FM Waves

Courtesy of ICIIL, who made the search on YouTube!.

Who said there were no videos on OR?. … ops!, it was me!. Sorry!.

No mates, this is not another post on sub-prime mortgages or how the hunger for housing investment has taken the building sector into trouble. It’s just a way of introducing my new role in life and professional career; recently I moved from Brazil back to old Spain, moved from my old job and company to other milestone in my roadmap. It’s a way of introducing a very simple technique I recently used, as well. Let’s see.

I’m in the process of locating a geographical site (don’t need to get more details) and although all of us were very sure where we needed it I decided to double check by means of a facility location program (specifically, the Fermat-Weber Problem), and using Google Earth for establishing the coordinates. Bull’s Eye!. Just where we thought!.

PD. It’s like a high school application, however I’m very excited since is my first real-world professional application of OR. Let’s go ahead!!!. 

For so many months I’ve been thinking and looking for a tool that would let me manage my activity as a researcher; firstly I looked into documental management systems and knowledge management systems, however, I always ended up doing nothing.
This idea was taken to life again during my last conversation with Pau Rausell-Köster, and how universities were starting to apply more advanced systems to the research activity (Research Management).

So, hands on!, a little bit of this plus a sprinkle of that and…, taking a look to the proposal of Julen Iturbe (Consultoría Artesana en la Red - Handcrafted Consulting in the Network), we can adapt a little bit the concept of Consulting 2.0 to obtain Research 2.0 (trendy too much, but mates, I’ve never been from the group that extends the knowledge frontier, but from the one that fills the gap - I’ve taken this idea from a conversation I had years ago with a professor called Jose Ramon Ruiz Tamarit).

So, in the words of Julen, “a project, a wiki”.

Is a publication from McKinsey & Company which has been very useful to me providing loads of information and debate themes. Even the basic free service is awesome.

http://www.mckinsey.com/ideas/mck_quarterly/?cm_re=Dotcom-_-McKQuarterly-_-Ideas/

Sections are organised as: Business Technology, Corporate Finance, Marketing & Sales, Operations, Organisations, and Strategy; it has the division by industry, as well: Chemicals, NGO, Retail…

A good way of getting informed.

I’ve already bought the presents. they were ordered from Brazil to an American company which manufactures in China, and they will be sent to my P.O.Box in Spain. I will deliver, of course, personally to my relatives the December 24th at the evening.

All procurement has been managed by my mother-in-law; food and drink won’t lack. I’m not an expert cook, so I will step down in the kitchen, however I will be master Sommelier (well, the wine taster!!!) and probably will manage the deliveries to the table (OK OK, the waiter!!!).

Finally, the only thing cannot get wrong is the flight: Brazil to Spain. Because, as the old Spanish Xmas ad says: “Come back, come back home for Christmas”. It needs to be the perfect OM!

Merry Xmas to everybody.