INFORMS, an international organization, is located between Baltimore and Washington, DC. The winner of the Edelman Competition will reprise the organization’s presentation at the organization’s annual meeting, which will take place in the nation’s capital from October 12-15. http://meetings.informs.org/DC08/

Every year, the Franz Edelman competition recognizes outstanding examples of operations research-based projects that transform companies, entire industries, and people’s lives. Operations research uses advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions and is a disciplined way by which management can improve organizational performance in a wide variety of situations and in nearly every type of public and private organization.

The top finalist receives a $10,000 honorarium. Past Franz Edelman finalists include Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Georgia Tech, whose 2007 team reduced both patient suffering and health care costs from the treatment of prostate and breast cancer; Travelocity; IBM; and Merrill Lynch.

The Franz Edelman competition attests to the contributions of operations research in the profit and non-profit sectors. According to a 2007 graph prepared for the competition, cumulative dollar benefits from Edelman finalist projects between 1984 and 2006 reached the $100 billion mark.

For additional information about the finalists, consult the Edelman Fact Sheet in the INFORMS News Room at www.informs.org. Additional information about the Edelman Competition can be found online at http://www.scienceofbetter.org/Edelman.

About INFORMS

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) is an international scientific society with 10,000 members, including Nobel Prize laureates, dedicated to applying scientific methods to help improve decision-making, management, and operations. Members of INFORMS work in business, government, and academia. They are represented in fields as diverse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, financial engineering, and telecommunications. The INFORMS website is www.informs.org. More information about operations research is at www.scienceofbetter.org.