5,600 Operations Research and Analytics Professionals Set to Arrive in Houston for the 2017 INFORMS Annual Meeting

October 22-25 at the George R. Brown Convention Center

CATONSVILLE, MD, October 18, 2017 – More than 5,600 operations research and analytics professionals and students from around the world will arrive in Houston later this week for the 2017 INFORMS Annual Meeting, doing their part to not only learn and network within their profession, but to help with Houston’s ongoing recovery from Hurricane Harvey. 

Through their spending in local hotels, restaurants, and shops as well as a dedicated special volunteer project between INFORMS and Houston’s Star of Hope to help the area’s homeless, those arriving in Houston will be directly and indirectly making a difference in the lives of Houstonians.

“Long before Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, the theme for INFORMS 2017 Annual Meeting was, ‘Houston, we solve problems.’ Obviously, that has a different and even more important meaning than it did before,” said Bill Klimack, Chair of the 2017 INFORMS Annual Meeting and Decision Analysis Functional Manager of Chevron in Houston.

Mike Waterman, President of Visit Houston, echoed Klimack’s comments. “The city of Houston has weathered a storm rarely seen in the U.S. with Hurricane Harvey. Parts of Houston will take months, if not years to recover. One of the biggest needs Houston has is to have businesses and tourism return. That is why we are thrilled INFORMS will be joining us in Houston. Our city is ready to welcome more than 5,600 attendees of the 2017 INFORMS Annual Meeting.” 

Partnering with Star of Hope 

In addition to the economic stimulus generated by a meeting of this size, INFORMS has also partnered with a local nonprofit, Star of Hope Mission, to provide 1,000 toiletry kits for homeless men, women, and children in the Houston area. INFORMS members have donated thousands of dollars to purchase the kits and those attending the meeting will be provided with opportunities to help assemble them at the convention center. The kits will then be delivered to Star of Hope.

Texas Businesses and Universities Featured Prominently 

In addition to Chevron’s Klimack serving as the Chair of the INFORMS 2017 Annual Meeting, 14 universities and companies located or with offices in Houston and the surrounding area are participating in key meeting activities, including: ARUNDO, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, University of Houston, Chevron, ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Southern Methodist University, BNSF Railway Company, Amazon, BAE Systems, HomeAway, Waste Management, and Texas Tech University IMSE. These organizations are either sponsoring the Meeting, participating as exhibitors, or partaking in a one-of-a-kind Career Fair for employers searching for new O.R. and analytics talent as well as Vendor Exhibits for a wide range of organizations. 

About O.R. and Analytics 

O.R. and analytics professionals work with organizations to turn complex challenges into substantial opportunities by transforming data into information, and information into insights that enable better decision making and improved results. 

About INFORMS

With 12,500 members from nearly 90 countries, INFORMS is the largest international association of O.R. and analytics professionals and students. INFORMS provides unique networking and learning opportunities for individual professionals, and organizations of all types and sizes, to better understand and use O.R. and analytics tools and methods to transform strategic visions and achieve better outcomes.

Visit www.informs.org or @informs.

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