffs expected as Google aims to streamline unprofitable business
Google Inc. (GOOG) recently said it will reduce Motorola Mobility's work force by about 20% to help streamline the money-losing wireless phone maker. |
| 17 |
Aug |
The Midlands OR Society (MORS) has been re-launched
The Midlands OR Society (MORS) has been reinvigorated and was re-launched on Tuesday 22nd May with a stimulating talk by OR Society President Geoff Royston on the practicalities of delivering OR that has impact. The talk was held in the Club Room of the Old Joint Stock in central Birmingham. |
| 17 |
Aug |
Which properties are at risk from flooding
JBA Risk Management, based near Skipton, have been using data recorded by laser and radar scanners attached to aircraft and satellites, to help them identify where large puddles are likely to form. Using adapted graphics processors, they have generated maps of Britain that provide a picture of the height and slope of terrain to an accuracy of 15 cm. |
| 2 |
Aug |
MoD £50m order for flight simulator
The MoD has placed a £50m order for a flight simulator to be based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The contract for the Airbus A400M simulator was signed at the opening of the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire. | |
| July 2012 |
| 26 |
Jul |
Mathematics - Made to Measure
According to a recent survey undertaken by Ofsted, Maths teaching must improve and more must be done to help both weaker and stronger pupils in maths. |
| 23 |
Jul |
British Airways flies into privacy storm
British Airways today faced a backlash from privacy campaigners after it revealed plans to use the internet to create “dossiers” on passengers. The airline said it wanted to be able to deliver a more personal touch by researching passengers. |
| 16 |
Jul |
Heathrow passport control queues unacceptable, says BAA
BAA, the airport operator, tells the Home Office to tackle problem as Keith Vaz makes snap visit less than three weeks before the Olympic Games |
| 6 |
Jul |
Wolfram expands into system modelling
Wolfram Research launches a new entrant in the simulation software market place as they unveil their SystemModeler |
| 5 |
Jul |
SIMUL8 Corporation Announces New CEO
SIMUL8 Corporation’s Board of Directors recently announced that Laura Reid, their Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed to the role of CEO. She will be taking over from Mark Elder who has moved from CEO to chairing the board of directors. These leadership appointments are effective immediately and follow Mark’s decision to retire. |
| 5 |
Jul |
Voice algorithms spot Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's symptoms can be detected by computer algorithms that analyse voice recordings. In a blind test of voices, the system was able to spot those with Parkinson's with an accuracy of 86%. | |
| June 2012 |
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| May 2012 |
| 28 |
May |
An operating system designed to power the smart cities of the future will be put through its paces in London.
Living Plan IT has developed its Urban OS to provide a platform to connect services and citizens. With partners including Hitachi, Phillips and Greenwich council, it aims to use the Greenwich peninsula as a test bed for new technologies running on the system. |
| 24 |
May |
Number theory grant could lead to advances in wireless communications
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has awarded a £1.6 million grant to two of the country’s leading mathematics researchers, Professor Sanju Velani, Head of Pure Mathematics at the University of York and Professor Victor Beresnevich, also at the university. |
| 22 |
May |
Exam boards face fines
Exam papers sat by 140,000 students last summer included unanswerable questions and printing errors
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| 14 |
May |
Government broadband plans face £1bn funding shortfall
A £1.1bn funding gap means the government's targets for broadband are unlikely to be met, says a report by the London School of Economics. |
| 8 |
May |
Analytics certification program
INFORMS has decided to develop a new certification program for individuals in the analytics field. |
| 8 |
May |
Setback for UK nuclear power
There has been a setback to the government's plan to attract investment in new nuclear power stations. |
| 2 |
May |
Universities will have fewer places
Most universities in England are going to have fewer places to offer students this year, as the funding changes in higher education are implemented. |
| 2 |
May |
Environmentally efficient routes the algorithmic way
Sergio Úbeda Munárriz, a graduate from the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), has devised an algorithm that enables the generation of environmentally-efficient (cleaner and less contaminant) road vehicle routes. | |
| April 2012 |
| 18 |
Apr |
The OR Society launches a new interdisciplinary journal on health systems
The first Health Systems paper has now been published and is available online. We will be publishing more papers from the first issue over the next few weeks, and all papers will be published in advance online. |
| 17 |
Apr |
Britain's financial sector is continuing its bounceback
Despite widespread concerns about the rest of the country's economy, the CBI will say today that Britain's financial sector is continuing its bounceback from the recent downturn. |
| 17 |
Apr |
IBM designing most powerful computer in history
The new IBM machine will process more than an 'exabyte' of data every day - more than the entire internet, and enough to fill 15 million 64GB iPods every day. |
| 17 |
Apr |
Lancaster graduate gets top role with Virgin Atlantic
Stephen King, a graduate from Lancaster University Management School in 2002 with a BSc in Operational Research and Operations Management, has been appointed as General Manager-India for Virgin Atlantic |
| 17 |
Apr |
Computer models used to prove Turing’s last hypothesis
Alan Turing cracked the Nazi Enigma code, helped end the Second World War and is recognised as the father of computer science. |
| 3 |
Apr |
Warwick Business School researchers get £1.6 million boost
Professor Nick Chater of Warwick Business School, Warwick University, has secured a grant of more than £1.6 million to find out whether people behave rationally. |
| 2 |
Apr |
Internet economy has biggest share in the UK
The internet contributes to 8.3% of the UK economy, a bigger share than for any of the other G20 major countries, a new study suggests. |
| 2 |
Apr |
OR benefitting stroke victims
According to a report published by researchers from the University of Exeter, OR techniques have recently been applied with considerable success to reducing the time it takes from the start of a stroke to the administration of vital ‘clot-busting’ drug treatment. | |
| March 2012 |
| 27 |
Mar |
Carelessness still main cause of data loss
Shoddy staff and careless contractors were the commonest cause of data loss by businesses last year, according to a survey by an online security firm. |
| 27 |
Mar |
Boost to UK university research
Chancellor George Osborne has announced a £100m fund to boost university research in the UK through private sector involvement. |
| 20 |
Mar |
Motherhood and maths don't add up
Although you’d never guess it if you looked at the delegate dispersal at any of our conferences – a large number of women make up our number - some new research suggests that Motherhood and maths don't add up |
| 20 |
Mar |
Education News Round
The University of Southampton (UK) has launched a new programme - BSc MORSE (mathematics, operational research, statistics and economics) - to provide students with a broad-based programme covering topics in mathematics, operational research, statistics and economics. |
| 14 |
Mar |
Campaign calls for new teacher-training 'infrastructure'
The UK needs a new "infrastructure" to support the teaching of computing in schools, the Chancellor has been told. |
| 7 |
Mar |
Professor Peter Scott warns of the impact of the Research Excellence Framework
Writing in The Guardian recently, Prof. Scott, professor of Higher Education at the Institute of Education, contrasts the new system coming in 2014 with the existing system. |
| 5 |
Mar |
Blackett Lecture 2011
The ORSoc’s Blackett Lecture this year was given by Professor Rolf H. Möhring, Fakultät II - Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften, Institut für Mathematik, Sekr. MA 5-1,Technische Universität, Berlin |
| 5 |
Mar |
Judging panel unveiled for £1m engineering prize
Organisers have announced the judging panel for a new £1m prize, billed as a "Nobel" for engineers. |
| 1 |
Mar |
Operational Research considered 1 of 6 disciplines in Social Sciences
UK universities score well in world rankings |
| 1 |
Mar |
Future looking good for a career in Analytics
A report on ‘big data’ published by the McKinsey Global Institute predicts that by 2018, there will be a shortage of at least 1.5 million business analytics professionals/managers who can make data driven decisions. | |
| February 2012 |
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| January 2012 |
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| December 2011 |
| 19 |
Dec |
Population models predict effects of environmental change
Scientists at UCLA have produced the most comprehensive mathematical model ever devised to track the health of populations exposed to environmental change. |
| 19 |
Dec |
Brain on a Chip
Scientists at MIT and the University of Texas have created a computer chip that mimics how a mammalian brain learns. |
| 13 |
Dec |
Numerical model could predict geopolitics.
A new model which can be used predict which European countries are likely to become united, or more likely to break up, has been developed by international research group Science 2.0 based in Madrid. |
| 13 |
Dec |
3D printer makes first body part
3D printers are hi-tech ways of manufacturing an object by “copying” it in three dimensions. |
| 13 |
Dec |
O.R. Society Doctoral Prize 2011
The O.R. Society is inviting people to submit entries for the best doctoral dissertation in O.R. |
| 9 |
Dec |
Insurers limit data sharing
Insurance companies share a good deal of data, but will restrict this for motor insurance after criticism from a trading watchdog. |
| 1 |
Dec |
O.R. helps business manage complexity
Global business is increasingly finding complexity a problem, but operational research helps to deal with difficult problems. | |
| November 2011 |
| 30 |
Nov |
New Chair in engineering at Cambridge
A new professorship in fluid dynamics has been set up at Cambridge University. |
| 25 |
Nov |
Ministers to change health targets
The target that requires patients to be seen within 18 weeks provides no incentive to see patients already past that target time. |
| 23 |
Nov |
Cardiff University studies aircraft lightning strikes
Key research will be about lightning strikes directly hitting aircraft, especially jets made of composite materials, such as the new Airbus A350. |
| 22 |
Nov |
UK “Nobel” for engineering
The Prime Minister recently announced a prize for groundbreaking advances in engineering. The prize will be worth £ 1 million. |
| 18 |
Nov |
Win £1000 for the best industry-based student projects in OR
The OR Society funds its annual awards for student projects from a generous bequest from the estate of Mrs May Hicks, wife of Donald Hicks, OBE.. |
| 18 |
Nov |
New internet addressing system
The internet needs a new addressing system to deal with the large number of addresses required. |
| 18 |
Nov |
Britain to have “best broadband in Europe”
The government wishes Britain to have the best broadband in Europe by 2015, and BT is working hard to achieve this. |
| 11 |
Nov |
Top universities say no to more places
Although the government has offered 10,000 extra places in higher education, some of the top universities have said no. |
| 11 |
Nov |
Extension to Street View
An extension to Google Street View allows Google users to see inside buildings. |
| 10 |
Nov |
Statistical translation techniques unravel ancient ciphers
Scientists from Sweden and the United States have deciphered a handwritten enciphered manuscript dating from the mid-18th century, written by a secret society known as “the Occultists”, obsessed with eye surgery and spying on the Freemasons. |
| 10 |
Nov |
Malawian named outstanding O.R. scientist
Malawian Hannock Tweya has been named Junior Outstanding African Scientist by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). |
| 10 |
Nov |
New weather satellite
The US Space Agency has built a new kind of satellite, which will collect data that could help forecasters predict major storms. It was launched a couple of weeks ago. |
| 8 |
Nov |
Free Money!
Well, not quite, but if you fancy a challenge, you may be in line for receiving all or part of a prize worth over £30,000! |
| 8 |
Nov |
New predictive analytics software launched
A new predictive analytics tool has been launched by Predixion Software; it is among the first predictive analytics applications to feature integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM |
| 8 |
Nov |
Soft hardware
Computers will repair and restructure themselves. |
| 8 |
Nov |
Competition Commission to look at UK Audit
The Competition Commission is considering looking at whether the Big Four are strangling competition. | |
| October 2011 |
| 28 |
Oct |
Growth of Online Sales
Ten per cent of all sales transactions happen online |
| 28 |
Oct |
Machine Intelligence can save millions lives
According to new research from MIT, artificially intelligent health monitoring applications could save millions of lives |
| 27 |
Oct |
City “operating systems”
Cities could soon have “operating systems” which automatically control many services. |
| 27 |
Oct |
IBM now bigger than Microsoft again
The market valuation of IBM is now £137.4bn, greater than Microsoft’s £136.8bn. |
| 13 |
Oct |
Artificial leaf turns sunlight into fuel
US scientists have developed an "artificial leaf" that converts sunlight into a chemical fuel that could be stored and used later, according to a study published earlier this month. |
| 12 |
Oct |
EURO 2012
Next year’s EURO conference will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania from 8-11 July, 2012 |
| 11 |
Oct |
Angoss Analytics Software upgraded
Angoss Software has introduced new features to its predictive analytics. |
| 10 |
Oct |
OR53 President’s Medal
The OR Society’s most prestigious award was given at this years’ national OR conference – for those not present – here is a run down of the contestants… |
| 10 |
Oct |
Cross-Domain Heuristic Search Challenge
The results of the Cross-Domain Heuristic Search Challenge (CHeSC) were revealed at the OR53 conference in Nottingham on 8th September 2011… |
| 8 |
Oct |
Global Warming Could Cost Canada Billions, Study Warns
A report by an advisory board to the government of Canada estimates that the effects of global warming could cost the country’s economy 5 billion Canadian dollars a year by 2020, and that those costs will rise substantially afterward… |
| 7 |
Oct |
O.R. identifies problems and improves health for South Pacific Islanders
News in from Fiji concerns a symposium about work done on improving information quality on diseases in the country… |
| 5 |
Oct |
New space project to rival Virgin Galactic
A Formula One tycoon has teamed up with the Dutch airline, KLM, in a project which is set to rival Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic… |
| 5 |
Oct |
Outsourced Logistics
Capgemini Consulting, Penn State University, Heidrick & Struggles and global logistics provider Panalpina, have announced the findings of the 16th Annual Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Study… |
| 1 |
Oct |
Shakespeare was written by monkeys
The thought experiment in which millions of monkeys hitting a keyboard at random eventually write Shakespeare, has been simulated on Amazon… | |
| September 2011 |
| 29 |
Sep |
EasyJet founder starts new airline
The founder of EasyJet, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has issued a notice that he intends to launch a new airline, called FastJet.… |
| 29 |
Sep |
Is no place left sacred?
Scientists can now see, more accurately than ever before, how the human brain processes information… |
| 26 |
Sep |
Survey Launched on Predictive Analytics in the Cloud
A California based company, Decision Management Solutions, has launched a survey to study the emerging intersection of predictive |
| 25 |
Sep |
Google launch social network
Google opened up its social network Google+ to everyone, after 12 weeks of testing to a limited number audience. |
| 24 |
Sep |
Government borrowing up, tax gap down
Mixed news on the economy, with the government borrowing more, but collecting a higher proportion of tax. |
| 23 |
Sep |
Lloyd’s of London lose £697m in half-year
A higher than usual number of natural disasters has pushed Lloyd’s of London into its worst half-year in its 323-year history. |
| 22 |
Sep |
Mathematicians slam UK government on Maths research funding
Mathematicians across the UK have written to David Cameron protesting that plans to restrict Maths research funding to Statistics and Applied Probability is a short-sighted approach that will strip the UK of a generation of science leaders. |
| 22 |
Sep |
Monte Carlo simulation used to improve plane boarding times
A physicist from Fermilab, Jason Steffen, has done some interesting research on improving existing airplane boarding procedures. |
| 22 |
Sep |
New Special Interest Group, O.R. in the Third Sector, ORiTS, inaugurated
A new OR Society Special Interest Group started work today, helping to provide support to the Third Sector. | |