It has only been a few days since the 2025 INFORMS Annual Meeting concluded in Atlanta, but the excitement and energy of the event remain with us in Amherst.
Throughout the four-day event, our chapter was proud to be represented by several student officers and members who delivered insightful presentations across a wide range of topics in operations research, healthcare analytics, sustainability, and logistics.
The conference opened with two presentations by our chapter members. Busra Karkili, a former Social Media Officer, presented her talk, titled “Mission vs. Profit: The Interplay Between Social Service Agencies and Private Service Providers,” in the “Design of Incentives and Allocations – Job Market Showcase” session. Yukti Kathuria, one of our current Blog Officers, participated in the MIF Poster Competition, where she presented “An Order-Based Bayesian Network to Analyze Diagnostic Delay and Type 2 Diabetes-Related Outcomes.” She also presented her work in the “Healthcare Decision Analytics Using AI/ML” session.
On the second day of the conference, Faustina Sarfo, our Social Media Officer, presented at her first INFORMS Annual Meeting. She delivered her talk, “An Equitable Energy Transition: Integrating Community Perspectives into Power System Modeling in an Emerging Economy,” in the session “Modeling the Energy Transition in Africa.” Ismael M. Pour, former Chapter President, presented his research “Integrated Crop and Cargo War Risk Insurance: Application to Ukraine” in the “Resilient Networks” session. Sindhoora Prakash, also one of our Blog Officers, presented “Optimizing Multidisciplinary Care: Online vs. Offline Scheduling Approaches” in the “Healthcare Decision Analytics Using AI/ML” session.
The third day was especially active for our chapter. Semih Boz, a former Social Media Officer, presented “Incentive-Based Consolidation in Last Mile Parcel Delivery” during the “Applications of Vehicle Routing in Modern Logistics” session. Samira Samadi, our Chapter President, presented in the session “Sustainable and Resilient Transportation Systems,” where she discussed her work, “Fresh Produce Spatial Price Equilibrium on General Networks: Capturing Commodity Quality Deterioration Through Endogenous Transportation Time Delay Functions with Capacities.” She also gave her second talk, “Multicommodity Trade, Tariffs, and Rerouting,” in the session “Resilient Logistics and Adaptive Strategies.” Parisa Lotfibagha, our Treasurer’s Assistant, also presented for the first time at the INFORMS Annual Meeting. She shared her research, “A Semi-Markov Decision Process Model to Optimize Return to Clinic Decisions in Primary Care,” in the session “AI and Analytics in Healthcare Services.”
Another special highlight of the third day was a commemorative session honoring Professor Hani Mahmassani, recipient of the TSL Herman Lifetime Achievement Award, who passed away on July 15, 2025. Our Faculty Advisor, Professor Anna Nagurney, spoke at this session, titled “Remembering Past TSL Herman Lifetime Achievement Award Winner Hani Mahmassani.” Her remarks reflected on Professor Mahmassani’s extraordinary legacy in transportation science and logistics.
Dana Hassani, former Chapter President, concluded our chapter’s presentations on the final day of the conference. He presented in the session “Global Risk, Equity, and Policy Modeling,” delivering his research, “Quantification of International Trade Network Performance Under Disruptions to Supply, Transportation, and Demand Capacity, and Exchange Rates in Disasters.”
We are incredibly proud of our chapter’s strong presence at the 2025 INFORMS Annual Meeting. From those presenting for the first time to more experienced contributors, each talk showcased the depth, rigor, and diversity of research within our community. Congratulations to all presenters for representing UMass Amherst with excellence! We’re already looking forward to the 2026 INFORMS Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, and to seeing all of our colleagues there!