Monthly Archives: January 2018

Heading to the University of Cincinnati This Fall

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After an exhausting job search, I’m happy to announce that I will be heading to the University of Cincinnati this fall, after accepting a job as Assistant Professor in the Operations, Business Analytics, and Information Systems (OBAIS) Department of the Lindner College of Business.

UC has a great department, with strong researchers and incredible people. I look forward to contributing my research in energy operations management and behavioral operations to their research portfolio, as well as teaching classes in simulation, sports analytics, service operations, and other topics in operations management and business analytics. A new building for the business school is under construction, set to open in Fall 2019.

It’s been a busy 4+ months. My main interview conference (INFORMS) was in October this year, pushing up the job search cycle a bit. I had flyouts in November, December, and January, and chose between offers over the last couple weeks.

Here is a summary of my job search process:
-I applied to 76 schools. In retrospect, I should have been a bit more selective, but applying is free and relatively quick.
-I received 28 first-round interview invitations, one of which I did not accept due to it being too late in the process. 18 of the interviews were in-person and held at INFORMS. The rest were either by phone or Skype.
-From those 27 accepted interviews, I was invited to 8 campus fly-outs. 1 occurred in November, 3 were in December, and 4 were scheduled for January. I had to cancel the last fly-out, due to receiving attractive offers and the visit occurring too late.
-From those 7 campus visits, I received 3 job offers.
-Today, I accepted UC’s offer.

It was great to meet so many members of my field during the search process. And thanks so much to my family, friends, and co-workers who helped guide and advise me during the process.

Rounding the Bases 20180126

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Vikings were forced to attempt XP (against Saints) because of regular-season point differential rule, not the spread.

Olympic opening ceremony uniforms are wearable mini-heaters. “It’s the most technologically advanced jacket ever produced,” Lauren says. “There have been heatable blankets for kids before but they have wires. This is a fabric with ink that heats up — it’s weightless, it’s conductive and it’s immediate.”

NBA outlines legalized betting plan.

NFL Picks – Super Bowl 2018

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Overall Against the Spread: 124-116
Week 2: 9-7
Week 3: 8-6
Week 4: 7-9
Week 5: 7-6
Week 6: 8-5
Week 7: 10-4
Week 8: 6-7
Week 9: 9-4
Week 10: 5-9
Week 11: 4-9
Week 12: 3-12
Week 13: 12-4
Week 14: 9-7
Week 15: 6-7
Week 16: 9-6
Week 17: 6-10
Wild Card: 2-2
Division: 2-2
Conference: 2-0

Book Review – Little Book of Lykke

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Thanks to Maria for the guest book review, a follow-up to her earlier review.

Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World’s Happiest People
by Meik Wiking, 2017

From the same author who brought us The Little Book of Hygge (reviewed here), the Little Book of Lykke looks analytically at the six factors that the Happiness Research Institute thinks are at the basis of a society’s happiness level: togetherness, money, health, freedom, trust, and kindness. It is worth reading the physical book since there are graphs and data (and some pretty pictures). It does not turn into a glorification of Denmark nor an attack on the US or other nations, and in fact highlights what various people around the world are doing to increase their society’s happiness, but it does give context for why the Danes and other Scandinavian countries tend to have such high levels of happiness. Hint: it has a lot to do with the fact that quality time with friends and family is more important than working 70+ hours a week, among other work-life balance aspects, plus not having to worry about health care or child care costs, naturally building mood uplifters into the day (in Denmark, a huge percentage of the population bikes to work, which is exercise that lets you start and end the workday in a good mood), and having a feeling of belonging in a society. It is a quick read (only took me a couple of hours) and offers some ideas and perspectives on happiness I hadn’t considered before (and I read a lot of books about happiness). Recommended.

Energetic 20180118

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Plunging solar+storage costs.

The median bid for a wind project was $18.10/MWh; the median for wind+storage was $21, just three dollars higher. The median bid for a solar PV project was $29.50/MWh; the median bid for solar+storage was $36, just seven dollars higher. (Keep in mind what median means: Half the projects bid cheaper than this.)

435 miles per charge?

Double-paned solar windows.

When quantum dots absorb blue and ultraviolet portions of the solar spectrum, the dot then re-emits a photon at a longer wavelength. That is guided to the glass edges of the window where integrated solar cells collect the light and convert it to electricity.

Book Review – Lights Out

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Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath
by Ted Koppel, 2015

The first thing that interested me about the electric grid was the question of its resiliency and protecting it from attack. While my academic research has mostly focused on economic questions, the topic of resiliency is still interesting to me. Koppel’s book discusses the possibility of losing control of the electric grid due to a cyberattack and urban areas having to cope with a loss of power for weeks or months.

Generally speaking, the US seems unprepared for a cyberattack. Assuming the government was not protecting a classified plan, they did not have a plan to share with Koppel for how to deal with a prolonged grid outage. It is unlikely that the government will provide food, water, and basic supplies if an outage exceeds a few days. The alarming part is how unprepared for this outcome most city dwellers seem to be.

About half of the book discusses the disaster preparation plans of more prepared people. While this was, by itself, interesting, it was a little far from discussing the resiliency of the grid. I would have preferred this section to be shorter. Few, if any, of the preppers were focused on an extended grid outage.

It is interesting (ironic?) that we are more connected than ever due to the internet, but in the event of an electric outage, we will be less connected than ever. There needs to be operational plans in place for how to handle an extended outage, and these plans should be communicated BEFORE the outage, as there will be little ability to communicate them after the outage. Seems like a good outlet for operations management and risk management.

I listened to this book on tape.