SIG: History of OR in SA webinar

Reflections on early OR career at CSIR, from 1973 to 1986

Joining the National Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences (NRIMS) of the CSIR as an operations researcher with hardly any formal OR training and experience was a daunting challenge. In retrospect my defence background opened the opportunity to become part of this world class scientific institution. The environment was conducive to gain know-how, to learn and to grow. The privilege to work with, and under a person such as Theo Stewart, was invaluable. In this presentation I will give a brief outline of my own background and my experiences in a growing OR group. My focus will be largely on projects I was personally involved in during the early years of the OR group but also a period of fundamental changes within the CSIR.

Short outlines of the following projects, inter alia, wargaming, maize transportation, a strike aircraft simulation, component…