Month: May 2025

We are proud to celebrate the recent accomplishments of members of the UMass INFORMS Student Chapter.

On Thursday, May 1st, the OIM Elevate Scholarship Ceremony was held at the Dickinson Ballroom at the Inn on Boltwood in Amherst, where former chapter president Dana Hassani was honored as a recipient of the OIM Elevate Scholarship. 

In addition to this honor, Dana also received the Isenberg Outstanding Doctoral Student Researcher Award for the second year in a row. Since he was presenting at the POMS Conference in Atlanta at the time, Professor Anna Nagurney accepted the award plaque on his behalf. Upon Dana’s return, the plaque was formally presented to him by Professor George Milne, Associate Dean of Research and PhD Programs at the Isenberg School of Management, together with Professor Anna Nagurney.

Recent Publications

Congratulations to Dana Hassani, who co-authored the paper “A Multiperiod, Multicommodity, Capacitated International Agricultural Trade Network Equilibrium Model with Applications to Ukraine in Wartime”, published in Transportation Science. The paper was featured in a press release by INFORMS.

Congratulations to Ismael M. Pour, co-authored the paper “Integrated Crop and Cargo War Risk Insurance: Application to Ukraine” published in  International Transactions in Operational Research. This research introduces a novel framework that integrates insurance and supply chain planning under conflict-related disruptions.

Congratulations to Samira Samadi, co-authored the paper “Multicommodity Trade, Tariffs, and Rerouting” in the Convex and Variational Analysis with Applications: In Honor of Terry Rockafellar’s 90th Birthday. This research adds to the literature on multicommodity trade by constructing a spatial price equilibrium model with tariffs that allows for the investigation of rerouting of commodities to evade tariffs.

Congratulations to Semih Boz, who co-authored the paper “Parcel Delivery by Vehicle and Drone in Ordered Customer Neighborhoods” published in Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review. His work examines innovative logistics strategies combining ground and aerial delivery.

We would like to express our sincere appreciation to Professor Anna Nagurney, our faculty advisor, for her continued guidance, encouragement, and support of our chapter and our research. We are proud of the accomplishments of our chapter members. Congratulations again to all who presented and published, and best wishes for a great summer from the UMass INFORMS Student Chapter!

The UMass INFORMS Student Chapter is excited to share highlights from the 35th Annual Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) Conference, held from May 8–12, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference featured a wide range of presentations, discussions, and networking opportunities. The weather was a mix of sunshine, clouds, and rain, matching the dynamic and engaging atmosphere of the conference. It was a great opportunity to connect with researchers from around the world, including many from UMass Amherst.

A memorable part of the conference was a lunch gathering at a Turkish restaurant with Dr. Deniz Besik and Dr. Min Yu, both former PhD students of Professor Anna Nagurney. Joining them were chapter members and officers: Dana Hassani, Ismael M. Pour, Samira Samadi, and Busra Karkili. It was a wonderful chance to connect across generations of scholars and share experiences over excellent food.

Chapter Member Presentations at POMS 2025

Dana Hassani presented his paper “A Multiperiod Multicommodity Capacitated International Agricultural Trade Network Equilibrium Model with Applications to Ukraine” on Saturday, May 10 in the Responsible Operations in Agriculture and Food Supply Chains track (Invited Session).

Ismael M. Pour presented his paper “Integrated Crop and Cargo War Risk Insurance: Application to Ukraine” on Friday, May 9in the Supply Chain Disruption track (Invited Session).

Samira Samadi presented her paper “A Variational Inequality Trade Network Model in Prices and Quantities Under Commodity Losses” on Friday, May 9 in the Data-driven Operational Efficiency Improvements in Food Supply Chains track (Invited Session).

Busra Karkili gave two presentations. Her first, “Optimizing Incentives in Voucher-Based Subsidy Programs for Equitable Service Delivery”, was on Friday, May 9 in the Nonprofit Operations for Social Good track (Invited Session). Her second, “Integrating Cash Transfers and In-Kind Aid in Welfare Assistance Programs”, was on Sunday, May 11 in the Addressing Community in Operations Management track (Invited Session).

Joshua Gladstone presented “Pricing and Convenience Considerations in Omnichannel Assortment Planning” on Saturday, May 10 in the Emerging Technologies in Retail track (Invited Session).

Semih Boz presented “A Decomposition Approach for Vehicle-Drone Parcel Delivery” on Sunday, May 11 in the Societal Implications of Drone Integration track (Invited Session).

Solmaz Abbaspour presented “Equitable Supply-Demand Balancing: Tailoring Equitable Incentives for Demand Response Programs in Power Grids” on Friday, May 9 in the Energy, EV, and Sustainable Technologies track (Contributed Session).

We are proud of our chapter’s presence at POMS 2025 and the contributions our members made to the academic and professional community. We thank the Operations and Information Management Department and the Isenberg School of Management for their continued support.

Stay tuned for our posts on recent publications and recognitions celebrating the achievements of our chapter members.

On May 2, 2025, the INFORMS Student Chapter at UMass Amherst held its traditional end-of-semester party. It was a great way for students and faculty in Operations Research and Management Sciences to come together and celebrate the end of the academic year.

The event took place in Room N135 of the Business Innovation Hub at the Isenberg School of Management. Even though there was a last-minute issue with our original food order being canceled, our Chapter President, Ismael Pour, arranged new orders from Atkins and Antonio’s Pizza in downtown Amherst. Everything turned out well, and we had a lot of great food.

The food included warm varenyky/pierogies, kielbasa, pizza, sandwiches, fruit and veggie trays, cold cuts, cheeses, cookies, and even baklava. Professor Anna Nagurney and Professor Ladimer Nagurney brought the homemade Ukrainian food and desserts, continuing a chapter tradition.

Our Vice President, Josh Gladstone, cut the “Congratulations” cake, which was from Whole Foods. It was a nice way to mark the chapter’s big achievement this year, receiving the Magna Cum Laude Award from INFORMS at the Annual Meeting in Seattle last October.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make this event a success.

Stay tuned for more blog posts about our officers’ and members’ activities over the summer. We are excited to begin the new academic year with more great events!