HOW SAFE ARE THE NATION’S SKIES NOW? ASKS AIR SAFETY EXPERT AT O.R. CONVENTION IN MIAMI BEACH (October 19, 2001)

EVENT: The Worst Day Ever with Arnold Barnett, MIT

DATE: Monday, November 5

TIME: 8:15-9:45 AM (Part of a session that includes additional presentations about air safety)

PLACE: Fontainebleau Hilton Resort, Fleur De Lis Ballroom

Prof. Barnett will address such questions as whether the hijackings could have been anticipated or prevented. He will examine American security measures that existed before the catastrophe, with a look at the computerized CAPPS system, which was designed to identify terrorists on domestic flights.

He will look at possible unintended dangers to safety that could result from new anti-terrorist measures. He will examine the economic effects of the tragedy, examining both when passengers will return and when they should return.

Arnold I. Barnett is George Eastman Professor of Management Science, the Sloan School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has headed an FAA research team that was formed to investigate antiterrorist measures at the request of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security.

The annual convention of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) takes place in Miami Beach from Sunday, November 4 to Wednesday, November 7 at the Fontainebleau Hilton Resort. Operations researchers are little known but indispensable experts who use math and science to improve decision-making, management, and operations in a host of fields. The convention includes sessions on topics applied to numerous fields, including air safety, the military, e-commerce, health care, information technology, energy, transportation, marketing, telecommunications, and health care.

More than 1,800 papers are scheduled to be delivered. Additional information about the conference is at http://www2.informs.org/Conf/Miami2001 and http://www2.informs.org/Press

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, the stock market, and telecommunications. The INFORMS website is at http://www.informs.org