As ACIE, Van Hentenryck will lead the development of “blue sky” initiatives, foster and nurture a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, facilitate translational research, and build strategic partnerships.

“I am happy that Pascal has agreed to serve as ACIE. In this role, he will be responsible for stimulating strategic thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship within ISyE,” said School Chair Edwin Romeijn. “Pascal has the energy and drive needed for this role, and he will provide tremendous value to ISyE. I look forward to working with him in this capacity.”

Van Hentenryck’s own research complements this new position. His work centers on artificial intelligence, data science, and operations research. His current focus is to develop methodologies, algorithms, and systems for addressing challenging problems in mobility, energy systems, resilience, and privacy. In the past, his research focused on optimization and the design and implementation of innovative optimization systems, including the CHIP programming system (a Cosytec product), the foundation of all modern constraint programming systems, and the optimization programming language OPL (now an IBM Product).

“I am deeply honored – and also delighted – to take on this new role. There is a convergence of technologies at the union of AI and OR that promises to fundamentally change industrial and systems engineering, and even engineering as a whole,” said Van Hentenryck. “ISyE is ideally positioned to pursue these opportunities, given its strength in methodologies and its domain expertise in a number of disciplines. It is an exciting time, and I look forward to working with the faculty to pursue them.”

Van Hentenryck’s tenure as ACIE began in early October.

The original workshop was such a success that it has now become an annual event. This year it was held on November 14 and 15 at Georgia Tech and was attended by more than 80 participants from Europe, Canada, and across the U.S. The goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers, practitioners, and students from electric energy systems and operations research — typically separated communities — to have focused discussions on the nation’s electric systems. The conference was organized by ISyE Anderson-Interface Early Career Professor and Associate Professor Andy Sun and featured more than 20 speakers from industry, academia, and research labs.

“It is encouraging to see the enthusiasm from the attendees of the past three workshops,” said Sun. “We need a focused platform to bring together power engineering and optimization experts to help solve these problems. I think that’s why we see people coming back every year from practical day-to-day operations of power markets and the most prestigious academic institutes.”

ISyE Associate Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and A. Russell Chandler III Chair and Professor Pascal Van Hentenryck welcomed the group and reiterated the significance of a multidisciplinary approach to solve problems. Van Hentenryck also noted the importance of the informal discussions and networking that takes place during the workshop, in addition to the formal talks.

Workshop themes included the challenges in operations of large-scale electricity markets; new approaches for managing risks and stochasticity in electric markets; contingency analysis, probabilistic operation, and machine learning; recent advancements in optimal power flow control and computation; distributed energy resources and storage; and dealing with uncertainty, contingency, and health considerations in power grids.

“The most gratifying response is from students who attended and presented posters of their extremely high-quality research,” added Sun. “We hope that the students are as inspired as we are about the future of research in energy systems.”

Following the workshop, Professor Warren Powell from Princeton University, who was also one of the speakers, praised the event. “Fabulous workshop,” said Powell. “I think you have established this event as the best energy systems workshop in the country.”

The 2019 Workshop on Energy Systems and Optimization was made possible by the generous support of sponsors, including ISyE, the Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Institute, and the ISyE Anderson-Interface Chair. The team plans to host the workshop again in 2020.

“When most people think about engineering, they think of mechanical or civil, but they don’t know — until they are already in college — that they can use industrial engineering and operations research tools to analyze and solve scientific, real-world problems,” explained Bonder. “We want to introduce high school students to the field and its many applications early, so they know it is a future career option.”

Big data and data science are growing fields; and while people may have heard these terms, they typically don’t fully understand their many applications.

“Data science is the idea of using computation to transform data into information, knowledge, insights, and decisions,” explained Van Hentenryck. “Data scientists are changing the world every day, and we want to help develop the next generation.”

This summer, 30 high school students gathered at the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering on July 22 to participate in the Seth Bonder Camp in Computational and Data Science for Engineering. The five-day camp, led by Van Hentenryck, teaches basic programming and computer science skills to participants with little or no prior experience in these areas.

Each day began with an interactive lecture from Van Hentenryck, followed by an afternoon in the lab getting hands-on experience to implement the concepts learned. The camp uses Snap!, a visual programming language designed to teach basic programming concepts without the mathematical component. The lessons built on these ideas to show how data science is changing social science, machine learning, medicine, biology, and engineering. The campers even learned how to create a program to solve Sudoku in seconds.

“Pascal does a wonderful job taking a difficult concept and breaking it down so the students can understand it,” said Bonder. “He makes it fun and lighthearted, which makes it more appealing to the students who may be considering industrial engineering or operations research as a career choice.”

Van Hentenryck thoroughly enjoyed his time working on the camp. “It is an opportunity to go back in time and rediscover the awe I felt when I realized how to use computing for solving complex engineering problems,” he reflected. “I try to give them the confidence to dive into the field and build solutions.”

At the conclusion of the camp, several students told Van Hentenryck that they wanted to become engineers and asked to keep in touch. A few even asked him to serve as a mentor for high school research projects in the coming year.

To further their mission of increased awareness of data science and operations research among as many high school students as possible, Van Hentenryck and Bonder hope to eventually create a free online version of the course that will be open to anyone interested in learning more about this growing field.

Seth Bonder (1932-2011) was the founder and CEO of Vector Research, an operations research consulting firm. He served as faculty, and then adjunct faculty, in the industrial engineering department at the University of Michigan and as the 27th president of the Operations Research Society of America. Bonder won numerous awards throughout his career and was an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering. He earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Ohio State University.

Yet, ridership has been falling, and the system — known as MARTA, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority — hasn’t grown as quickly as the population it serves. After Amazon decided to build new headquarters operations in D.C. and New York City, some speculated Atlanta’s comparatively limited public transportation system might have been a factor.

Pascal Van Hentenryck, A. Russell Chandler III Chair and professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) at Georgia Tech, has a few ideas as to why MARTA has problems:

“The public system here is not as developed as in other cities,” said Van Hentenryck, a Belgium native. “It only has a few train lines, which were originally developed for other purposes. So, you’re really not connecting people to where they want to go. The necessary connections are just not there for low-ridership areas. But, thanks to new technologies and mobility models, MARTA has tremendous opportunities to change this.”

In the summer of 2018, Van Hentenryck left the University of Michigan to join ISyE and has already started working with MARTA and the Atlanta Regional Commission. His plan is to look at the transit system holistically and consider how it can scale. In addition to MARTA, that means bike lanes, walking paths, roads — all the ways people get where they’re going.

Van Hentenryck’s lab is working on optimization and machine learning algorithms that take into account congestion, driving behaviors and data collected from MARTA to create a simulation of mobility in Atlanta that can help local, regional and state policymakers.

You can read the rest of this article on the Georgia Tech College of Engineering website: https://b.gatech.edu/2XsZ9Lp.

To honor this event, Justin Betancourt, an alumnus of the Master’s in Supply Chain program and former VP of Operations and Finance at the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), offered a treasure trove of insights and reflections about his impactful journey that started at ISyE. 

Currently, Betancourt works at Delta Air Lines as a Project Manager in Workforce Planning and Analytics, where he applies his supply chain expertise from ISyE in a distinctive manner. 

Automating the Aviation Workforce 

“I like to think of my role as managing the supply chain of manpower. My job revolves around staffing at various airports, ensuring we maintain a harmoniously balanced staffing system throughout the country”. 

Highlighting the significant improvements in efficiency brought about by automation, Betancourt believes that removing repetitive and manual tasks from the equation streamlines processes and substantially lowers the chances of human error. 

This change allows staff to engage in more meaningful work, thereby enhancing overall operational efficiency. 

Betancourt shared his insights on the transformative impact of data analytics and automation. "Sometimes, the airline industry is perceived as slow to adapt due to its complexity and regulatory environment, but what's truly revolutionizing our sector is the investment in data analytics and automation." 

In his vision, the future of the aviation industry, and indeed many other sectors, lies in the harmonious integration of automation with human ingenuity.  

Betancourt’s insights into APICS 

As a founding member of APICS at Georgia Tech, Betancourt's contributions were instrumental in shaping the then-nascent organization.  

While reflecting on his motivation for joining the organization, Betancourt reminisced, “I wanted to be involved in APICS to get people in the same room and get them talking about what they're learning in school, challenge each other and grow together by networking.” 

Faced with the unforeseen challenges posed by COVID-19, Betancourt and his team demonstrated remarkable resilience and ingenuity by combining virtual and in-person engagements to adapt to the new circumstances. 

During his time at APICS, Betancourt was notably involved in strategic collaborations, particularly with the Supply Chain Institute and its director Tim Brown, under whom he also served as a teaching assistant.  

Their synergy facilitated a series of insightful seminars and discussions, enriching the learning experience for students. APICS capitalized on these opportunities, ensuring students had access to cutting-edge knowledge in supply chain advancements and research. 

Betancourt fondly recalls a key event during his APICS tenure: hosting the founder of the Project Management Institute. This seminar, primarily a success due to the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute and Tim Brown, highlighted crucial project management principles  

Beyond academic enrichment, these initiatives served as dynamic platforms for student networking, connecting them with industry leaders, faculty, and fellow students, thereby nurturing a community dedicated to collective learning and development. 

SCL Career Fair’s Networking Power 

Betancourt recalls the SCL Career Fair, as a standout event for networking, especially for those pursuing careers in supply chain management.  

“The SCL Career fair is probably the best opportunity to network with Industry professionals. Since it’s specific to supply chain roles and companies, it feels a lot more unique and intimate” Betancourt said.  

Giving thought on his journey, Betancourt shares how the career fair's specialized focus on supply chain allowed for engaging, in-depth discussions with company delegates. He credits the fair for facilitating valuable professional relationships, which notably played a role in his eventual position at Delta. 

Regarding guidance for students aspiring to careers in supply chain management, Betancourt stresses the necessity of being forward-thinking and adaptable. He asserts, "Plan ahead, think critically, and stay resilient. These qualities are indispensable in navigating the complexities of supply chain logistics." 

_______

Author: Atharva Anand Dave 

References: 

Justin Betancourt, PMP - Procter & Gamble | LinkedIn. (n.d.). https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinbetancourt 

Six undergraduate courses launch this spring semester, after another six began this past fall (two courses from fall are repeated this spring). They span six of the College’s eight schools. Topics range from AI in smart cities to machine learning fundamentals to online decision making as the College expands its initiatives to innovate education.

“AI and machine learning have been around since the 1950s, but only recently has the computational power existed — and been cheap enough — for the average company to make it a part of its business,” said Mitchell Walker, who led the effort on behalf of the College as associate dean for academic affairs. “These companies need our graduates to understand how the technology works and educate their existing workforce.”

Read more about which courses are being offered in IE.

In Spring 2022, ISyE expanded its reach by offering its first probability and statistics competition for high school students.  

With 40 finalists participating in a full day of competition, workshops, guest speakers, and networking, the event marked a milestone in fostering academic excellence. 

As explained by Dr. Tuba Ketenci, Director of Educational Outreach and a key organizer of the event, the competition is much more than a contest; it's a gateway for high school students, hailing from diverse backgrounds, to the realms of applied mathematics and engineering. 

Dr. Ketenci sheds light on the collaborative effort involving Ph.D. students, postdocs, the communications department, and math teachers from various counties, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of organizing such an event.  

The competition unfolds in two dynamic stages, beginning with an online round tailored for nationwide accessibility, ensuring inclusivity for students across the country – and globally. 

Scheduled for January 26, 2024, the initial round is meticulously crafted by ISyE's current Ph.D. students, who delve into the high school statistics curriculum to develop a challenging set of multiple-choice questions.  

Following this, the top 40 standout performers from the first round earn the prestigious opportunity to advance to the second round, further showcasing their statistical acumen. 

The second stage elevates the experience for the top contenders by bringing them to the Georgia Tech campus for a lively, in-person competition on April 19, 2024.  

This round extends beyond the contest, offering hands-on activities, a comprehensive campus tour, and the decisive final competition. The event concludes with an awards ceremony, celebrating the exceptional talents of these young statisticians. 

Dr. Ketenci emphasizes the significance of aligning the competition questions with the high school AP statistics curriculum. “We take the AP stat book and we look at the content that teachers are planning to cover by January and create the questions for the first round. By mid-april, most chapters are covered which allows us to create questions from the entire book”. 

The competition awards not only monetary prizes but also medals and certificates to acknowledge outstanding achievements. From cash prizes for the top three performers to medals for school winners and those on the National Honor Roll, the event strives to recognize and celebrate excellence at various levels. 

Plans for the future include addressing diverse challenges by adding more content to the competition and potentially incorporating advanced classes to attract a broader participant base. 

As the competition evolves, its impact is poised to extend further, inspiring a new generation of talent and contributing to the academic landscape. The vision is clear: to embed the competition into high school curriculums, make it a recognized and anticipated event nationwide. 

______

Authors: Atharva Anand Dave, Natalie Esparza  

The pair submitted their proposal, “Strategic Investment to Scale-up Aviation Biofuel,” to the Climate CoLab’s Aviation contest category. They proposed that one large country (the U.S., China, or Brazil) or coordinated region (e.g., the EU) intensely ramp up aviation biofuel production, along with associated coproducts such as diesel fuel, to a level of about 120 million tons of biomass by the year 2030. They specifically focused on the feasibility of China to contribute to this initiative.

Emphasizing technology development for aviation biofuel within a particular country would result in gaining expertise in the most efficient pathway. Plausible ways to develop a stable supply and demand for biofuel include the following:

• Collaborating with neighboring countries to establish an efficient supply chain.
• Working with suppliers and airlines that are taking initiatives to use biofuel.
• A common fuel distribution system can be established in the airports of China, similar to the bioports implemented in Amsterdam, Holland and Oslo, Norway. This way all the operators flying into these airports will be refueled by biofuel.
• With the European Union including the aviation industry in its emission trading system since 2012, a strategic alignment could be made between the EU and China to substantiate the investment.

Arulselvan and Thomas’s proposal was particularly commended by the contest judges for its potential impact to considerably reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

To learn more about the pair’s proposal, read here: http://bit.ly/2cJQPjU.

Watch a video about the pair’s work here: https://youtu.be/un9Ve3V5w8M.

About Valerie Thomas and Suriya Arulselvan

Suriya Arulselvan is a process modeling engineer at Aspen Technology in Bedford, MA. She has a Master of Science in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech, and a Bachelor of Technology in chemical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchipappalli.

Valerie Thomas is the Anderson Interface Professor of Natural Systems in ISyE, with a joint appointment in the School of Public Policy. Her research interests are energy and materials efficiency, sustainability, industrial ecology, technology assessment, international security, and science and technology policy. Current research projects include the environmental impacts of biofuels and electricity system policy and planning.

About the Climate CoLab

The goal of the Climate CoLab is to harness the collective intelligence of thousands of people from all around the world to address global climate change.

Inspired by systems like Wikipedia and Linux, the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence has developed this crowdsourcing platform where people work with experts and each other to create, analyze, and select detailed proposals for what to do about climate change.

By constructively engaging a broad range of scientists, policy makers, business people, investors, and concerned citizens, the hope is that the Climate CoLab will help to develop, and gain support for, climate change plans that are better than any that would have otherwise been developed.

Anyone can join the Climate CoLab community and participate. Community members are invited to submit and comment on proposals outlining ideas for what they think should be done about climate change. In some contests, members create proposals for specific kinds of actions such as generating electric power with fewer emissions or changing social attitudes about climate change. In other contests, members combine ideas from many other proposals to create integrated climate action plans for a country, a group of countries, or the whole world. Experts evaluate the entries and pick finalists, and then both experts and community members select the most promising proposals.

Her athletic journey at Georgia Tech began successfully during her freshman year, where she established herself as one of the institution’s top swimmers by clocking the fifth-fastest 400 IM and ninth-fastest 200 IM at the Georgia Tech Invitational.[1] 

Her exceptional organizational prowess played a pivotal role in harmonizing her intense training schedule with her academic commitments. 

Currently, Campbell is diving into the depths of the MS in Analytics program at the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE).  

When asked about her motivation to pursue a master’s degree, Campbell said “I decided to do my master's because I had two internship experiences. One is Supply chain analytics [at Georgia Pacific LLC] and one in financial data analytics [at UPS] ... I had an interest in analytics and data science, and I wanted to enhance those skills.” 

Campbell’s Swim Towards Excellence 

Campbell's day starts early with morning swim practice, beginning before dawn. This early session sets the tone for her day, filled with back-to-back classes that demanded her keen academic focus. 

Navigating the rigorous demands of being a student-athlete, Campbell showcased her skill in the 100 and 200 fly, securing second-fastest team times for the season. Her first-place finishes in the 200 fly against Florida State, Georgia Southern, and SCAD further cemented her status as a formidable competitor in collegiate swimming. [1] 

In her sophomore year, she shattered Georgia Tech records in the 200 fly and 400 IM, and secured top-ten times in the 500 free and 100 fly. She further showcased her versatility at the NCAA and ACC Championships, recording personal bests in the 500 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM. [1] 

By her junior year, Campbell further solidified her reputation as a NCAA qualifier by breaking records in the 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM[2]. Campbell also clinched first place in the 200 free at the Gardner-Webb meet. [1] 

Every path has its obstacles, and during the isolating times of the COVID-19 pandemic, Campbell found strength in routine, focusing intently on swimming and academics.  

This period, while testing her resilience, unexpectedly led to one of her best swim seasons and personal growth in adversity. 

Georgia Tech’s Guiding Influence 

Campbell credits much of her success to her mentors and coaches at Georgia Tech.  

“My coach right now is Chico Rego, and I’ve been swimming with him for like 3 years now. During my first two years, I swam with Bill Koppelman, and he did his Masters in analytics from here and he suggested that I should look into IE if I like math and statistics” Campbell said.  

Her academic advisor, Dr. Goldsman, also played a crucial role in guiding her through the challenges of her Industrial Engineering and Analytics courses, fostering in her a deep appreciation for the field. 

When asked to share guidance for upcoming student-athletes at Tech, Campbell emphasized, "Balancing time is key" advising those to harness the Athletic Association's robust support, lean on dependable teammates, and smartly plan their course schedules, including summer classes. 

Currently, Campbell is making the most of her fifth year by continuing to compete on the varsity swim team.  

As Campbell progresses further in her master's program, she looks forward to a future where she can blend her passion for analytics with her experiences in supply chain management.  

____

Author: Atharva Anand Dave 

References: 

1. https://ramblinwreck.com/. (2023, September 13). McKenzie Campbell. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. https://ramblinwreck.com/sports/c-swim/roster/season/2023-24/mckenzie-campbell/ 

2. https://ramblinwreck.com/campbell-qualifies-for-ncaa-championships/  

In sharing his perspective, he seeks to guide recent graduates on the realities of experiencing their first job postgraduation.  

Originating from India, Shah embarked on his academic journey in Mechanical Engineering at the Vellore Institute of Technology. After dedicating four and a half years to honing his skills in Supply Chain and Network Design he made a strategic decision to further his expertise by pursuing a master’s degree from Georgia Tech. 

Following graduation, Shah embarked on a career at Amazon, where he is currently flourishing as an Innovation and Design Engineer.  

His journey at Amazon began with an internship through the SCL Amazon Scholars Program, a pivotal experience that laid the groundwork for his transition to a full-time role.  

Shah offers the following tips, tricks and insights on how recent graduates can make the most out of their first job: 

• Take full advantage of company-provided resources for continuous skill enhancement, such as free online certifications and training 

• Seize every chance to network within and beyond one's industry, one can never know which of these connections might offer assistance in the future 

When prompted for insights into prudent financial strategies, Shah recommends: 

• Read the book “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi, it’s ideal for fresh graduates to start their financial savings journey early 

Finally, when inquired about her networking strategies, Shah suggests: 

• Apart from the career fairs, students should take advantage of the various ISyE internal and affiliated chapters, they can connect you with working professionals who are able to guide you on your career path or refer you for future opportunities 

• Try finding conferences near you, these are the best networking opportunities where you are likely to be able to have conversations with well positioned leadership from multiple companies 

• While networking, keep the conversation light and include mix of both technical and non-technical topics 

__________

Author: Atharva A. Dave

Want to read more? Check out his story here. 

ISyE student Omar Khan has been responsible for maintaining the Wreck this year as the elected driver.

The Ford Model A represents Tech’s reputation of superb engineering because the car was an engineering marvel itself. The vehicle that drives around campus and leads the football team onto the field before every home game initially rolled off Ford’s manufacturing line in 1930. It was one of a staggering 4.9 million Model A’s produced from 1927 to 1932 — one every two minutes. Unprecedented for its time, that volume was possible because the car was designed from the beginning with manufacturability in mind.

Read the full article here.

The difference between him and his peers was that Johnson wasn’t at the beginning of his career. Rather, he’s developing the third, or maybe fourth, chapter of his story after serving three decades in the U.S. Army and helping the NBA spin up its referee operations department.

For the last 10 years, he’s been at Georgia Tech, where he earned a master’s degree in operations research in 1985. Johnson is a professor of the practice in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and also was managing director of the Tennenbaum Institute for Enterprise Transformation. He teaches Statistics and Applications for engineering and computer science students, advises student groups like the Sports Business Club, and works with the Georgia Tech ROTC.

You can read more about his story here.

Yuming Sun, a Ph.D. student studying Operations Research at the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has been honored with the 2023 Seth Bonder Scholarship for Applied Operations Research in Health Services.

The Seth Bonder scholarship is a prestigious student award in the INFORMS Health Applications Society, that promotes the development and application of process modeling and operations research analysis to healthcare design, delivery, and operations.

Officially unveiled on Sunday, October 15th at the INFORMS Annual Meeting Awards Banquet, Sun was recognized for his exceptional research addressing the urgent need to focus on the threats posed by “circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus” (cVDPV).

Pioneering Solutions in Polio Eradication

Sun’s research proposal emphasized the ongoing challenges in reducing polio transmission on a global scale and mitigating vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks -- offering hope for a polio-free world.

His work consists of modeling the spread of poliovirus in high-risk spaces, while investigating cost-effective options to stop, prevent, and end polio outbreaks.

“Vaccine-derived poliovirus outbreaks are a result of the live-attenuated viruses used in the oral polio vaccine (OPV) reverting to cVDPV in under-vaccinated communities. cVDPV leads to poliovirus transmission and potentially paralysis among infected individuals.”

A Visionary Collaboration

With his research advancement, Sun emerges as a trailblazer, potentially being the first ISyE student in over two decades to receive this revered award.

Under the guidance of his advisors, Pinar Keskinocak and Lauren Steimle, Sun has “closely collaborated with researchers in the Global Immunization Division at the CDC, and regularly incorporates their feedback into his models.”

The invaluable feedback from the CDC team has enriched the impact, positioning Yuming at the forefront of this critical research.

Hailing from Panama, Avila pursued her Bachelor of Science in Logistics and Supply chain at the Technological University of Panama. Along this remarkable path, she nurtured her skills and expertise through invaluable experiences at renowned organizations like GlaxoSmithKline and Grainger.

Avila currently shines as a Business Operations Analyst in the Global Production Planning department at Dell Technologies, contributing her talents to shape the future of supply chain operations.

Avila’s dedication towards academia was further bolstered when she was awarded a scholarship to pursue her master's degree at Georgia Tech. Like many of her peers, Avila navigated the intricate path of securing her inaugural job with unwavering determination.

Avila shares some tips, tricks and insights on how recent graduates can make the most out of their first job:

• Create a list of companies they’re interested in working with

• Having an open-minded approach and emphasizing that fresh graduates secure multiple learning opportunity

When prompted for insights into prudent financial strategies tailored for recent graduates, Avila recommends:

• Studying the market average salary for the position that you want

• Be aware of their self-perceived value and the prevalent industry norms

Finally, when inquired about her networking strategies, Avila suggests:

• Create a list of probably attendees and conduct research regarding their research and background

• Strike up a conversation with them regarding the interests, which will ultimately forging meaningful, mutually beneficial relationships

His foresight in nurturing junior researchers and stimulating practically relevant research has been pivotal in shaping the event's objectives. This year's symposium, hosted by Georgia Tech, marked an exceptional turnout, surpassing recent year attendance records and underscoring the growing enthusiasm in this field.

The event kicked off with a warm welcome remark by event organizing committee member Prof. Shihao Yang, ISyE School Chair Prof. Edwin Romeijn, and Chair Professor Roshan Joseph, emphasizing the collective efforts of the three pivotal institutions: The University of Georgia, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University.

The highlight of the opening was the keynote address by Professor Samuel Kou from Harvard University, who captivated the audience with insights on 'Catalytic Prior Distributions for Bayesian Inference'.

GSD 2023 was remarkable not just for its record attendance but also for the diversity of its participants. Attendees ranged from undergraduate students to seasoned faculty members, representing various universities and stages in their academic and professional journeys. What was particularly noteworthy was the breadth of research presented: 12 oral presentations and 30 poster presentations provided a platform for a rich exchange of ideas and the latest advancements in statistics and data science.

The event wasn’t just about presentations; it also recognized the hard work and talent of its participants, with an award ceremony celebrating outstanding student contributions, where the best poster award was presented to ISyE PhD candidate Tianjiao Li.

This emphasis on mentorship and recognition is a testament to the supportive academic culture we nurture here at Georgia Tech.

This remarkable gathering was made possible through the generous support of several sponsors from within our institution, including the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, the College of Engineering Dean’s Office, the Office of Undergraduate Research, and the Provost’s Office, along with external sponsors such as Wells Fargo, the ASA GA Chapter, and Georgia CTSA.

As GSD 2023 concluded, it was clear that the symposium had not only celebrated current achievements but had also laid a path of intellectual rigor and collaborative spirit for the years ahead. With GSD 2024 slated to be at Emory University and GSD 2025 at the University of Georgia, the anticipation is palpable.

We are confident that the tradition of excellence will continue, and we wholeheartedly pass the baton, excited to see how these peer institutions will further enrich this vibrant academic dialogue. Our collective success is a shared one, and we look forward to contributing to and celebrating future achievements in our field, together.

This monumental victory, achieved against stiff competition from 13 nominated teams across the United States and Canada, is a testament to the unwavering dedication and brilliance of our students. 

The esteemed IISE Honors and Awards committee, after careful evaluation, extended invitations to the top four teams, including Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Dalhousie, and Toronto Metro, to present their remarkable capstone project posters at a conference in the vibrant city of New Orleans.  

Following this initial stage, a select few teams were further chosen to give extended presentations in front of the esteemed committee. 

It is with great pleasure that we announce the resounding victory of the Georgia Tech Team, aptly named Chairway to Heaven, as they secured the coveted 1st place position. Their exceptional project, titled "Data-Driven Supplier Selection for New Product Launches," showcased their unparalleled ingenuity and problem-solving prowess for their client Steelcase.  

The team members, Isaac Altman, Jinghan Chen, Margaret Fowler, Maxim Geller, Aila Khan, Madeleine Pollack, Justin Rickerson, and Kota Teasley, brought their collective brilliance to the forefront, leaving no doubt about their deservingness of this prestigious accolade. 

The outstanding success of our students reflects their determination and commitment to excellence that Georgia Tech upholds. It is a testament to the exceptional quality of work our students consistently produce, the strength of our curriculum, and the high standards we set for ourselves for our future leaders.  

An extended congratulations to our esteemed faculty advisor, Dr. Xin Chen. 

Dunkin's career is a testament to her unwavering commitment to technological progress and innovation. Prior to her current role, she served as the Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and held key positions at Dell Technologies, the County of Santa Clara, CA, Palo Alto Unified School District, and Hewlett Packard.   

She is also a published author, a sought-after speaker, and a recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the 2022 Capital CIO Large Enterprise ORBIE Award. Her accolades include recognition as one of DC's Top 50 Women in Technology and inclusion in ComputerWorld's Premier 100 Technology Leaders. 

Dan Caudle (IE ‘12) deeply respects beer's ancient history. It's among humanity's earliest and dearest creations. Some scholars link it to the rise of civilization, saying it boosted progress and innovation alongside bread. 

Star Harris will join the C.A.S.E. team under the guidance of Manager Nicoly Y. Myles. Tomas Galeas Mora will join the Communications team, under the management of Manager Camille C. Henriquez. 

These bright and motivated individuals will be joining us starting this September and will be working with us the entire academic school year. Together, these two students are not just becoming a part of the ISyE team; they're embarking on the next step of their professional journey. 

Preference for the fellowships is given to students choosing the new Systems Design track, which incorporates two courses from mechanical engineering – robotics and mechatronics, in addition to a new ISyE course on supply chain systems design. The purpose of the track is to prepare students for roles in supply chain facilities’ engineering and design, as well as a broader range of supply chain systems design roles.

Priority is also given to underrepresented minorities and female students. Amazon is supporting ISyE and the SCL to reach out to students in transfer programs with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) or schools that are otherwise are majority minority.

About the Fellowship Recipients

Gil Malengreaux, who hails from Belgium, did both his undergraduate – in electromechanical engineering – and master’s work – in industrial engineering and operations research (IEOR) – at Ghent University. He is in ISyE’s in the Master of Supply Chain Engineering (MS SCE) program on a Fulbright scholarship to the U.S.

Malengreaux said that he chose the supply chain engineering program because ISyE has one of the top programs internationally. “With a generic, broad master’s degree in IEOR, I wanted to learn how I can apply these techniques within a supply chain setting,” he explained. “My IEOR background provides me a multidisciplinary view on businesses and industry, but I believe that there’s so much exciting innovation in the world of logistics and fulfilment, that highly specialized profiles are indispensable to optimize these systems, and make them more efficient, durable, and sustainable. The sustainability aspect is what really interests me.”

Angela Moore completed her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Northeastern University in Boston, MA.

“I'm fascinated by the interconnectivity of complex systems within the global supply chain,” Moore said. “From my experience in production, inventory management, system implementation, and procurement, I've seen how a small decision in one department can have a large impact on the entire system. I'd like to use my industry experience with the supply chain engineering curriculum to help strategically plan out future supply chain systems.

“When I graduate from the MS SCE program, I want design innovative supply chain systems that reduce waste while being agile and responsive. I'd like to work with a group of people that are interested in challenging current processes.”

Kiara Moore received her bachelor’s degree in computer science with a mathematics minor from Atlanta, GA’s Spelman College. Spelman is an all-women’s college and the No. 1-ranked HBCU.

She selected Georgia Tech for her master’s degree because “it has been a dream school for me. Georgia Tech is known for educating some of the top professionals in the industry. Not only is Tech ranked highly for engineering, ISyE is the No. 1 school in its field.

“Further,” she noted, “ISyE offers programs that partner with different companies to provide real-world experience. Without hesitation I knew Tech and ISyE would be the best choice for me.”

Following this dream education experience, Moore’s dream job will be working on the business side of supply chain engineering.

Krithika Srinivasan comes to ISyE from India, where she received her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT). Srinivasan said that “VIT is known worldwide for its cosmopolitan atmosphere and its beautiful campus. I enjoyed my four years there, where I made the best of friends and worked with some of the best faculty.

“I believe supply chain engineering plays an important role in any industry, as it involves optimization of processes, customer satisfaction, and employee welfare,” she explained. “It is central to the holistic development of a company, as well as the idea that a small, seemingly insignificant change can change the fortunes of a company. Also, any supply chain connects people around the world, giving it a global reach that enriches numerous cultures.”

Her dream job, she says, “is one that would let me be creative and provide solutions to problems that would result in the satisfaction of the end user. Supply chain engineering brings together my passion for engineering as well as my problem solving skills, and I hope to help as many people as I can.”

For more information on ISyE’s MS SCE program, visit https://www.isye.gatech.edu/academics/masters/supply-chain-engineering.

For questions or if you are interested in applying for an Amazon Fellowship, visit https://www.scl.gatech.edu/outreach/amazonfellow.

This recognition is a result of their ground-breaking "for their seminal work in convex optimization theory, including the theory of self-concordant functions and interior-point methods, a complexity theory of optimization, accelerated gradient methods, and methodological advances in robust optimization."  

The World Laureates Association (WLA) bestows this international academic prize, which was established in 2021. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place on the 6th of November in Shanghai and is dedicated to fostering advancements in the fields of technology and science, specifically in “Computer Science or Mathematics” and “Life Science or Medicine”.  

Generously sponsored by HongShan, the WLA prize aims to recognize researchers and technocrats who have made significant strides in their research objectives and aim to improve the quality of life through their work in technology. Recipients of the prize are awarded a sum of RMB 10 million, which is distributed equally among all the laureates.  

Dr. Nemirovski’s research interest centers on Optimization Theory and Algorithms. Renowned for his expertise in creating highly efficient algorithms, Dr. Nemirovski aims to explore the intricate complexities of nonlinear convex programs. Some other fields of scholarly pursuits include nonparametric statistics and optimization in engineering.  

Throughout his career, Dr. Nemirovski has been adorned with several distinguished accolades and honors. His work with convex optimization earned him the Fulkerson Prize in 1982. Some other notable awards include the Dantzig Prize in 1991 and the John von Neumann Theory Prize in 2003.  

Dr. Nemirovski is a distinguished member of several scientific institutions and academies including the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S), and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). 

Associated with ISyE since 2005, Dr. Nemirovski is driven by his unwavering desire to propel his research forward and continues to make substantial contributions in the field of continuous optimization and non-parametric statistics. His impactful research and academic endeavors at the ISyE serve as an inspirational beacon for budding academicians in their pursuit of excellence. 

The annual event is scheduled to be held from the 18th to the 21st of May in Montreal, Canada.  

Widely considered the largest industrial and systems Engineering event of the year, it attracts the participation of leading industry professionals.  

With various paper presentations from reputable teaching institutions worldwide, the IISE Conference is popular among students and faculty eager to present their research work. 

In conjunction with his role as the chair professor, Dr. Montreuil holds pivotal positions as the Director of the Physical Internet Center and Co-director of the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute at ISyE. 

Dr. Montreuil’s prolific research endeavors center around the formulation of techniques, methodologies, and concepts for optimizing, transforming, and enabling businesses, supply chains, and value creation networks to excel in our dynamically evolving hyperconnected global landscape. 

Throughout his four decades of research, Dr. Montreuil is credited with introducing a set of paradigm-challenging leading-edge contributions that have and continue to reform the industrial engineering industry.  

Having contributed to and published more than 250 scientific publications and communications, Dr. Montreuil is a renowned industry professional, academician, and researcher who continues to transform and nurture the aspirations of future scholars and industry professionals. 

Yao Xie

Sequential Predictive Conformal Inference for Time Series | Chen Xu, Yao Xie

We present a new distribution-free conformal prediction algorithm for sequential data (e.g., time series), called the \textit{sequential predictive conformal inference} (\texttt{SPCI}). We specifically account for the nature that time series data are non-exchangeable, and thus many existing conformal prediction algorithms are not applicable. The main idea is to adaptively re-estimate the conditional quantile of non-conformity scores (e.g., prediction residuals), upon exploiting the temporal dependence among them. More precisely, we cast the problem of conformal prediction interval as predicting the quantile of a future residual, given a user-specified point prediction algorithm. Theoretically, we establish asymptotic valid conditional coverage upon extending consistency analyses in quantile regression. Using simulation and real-data experiments, we demonstrate a significant reduction in interval width of \texttt{SPCI} compared to other existing methods under the desired empirical coverage.

Xiaoming Huo

Conformalization of Sparse Generalized Linear Models | Etash Guha, Eugene Ndiaye, Xiaoming Huo

Given a sequence of observable variables $(x_1, y_1), \ldots, (x_n, y_n)$, the conformal prediction method estimates a confidence set for $y_{n+1}$ given $x_{n+1}$ that is valid for any finite sample size by merely assuming that the distribution is permutation invariant. Although attractive, computing such a set is infeasible in most regression problems. Indeed, in these cases, the unknown variable $y_{n+1}$ can take an infinite number of possible values, and generating conformal sets requires retraining a predictive model for each of them. In this paper, we focus on a sparse model with only a subset of variables for prediction, and we leverage numerical continuation techniques to efficiently approximate the solution path. The key property we exploit is that the set of selected variables is invariant under a small perturbation of the input data. Therefore, it is sufficient to enumerate and refit the model only at the change points of the set of active features and smoothly interpolate the rest of the solution via a predictor-corrector mechanism. We show how our path-following algorithm accurately approximates conformal prediction sets and illustrate its performance using synthetic and real data examples.

Tuo Zhao

Effective Minkowski Dimension of Deep Nonparametric Regression: Function Approximation and Statistical Theories | Zixuan Zhang, Minshuo Chen, Mengdi Wang, Wenjing Liao, Tuo Zhao

Existing theories on deep nonparametric regression have shown that when the input data lie on a low-dimensional manifold, deep neural networks can adapt to the intrinsic data structures. In real world applications, such an assumption of data lying exactly on a low dimensional manifold is stringent. This paper introduces a relaxed assumption that the input data are concentrated around a subset of $\RR^d$ denoted by $\cS$, and the intrinsic dimension of $\cS$ can be characterized by a new complexity notation — effective Minkowski dimension. We prove that, the sample complexity of deep nonparametric regression only depends on the effective Minkowski dimension of $\cS$ denoted by $p$. We further illustrate our theoretical findings by considering nonparametric regression with an anisotropic Gaussian random design $N(0,\Sigma)$, where $\Sigma$ is full rank. When the eigenvalues of $\Sigma$ have an exponential or polynomial decay, the effective Minkowski dimension of such an Gaussian random design is $p=\cO(\sqrt{\log n})$ or $p=\cO(n^\gamma)$, respectively, where $n$ is the sample size and $\gamma\in(0,1)$ is a small constant depending on the polynomial decay rate. Our theory shows that, when the manifold assumption does not hold, deep neural networks can still adapt to the effective Minkowski dimension of the data, and circumvent the curse of the ambient dimensionality for moderate sample sizes.

Less is More: Task-aware Layer-wise Distillation for Language Model Compression | Chen Liang, Simiao Zuo, Qingru Zhang, Pengcheng He, Weizhu Chen, Tuo Zhao

Layer-wise distillation is a powerful tool to compress large models (i.e. teacher models) into small ones (i.e., student models). The student distills knowledge from the teacher by mimicking the hidden representations of the teacher at every intermediate layer. However, layer-wise distillation is difficult. Since the student has a smaller model capacity than the teacher, it is often under-fitted. Furthermore, the hidden representations of the teacher contain redundant information that the student does not necessarily need for the target task’s learning. To address these challenges, we propose a novel Task-aware layEr-wise Distillation (TED). TED designs task-aware filters to align the hidden representations of the student and the teacher at each layer. The filters select the knowledge that is useful for the target task from the hidden representations. As such, TED reduces the knowledge gap between the two models and helps the student to fit better on the target task. We evaluate TED in two scenarios: continual pre-training and fine-tuning. TED demonstrates significant and consistent improvements over existing distillation methods in both scenarios.

LoSparse: Structured Compression of Large Language Models based on Low-Rank and Sparse Approximation | Yixiao Li, Yifan Yu, Qingru Zhang, Chen Liang, Pengcheng He, Weizhu Chen, Tuo Zhao

Transformer models have achieved remarkable results in various natural language tasks, but they are often prohibitively large, requiring massive memories and computational resources. To re- duce the size and complexity of these models, we propose LoSparse (Low-Rank and Sparse ap- proximation), a novel model compression tech- nique that approximates a weight matrix by the sum of a low-rank matrix and a sparse matrix. Our method combines the advantages of both low- rank approximations and pruning, while avoid- ing their limitations. Low-rank approximation compresses the coherent and expressive parts in neurons, while pruning removes the incoherent and non-expressive parts in neurons. Pruning enhances the diversity of low-rank approxima- tions, and low-rank approximation prevents prun- ing from losing too many expressive neurons. We evaluate our method on natural language under- standing, question answering, and natural lan- guage generation tasks. We show that it signif- icantly outperforms existing compression meth- ods. Our code is publicly available at https: //github.com/yxli2123/LoSparse

Machine Learning Force Fields with Data Cost-Aware Training | Alexander Bukharin, Tianyi Liu, Shengjie Wang, Simiao Zuo, Weihao Gao, Wen Yan, Tuo Zhao

Machine learning force fields (MLFF) have been proposed to accelerate molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, which finds widespread applications in chemistry and biomedical research. Even for the most data-efficient MLFFs, reaching chemical accuracy can require hundreds of frames of force and energy labels generated by expensive quantum mechanical algorithms, which may scale as $O(n^3)$ to $O(n^7)$, with $n$ proportional to the number of basis functions.To address this issue, we propose a multi-stage computational framework — ASTEROID, which lowers the data cost of MLFFs by leveraging a combination of cheap inaccurate data and expensive accurate data. The motivation behind ASTEROID is that inaccurate data, though incurring large bias, can help capture the sophisticated structures of the underlying force field. Therefore, we first train a MLFF model on a large amount of inaccurate training data, employing a bias-aware loss function to prevent the model from overfitting the potential bias of this data. We then fine-tune the obtained model using a small amount of accurate training data, which preserves the knowledge learned from the inaccurate training data while significantly improving the model’s accuracy. Moreover, we propose a variant of ASTEROID based on score matching for the setting where the inaccurate training data are unlabeled. Extensive experiments on MD datasets and downstream tasks validate the efficacy of ASTEROID.Our code and data are available at \url{https://github.com/abukharin3/asteroid}.

Score Approximation, Estimation and Distribution Recovery of Diffusion Models on Low-Dimensional Data | Minshuo Chen, Kaixuan Huang, Tuo Zhao, Mengdi Wang

Diffusion models achieve state-of-the-art performance in various generation tasks. However, their theoretical foundations fall far behind. This paper studies score approximation, estimation, and distribution recovery of diffusion models, when data are supported on an unknown low-dimensional linear subspace. Our result provides sample complexity bounds for distribution estimation using diffusion models. We show that with a properly chosen neural network architecture, the score function can be both accurately approximated and efficiently estimated. Further, the generated distribution based on the estimated score function captures the data geometric structures and converges to a close vicinity of the data distribution. The convergence rate depends on subspace dimension, implying that diffusion models can circumvent the curse of data ambient dimensionality.

SMURF-THP: Score Matching-based UnceRtainty quantiFication for Transformer Hawkes Process | Zichong Li, Yanbo Xu, Simiao Zuo, Haoming Jiang, Chao Zhang, Tuo Zhao, Hongyuan Zha

Transformer Hawkes process models have shown to be successful in modeling event sequence data. However, most of the existing training methods rely on maximizing the likelihood of event sequences, which involves calculating some intractable integral. Moreover, the existing methods fail to provide uncertainty quantification for model predictions, e.g., confidence interval for the predicted event’s arrival time. To address these issues, we propose SMURF-THP, a score-based method for learning Transformer Hawkes process and quantifying prediction uncertainty. Specifically, SMURF-THP learns the score function of the event’s arrival time based on a score-matching objective that avoids the intractable computation. With such a learnt score function, we can sample the arrival time of events from the predictive distribution. This naturally allows for the quantification of uncertainty by computing confidence intervals over the generated samples. We conduct extensive experiments in both event type prediction and uncertainty quantification on time of arrival. In all the experiments, SMURF-THP outperforms existing likelihood-based methods in confidence calibration while exhibiting comparable prediction accuracy.

Juba Ziani

Sequential Strategic Screening | Lee Cohen, Saeed Sharifi-Malvajerdi, Kevin Stangl, Ali Vakilian, Juba Ziani

We initiate the study of strategic behavior in screening processes with multiple classifiers. We focus on two contrasting settings: a “conjunctive” setting in which an individual must satisfy all classifiers simultaneously, and a sequential setting in which an individual to succeed must satisfy classifiers one at a time. In other words, we introduce the combination of strategic classification}with screening processes. We show that sequential screening pipelines exhibit new and surprising behavior where individuals can exploit the sequential ordering of the tests to “zig-zag” between classifiers without having to simultaneously satisfy all of them. We demonstrate an individual can obtain a positive outcome using a limited manipulation budget even when far from the intersection of the positive regions of every classifier. Finally, we consider a learner whose goal is to design a sequential screening process that is robust to such manipulations and provide a construction for the learner that optimizes a natural objective.

Santanu Dey | Anderson-Interface Professor 

As the accomplished A. Russell Chandler III Professor and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, Dr. Santanu Dey was appointed to the endowed professorship position as ISyE’s next Anderson-Interface Professor. Dey brings an extensive amount of knowledge in the area of non-convex optimization, and in particular mixed integer linear and nonlinear programming. 

Xiaoming Huo | A. Russell Chandler III Professor 

Dr. Xiaoming Huo is an admired professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and also serves as the Associate Director for Research in the Institute for Data Science and Engineering (IDEaS). Huo has recently been appointed the professorship and will continue his research work spanning statistical theory, statistical computing, and data analytics, with significant contributions in areas like sparse representation, wavelets, and statistical problems in detectability. 

Mohit Singh | Coca-Cola Foundation Professor 

As an Associate Professor and Director of the Algorithms and Randomness Center (ARC), Dr. Mohit Singh was appointed to the professorship as a Coca-Cola Foundation Professor. He brings expertise in discrete optimization, approximation algorithms, and convex optimization. His research focuses on optimizing cloud computing, logistics, network design, and machine learning. 

Kamran Paynabar | Fouts Family Professor 

Dr. Kamran Paynabar has become the Fouts Family Professor and Associate Professor at the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. His research interests lie in the integration of applied and theoretical aspects of data mining and statistical modeling. Prior to this appointment, Paynabar was the Fouts Family Early Career Professor from 2018 to 2023.  

Joel Sokol | Harold E. Smalley Professor 

Professor Joel Sokol is renowned for his work in sports analytics and applied operations research, as the next Harold E. Smalley Professor. Additionally, he serves as the Director of Georgia Tech's interdisciplinary Master of Science in Analytics degree program (MSA). His LRMC method for predictive modeling in the NCAA basketball tournament is widely recognized, and his non-sports research has received prestigious accolades. 

We extend our warmest congratulations to these exceptional individuals on their well-deserved appointments and look forward to their continued contributions to the field of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. 

Describing himself as “a usually happy person,” he didn’t anticipate one of those challenges being his mental health. When the fall semester began, Campos plunged into his studies.

As anticipated, they were demanding. Then he began noticing that he was having memory issues. He booked an appointment at Georgia Tech’s Counseling Center, which offers free mental health counseling and resources to students. But before his first session, Campos began suffering from both fatigue and sleeplessness, an inability to focus and a lack of appetite. He eventually saw a counselor who recommended group therapy, meditation, and exercise. While he followed her advice, his mental state didn’t improve. 

The First Diagnosis

Then, a few months later, the situation became dire. “I was in China working on a research project, and I had a really bad episode,” Campos remembered. “I just couldn’t take it anymore.” He ended up being taken to a hospital in Hong Kong, and a few days later, Campos was back in Atlanta, still struggling. That was when ISyE Director of Student Services Dawn Strickland got involved.

“Because of what happened in China, because it was part of my studies, the incident was reported to her, and she asked me to come see her,” Campos said.

Strickland made a phone call to Stamps Health Services and was able to get Campos an appointment with the psychiatrist for two days later. “The doctor listened to me for 10 minutes, told me I was chronically depressed, and that she was prescribing an antidepressant,” he said. “That was the end of November. A month later I was fine.”

As the spring semester began, Campos found himself feeling happy and appreciating life. His Ph.D. studies were going well. Everything else in his life was too. A couple of months later, Campos felt energized. Sleep was less of a necessity. He noticed a change in his spending habits, parting with money recklessly. While his girlfriend, friends, and professors all noticed Campos’ increasingly bizarre behavior, they weren’t sure what was going on.

The Second Diagnosis

Campos was in China once again for an ISyE project when he had another major mental health incident — this time, a psychotic break characterized by delusions and a partial loss of his connection with reality. He was hospitalized for 13 days in Hong Kong before his family flew him back to Bogotá, where he was hospitalized for 15 more days.

There, a psychiatrist finally recognized an error. Campos, they said, had been misdiagnosed with depression. Instead, it was much more likely that it was bipolar disorder. The antidepressant he was on was contributing to Campos’ mania, a common occurrence when bipolar disorder is incorrectly treated.

Americans are typically familiar with depression and anxiety as common mental health issues. They may be less familiar with bipolar disorder, except for depictions in movies or TV that show a character experiencing wildly elevated moods (mania) or debilitating low moods (depression). These are indeed characteristics of the disorder, but a range of symptoms accompany it.

Around 5.7 million Americans are affected by the condition. In 2019, the World Health Organization estimated that globally 970 million people, or 1 person out of 8, suffered from a mental health condition. This included 40 million with bipolar disorder.

It was a relief for Campos to finally have the correct diagnosis and to be prescribed the right medication for it, although he had to pause his studies for a full year as part of the process. “I have a very good specialist back home, and he got me on the right medication,” he said. “I’ve had mild episodes since, like hypomania, but I treat them with medication.” His psychiatrist also encouraged him to stop eating sugar, which can artificially heighten the highs and lows of mood swings.

He has a sanguine outlook on his diagnosis and everything that happened to him leading up to it. “So, it’s a chronic disease,” he said. “This is what happened to me.”

Sharing His Story

This perspective has led Campos to openly share his story with fellow Georgia Tech students.

In that crucial conversation he had with Strickland, she told him she had similarly grappled with mental health issues while studying for her ISyE doctorate. She mentioned that she knew of numerous other ISyE students who felt isolated with their mental health challenges.

Once Campos’ moods stabilized and he was back in school, he and several other students began considering how to share their personal mental health stories as a way of providing information to and connection for the rest of the ISyE graduate students.

“Our initial idea was to do an information session for first-year ISyE Ph.D. students,” he said. “They have a mandatory seminar they have to attend every week, so we attended one of those sessions as an initial point of contact.” Then they developed a broader event and invited all doctoral students and faculty.

That created an opportunity to discuss the mental health resources provided by the Institute. “We also shared our own stories, so everyone would know mental health issues are normal, they need to be discussed, and they’re nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. Over 50 people attended the event. 

Creating the ISyE Bee Well Group

In addition to presenting to the ISyE Ph.D. community, Campos and some members of the School’s Graduate Student Advisory Council put together the Bee Well Group in Spring 2022. Strickland and Graduate Programs Manager Amanda Ford, who had also recognized the need for such a group, serve as its advisors.

“The group came about partly because of my own experience as a grad student, as well as seeing how some of our students struggle,” Strickland said. In the spring, the group met occasionally for breakfast, inviting any students who needed support to attend.

They also organized a few walks around campus as a way of highlighting how important physical activity is for mental health. Campos and the other leaders plan to expand the Bee Well group activities in the fall.

In the meantime, several students have reached out to them to affirm their interest in the group and to share their own personal struggles. Campos sees this as a success. “The idea of the group is that when they hear our stories, they will know they can make it through this,” Campos said. “I’m in my fourth year already, and I got sick in my first semester. So, it’s going to work out, but you would never believe that if it wasn’t coming from someone who has been there already.

“Every time I talk to someone about this, I tell them it’s an illness. It’s like you have diabetes. And I ask if they would apologize for having diabetes or try to hide it.

Diabetes is a chronic disease, you will have it all your life, and you need to take your medication because if you don’t, you'll get sick. It's the same exact thing with mental health.”

Karan Agrawal, Chris Carter, Jing Li, Kaibo Liu, Kendall Tyson, and Tuba Yilmaz Gozbasi were all recognized for their great achievements. This annual program showcases how Georgia Tech alumni impact every field worldwide and work to improve the way we live through their diligence and expertise from an early age.
 

Karan Agrawal, IE 19
Senior Manager, Supply Chain | Peloton Interactive

An award-winning supply chain practitioner and thought leader with four years of experience across the U.S., U.K., and Canada in Fortune 500 companies and tech startups, Karan Agrawal currently serves as senior manager, supply chain at Peloton. He has led multiple strategic supply chain initiatives, focused primarily on manufacturing and sourcing with multimillion-dollar scale and impact. Prior to Peloton, he worked at Dell, where he played a critical role in its supply chain digital transformation journey and strengthened the corporate brand through numerous external academic and industry partnerships. Passionate about building diverse communities from the ground up, Agrawal initiated the American Production and Inventory Control Society, or APICS, at Georgia Tech, launched an innovative TED-like storytelling platform at Dell called “Talks @ Dell,” and recently founded Toronto’s first supply chain community.

Favorite Tech Memory: Emceeing the largest cultural show on campus in front of 1,200 attendees at the Ferst Center for the Arts.

Chris Carter, IE 07
Chief Engineer, Executive GM | Toyota Motor North America (HQ)

Chris Carter has 15 years of experience in portfolio management, leadership, instruction, team building, and people development worldwide. Through Georgia Tech Professional Education, he became a Project Management Professional (PMP) & Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP). As chief engineer for Toyota Motor North America, Connected Technologies division, Carter is responsible for portfolio management for all Toyota and Lexus new model infotainment systems, including various technology life cycle management activities. He facilitates a team, leading tech strategy, market research, and global tech life cycle planning. During his tenure, he also worked abroad in Japan for Lexus International, leading midsize segments model years for RX, NX, and ES. Carter is also the academic program director over Project Management and Professor of the Practice candidate at Georgia Tech.

Favorite Tech Memory: Junior’s Grill. I used to have the French Toast Special and chicken finger basket every week.

Jing Li, IE 10
Product Management Sr. Principal | Accenture

With a non-traditional journey from Peace Corps Ukraine to product innovation, Jing Li blends her unique skills and experiences to lay the foundation for the next generation of leaders through education, technology, sustainability, and diversity. She founded the nonprofit Project Ollie to provide Ukrainian educators and learners with humanitarian support and tools to thrive. She helped reduce food waste through IoT sensors, and she advocates for inclusion and diversity in the workplace as well as in the open water swimming community. She was a four-year letterwinner in swimming at Georgia Tech and the former president of the NorCal GT Alumni network.

Favorite Tech Memory: Standing on the 50-yard line as a finalist for Ms. Georgia Tech in fall 2009.

Kaibo Liu, MS Stat 11, PhD IE 13
Professor | University of Wisconsin–Madison

Kaibo Liu is a professor at UW–Madison’s ISyE department and associate director of UW-Madison IoT systems research center. He received a bachelor’s in industrial engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and a master’s in statistics and PhD in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech. His research focuses on system informatics and industrial big data analytics for quality improvement in complex engineering systems. He has won prestigious career awards, including the Innovations in Education Award and the Award for Technical Innovation in Industrial Engineering from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Favorite Tech Memory: I cherish having earned two degrees in four years and having my first child during my Georgia Tech PhD program.

Kendall Tyson, IE 11
SVP, Finance and Business Intelligence | Seattle Kraken

Kendall Tyson is the senior vice president of finance and business intelligence for the Seattle Kraken, the city’s professional ice hockey team. She oversees the strategic planning, data management, and financial affairs of the Kraken and its affiliates. Before joining the Kraken, Tyson led corporate development at Topgolf, where she evaluated mobile apps, entertainment venues, and golf technology. Earlier in her career, she advised state government agencies on business transformations as a management consultant at Accenture. In addition to her degree from Georgia Tech, Kendall holds a bachelor’s from Emory University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. She currently resides in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and two children.

Favorite Tech Memory: Walking on the Great Wall of China while studying abroad in Beijing and Singapore.

Tuba Yilmaz Gozbasi, MS OR 11, PhD IE 13
COO & Cofounder | Optiyol

Tuba Yilmaz Gozbasi worked as an operations research consultant at Solvoyo and an assistant professor of operations management at Özyeğin University Faculty of Business. She is currently cofounder and COO of Optiyol, a delivery management SaaS, offering a route optimization engine and a mobile driver app with live tracking capabilities to increase delivery efficiency and improve customer service.

Favorite Tech Memory: I started dating my husband (and partner at Optiyol) while studying for a comprehensive exam in the grad lab.