CORS Vancouver

About Us

Vancouver is a local chapter of the Canadian Operational Research Society based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The group currently has 39 registered members who live and work in the Greater Vancouver area. Members come from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines, including students, faculty members, and business professionals.

Seminars covering a wide range of OR topics, applications, and best practice are organised and hosted by the chapter, with these being free and open to all who wish to gain a greater knowledge of this exciting and useful field. A total of 3 to 4 seminars a year will be organised, and details of each will be posted on this website. Registration for events will be managed by the relevant links on the Events page.
The chapter also hosts a number of social events throughout the year. Some of these will be for members only, such as the Christmas Dinner, but others will be more informal and open to all.
Both the seminars and the social events provide a fantastic opportunity to meet other OR professionals, students, and academics in the Greater Vancouver area

The current CORS Vancouver Executive Board has 4 members. They are:

Taraneh Sowlati PhD (President) : Taraneh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Wood Science, Faculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She received her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering/Information Systems from the University of Toronto in 2001. She teaches Industrial Engineering and Engineering Economics to undergraduate students at UBC. She initiated the Industrial Engineering Research Group at UBC where graduate students and research scholars work on research projects under her supervision. Taraneh has published several journal papers, presented her research at numerous national and international conferences, and reviewed many papers for scientific journals. Her research interests include mathematical programming, operations research, supply chain modeling and optimization, efficiency and productivity assessment, forestry, and biomass and bioenergy.

Paul Christensen PhD (Vice President) : Paul has almost 20 years of professional consulting and applied research experience involving the application of economic analysis and operations research techniques to a wide range of infrastructure-related problems. He holds Bachelor and Master degrees in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering.

Saba Vahid MASc (Treasurer) : Saba is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the faculty of forestry in UBC. Prior to coming to UBC, she was an industrial engineer. In Saba graduated from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran in 2002 and moved to Canada in 2003. Here at UBC, she started working in the area of performance assessment, under the supervision of Dr. Taraneh Sowlati. She received her Master of Applied Science degree in February 2006 and started her Ph.D. program with Dr. Thomas Maness. Her research interests are mathematical modeling and Operations Research, Supply Chain Modeling, and Agent-based simulation.

Greg Werker MEng (Programme Coordinator) : Greg is a PhD student in Management Science at the Sauder School of Business at UBC. He is currently working on projects with the BC Cancer Agency related to improving the processes involved in delivering radiation therapy treatment, and he is also interested in other applications of operations research techniques to the health care industry. Greg’s bachelor’s and Master’s are both in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University, and he has worked as a consultant in various manufacturing sectors including food and beverages, semiconductor, and petrochemicals.

Mahmood Ebadian Ph.D. Candidate (CORS Vancouver Secretary) : Mahmood is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Wood Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology and the University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. As a member of Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group (BBRG), he has been involved in agricultural biomass logistics system. His doctoral research at UBC focuses on the development of a decision-making model to optimize the performance of agricultural biomass-to-bioenergy logistics system in close collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC). His research interests include Biomass and Bioenergy, Supply Chain Management, Operations Research and Lean Manufacturing. Mahmood has published two books, four journal papers, and presented his research at several national and international conferences. Besides teaching experiences, he has worked as supervisor and Technical expert in TUV NORD Iran Company, Pars Electric Company and HEPKO Company.