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ORmadillos Dig into Complex Operations Research Problems September 2006
The lowly armadillo, perceived as an overpopulated pest, is saddled with monikers like "Texas speed bump" and "possum on the half shell." Not at MITRE. Rich Staats, head of the Operations Research and Systems Analysis (ORSA) department at MITRE, is helping to rehabilitate this much maligned creature's image by making it the mascot for his team of operations research analysts, also known as the ORmadillos. "Mascots are fun. They add a little to the personality and character of an organization," says Staats, who is currently an active duty lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army working for Multinational Corps Iraq. Known for its tough armor and prodigious digging ability, the armadillo is a fitting mascot for a department tasked with "digging" into complex problems. The team uses the advanced analytical methods known as operations research to help sponsors make better decisions and build more productive systems. Operations research can be applied to problems that range from scheduling millions of tons of military supplies to arrive at the correct ports to designing airport lines that minimize wait times for passengers. "The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences defines operations research as 'the science of better,'" explains Eric Blair, the ORmadillos' associate department head. "That's what we aim for, and the tools we use are applied mathematics, logical thinking, the systems analysis process, computer simulations, uncertainty analysis, and optimization." A Critical Mass of Experts The ORSA department belongs to MITRE's Center for Acquisition and Systems Analysis. As part of this technical center, ORSA owns no projects of its own. Instead, the ORmadillos are a cross-MITRE asset, supplying their technical skills to other departments as needed. "We help our internal customer help their government sponsors find solutions to problems more efficiently and effectively using the scientific process and technically defensible methods," says Mike Lavine, director of the Simulation, Experimentation, Analysis, and Test/Training (SEAT) group and acting ORSA department head.
ORSA's operations research analysts are experts in the design and analysis of organizations, processes, and systems, as well as portfolio analysis and resource allocation. They help their sponsors define problems by identifying and quantifying goals and objectives, risks, constraints, and relationships between resources and outcomes. They also develop data collection plans, turn qualitative data into quantifiable information, and capture conditional information. A full-service shop, they also assist with the presentation of results, helping their sponsors display quantitative findings in an intuitive way and present decision options. The ORmadillos' current projects include performing analysis to help the U.S. military explore methods for defeating improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including finding cost-effective ways to use robotic solutions against IEDs, and fraud detection work for the Internal Revenue Service that uses Bayesian networks and data analysis to identify fraudulent tax documents. While other MITRE departments contain operations research analysts, ORSA has 41 of them, forming what Blair refers to as a "critical mass of professionalism" in the discipline. "We have an organizational structure that allows us to recruit and nurture a cadre of people who have experience and expertise in applying these techniques," he says. "That allows us to come in and work in collaboration with the subject matter experts in a field." Among the ORmadillos' analysts, 16 percent have doctorates, 70 percent have master's degrees, and 77 percent have military experience. While 43 percent have degrees in operations research, the range of degrees in ORSA includes mathematics, computer science, physics, and systems, electrical, and other engineering disciplines. Lavine notes that recently the ORmadillos have been in great demand for portfolio analysis projects. "An example would be helping to decide which of dozens of communications systems to procure," he says. "How do you put together a portfolio of communications systems that provides all of the capabilities that you want while minimizing cost? We do it using tools like the portfolio analysis machine developed here at MITRE. It identifies the portfolio an organization should invest in by showing how each of the systems contributes to achieving the mission and at what cost." This computerized analytic tool iterates thousands of times faster than an analyst using the "brute force" method—pen and paper. Making the Most of Their Mascot Creating the ORmadillo mascot is just one way that Staats has implemented his management philosophy for ORSA, which is based on three principles. "The Perrin principle is always do good quality work and get the basics right. While people may be able to question our assumptions or data in our analysis, no one should be able to question our math or science," he explains. "The Stafford principle says to offer something unique in your work. People should seek out the ORmadillos because they offer a special set of skills, unique perspectives, and large amounts of creativity. The Petersen principle says that you should enjoy what you are doing. "That is not to say that every day will be filled with only fun things, but if you look forward to going to work, then you will help create an environment that is conducive to others enjoying their work." The mascot, in addition to adorning the department's PowerPoint presentations
and t-shirts, even gets its own day. In an initiative started by Staats,
ORSA has "ORmadillo Day" every three weeks. On this day, all of the ORmadillos
return to the office from their sponsor sites for a breakfast, department
meeting, and refresher seminar or technical presentation on cutting-edge
work. "The day is a way of bringing folks back to the mother ship. It's
an opportunity to discover what everybody else is doing and learn from
the process," says Blair. "In retrospect, I'm not sure that I wouldn't have picked a different animal given the predominance of road kill in the South and Southwest," jokes Blair. "But it just kind of stuck, and it's been a source of pride in a humorous way." —by Rachael MorganRelated Information Articles and News
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