WHY I AM AN OPERATIONS RESEARCHER: 
CONFESSIONS OF AN OR JUNKIE 

PROFESSOR TOM MAGNANTI 
MIT 

Why I am an Operations Researcher:
Confessions of an OR Junkie 

  • Excitement 
  • Elegance 
  • Applications 
  • Impact 
  • Beauty 
  • Computing 
  • Math 
  • Flexibility 

I liked math (and applications), but didn't... 

  • want to be in marketing or finance
  • particularly like
    • chemistry (Chem. E.) 
    • physics (Eng. Physics) 
    • electrical circuits (EE) 
    • building bridges (CE) 
    • or making things (ME)
  • want pure math
    •

    OR provides a liberal education in a technological world. 

    --Michael Thomas, Georgia Tech 

    And, from the faculty at MIT... 

    I have been able to contribute to a research are so abstruse that I can barely understand my own research papers.  And, I have been able to contribute to one of the great scientific projects of our time (the human genome project). 

    There is lots of room to do fundamental and abstract research in OR.  And, an OR background provides a wonderful foundation, or springboard, for understanding, exploring, and improving all kinds of real phenomena. 

    I fell in love instantly with linear programming.  The theory was beautiful, and its applications obvious and impressive. 

    When I was a physics student I found that modeling and solving the hydrogen atom, both as the Bohr atom and the quantum mechanically, was very exciting and stimulating. But when you moved on and tried to do the helium atom, things became orders of magnitude more complex and much less interesting. 

    I felt that in OR there were many hydrogen atoms left to be solved.  And, it turned our to be true -- and still is. 

    I view OR as a science and technology of inventing physics of the world we live in, the world of commerce, business, and public systems, involving complex processes of people, interacting with other people and with increasingly complex technologies. 

    I thought I had two choices:  spend the rest of my life watching bubbles rise through glass chambers (Chem. E.) or studying, solving, and applying linear programs.

    I learned that I could use my technical skills (e.g., math modeling) and not have to build anything with my hands in a lab, nor be exposed to any blood. 

    I thought, however, that in the "real world" OR applications would be rare.  Fortunately, I was wrong.  At the consulting firm I work for, I used lots of mathematical programming, and even Markov decision chains and statistics, to help our clients with their difficult problems. 

    The act of model building is pure pleasure to me. 

    I had the joy of introducing superb students to a relatively new field of endeavor. 

    OR also makes good cocktail conversation.  Most people have no clue what you do.  Those who know about it are typically endowed with unusual intelligence and creativity so it's a convenient way to identify exceptional people. 

    Operations Research is Pervasive in Practice (from MIT) 

    • Criminal Justice 
    • Energy 
    • Financial services 
    • Genetics 
    • Health Care 
    • Marketing 
    • Manufacturing 
    • Product design 
    • Public Systems 
    • Telecommunications 
    • Transportation
    Operations Research is a Linchpin Between Engineering and Management 

    Who heads all the manufacturing programs? 

    What Does/Can an Academic Operations Researcher Do? 

    One Person's Journey 

    Professional Positions 
    • Researcher and Teacher 
    • Head, Management Science Area, Sloan School 
    • Editor, Operations Research (and various editorial boards) 
    • President, ORSA 
    • Co-director, Leaders for Manufacturing Program 
    • Co-director, Operations Research Center 
    • Government Panels and Committees 
    • Sabbaticals/Leaves 
      • Center for Operations Research, Belgium (Twice) 
      • Harvard Business School 
      • Bell Laboratories 
      • GTE Labs 
      • Digital Equipment Corporation

    We know what we are, but know not what we may be. 

    --William Shakespeare

    We have a choice:  to plow new ground or let the weeds grow. 

    --Jonathan Westover