Conference on Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics; June 21-23, 2006; Shanghai, China

This grant requests funding in support of a US delegation to attend the international conference entitled Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics (SOLI) to be held June 21-23, 2006 in Shanghai, China. The role of services as a discriminator and its ability to impact value and profit has increased the focus on research. There is a significant research and educational gap, and it is important to accelerate the relevant research in the pivotal areas to develop the knowledge and skills required in a servicesled economy. The main goal of this delegation is to deliver a keynote, a visionary panel session, and 4 tutorials to publicize the NSF SEE research programs and address key research and educational issues while providing a platform to spread the importance of research in service oriented operation at this worldwide gathering. Some international collaboration initiatives are expected. This annual conference is the first one of this kind to promote services sciences, management, and engineering research around the world. The majority of delegates thus are from NSF SEE grantees, and researchers and educators in service engineering. As the conference participants are from different societies (e.g., IEEE, INFORMS, ACM, ASME) and disciplines (IE, OR, Manufacturing, Business, Engineering), this support will also help delegates build research collaborations among not only NSF grantees but also researchers and professionals from around the world. A significant portion of this grant will provide support to women and minorities to encourage them to stay active in this new and vibrant field.