Teaching real-life OR to MSc students

The nature of the ‘messiness’ of the real projects in which we are involved determines how our OR practice proceeds. In order to train the future generation of Operational Researchers, we need to prepare them with the skills to deal with this messiness. The teachers themselves firstly must have these skills and have fresh experience of using them. This paper discusses the synergies to be experienced between teaching, consulting, research and in-company training. These abilities then need to be passed on to the students. Technique training provides an important tool-kit but the key skills have to be learned through guided experiential learning, with the learning loop closed by guided reflection (fostered and aided by mentors).     

Comparative Testing of Five Numerical Methods for Finding Roots of Polynomials

This paper summarizes the results of comparative testing of (1) Wilf's global bisection method, (2) the Laguerre method, (3) the companion matrix eigenvalue method, (4) the companion matrix eigenvalue method with balancing, and (5) the Jenkens-Traub method, all of which are methods for finding the zeros of polynomials. The test set of polynomials used are those suggested by [5]. The methods were compared on each test polynomials on the basis of the accuracy of the computed roots and the CPU time required to numerically compute all roots.     

Differentiation of stereochemistry of glycosidic bond configuration: Tandem mass spectrometry of diastereomeric cobalt-glucosyl-glucose disaccharide complexes

Configurations of glycosidic linkages (α or β) in a series of 1,3-, 1,4-, and 1,6-glucosyl-glucose disaccharides were differentiated by tandem mass spectrometry. Diastereomeric octahedral complexes, [Co⁺³ (acac)₂/disaccharide]⁺, were generated in situ via fast-atom bombardment ionization. Mass-analyzed, ion kinetic energy spectra of the metastable complexes obtained in the absence of collision gas indicated that the major product ion results from the loss of an acetylacetonate ligand, which thus generates the ion [Co⁺²(acac)/disaccharide]⁺. Kinetic energy release measurements for this dissociation display a consistently greater value for complexes that possess an α-linked disaccharide relative to those that possess β-linked disaccharides, regardless of linkage position.     

Synthesis and characterization of [(Me3SiCH2)2GaP(SiMe3)2]2, an example of a gallium-phosphorus dimer obtainable only through an indirect reaction pathway

The dimeric gallium-phosphorus compound [(Me₃Si-CH₂)₂GaP(SiMe₃)₂]₂ ( 1 ) was prepared from the 1:1 mole ratio lithium-halide elimination reaction of (Me₃SiCH₂)₂GaP(SiMe₃)₂Ga(CH₂SiMe₃)₂Cl with LiP-(SiMe₃)₂ in benzene solution and has been characterized through multinuclear solution NMR, partial elemental analysis, and single-crystal X-ray analysis. Compound 1 could not be obtained from the direct reactions of (Me₃SiCH₂)₂GaCl with P(SiMe₃)₃ or LiP(SiMe₃)₂. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 9:147–150, 1998     

Plasma-Chemical Synthesis of Lead Sulphide Thin Films for Near-IR Photodetectors

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - Lead sulfide (PbS) thin films of different morphology were synthesized via direct interaction of lead and sulfur vapors. Low temperature nonequilibrium RF...