Get to know the members of ORSSA: Hans Ittmann

In this edition of Get to Know the Members of ORSSA, we introduce Hans, who is a Life member of ORSSA, and has been involved in ORSSA since 1973! As an active member of the Operations Research community, Hans shares his OR journey and love of OR in this post.

Hans, what’s one small thing in your daily life that you now instinctively “optimise”?

"Mowing the lawn – I always try to figure out what is the shortest path!"

What is your academic and professional background?

"I was trained as a pilot in the South African Air Force, but the idea was all along to get an academic qualification. I was fortunate to do a B Mil (BSc) at the Military Academy in Saldanha Bay with majors in Maths III, Physics III and Aeronautics II. Thereafter I then did a BSc Hons and MSc at UNISA both in Operations Research having been introduced to OR by Thys de Vries, my lecturer in Aeronautics who was already studying OR, later also President of ORSSA. After six years in the Air Force, I joined the CSIR’s OR group getting involved in military related projects initially. When the CSIR became more “market oriented” in the early eighties I did an MBA at University of Pretoria."

What type of OR-related work are you currently involved in?

"Being retired I am less involved in OR-related work! I always considered myself as a generalist given what was expected of us at the CSIR and although most of my career was managerial related, I tried to still be involved in technical work. Since retirement I have a relationship with the University of Johannesburg, as an associate researcher in the Institute for Transport and Logistics Studies (Africa) (ITLS) which is part of the Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management.  The expectation is for me to publish papers, but it is becoming more difficult. For many years I also acted as external examiner. However, my main current academic, or research, related involvement is reviewing papers submitted to scientific journals, something I really enjoy." 

If you weren’t working in OR, what completely different career would you have chosen?

"I cannot imagine doing anything else, sorry!"

How (and when) did you first get involved with ORSSA?

"One day after I joined the CSIR, in April 1973, an ORSSA application form was put in front of me by a certain Theo Stewart with the instruction, please complete it!! That was the start of my long association with ORSSA. In November 1973 I attend my first ORSSA conference at UNISA as, what was then called, “an associate member” of ORSSA."

Have you had positions on the Exec of ORSSA?

"My CV lists the following: Secretary and Chairman of the Pretoria chapter, Treasurer of ORSSA (2 spells). President of ORSSA (1986-1987 and 2001-2003), Business Editor of ORiON (1985-1993) and additional member of the executive committee over different time periods."

What do you enjoy most about being part of ORSSA or the OR community?

"The networking with fellow Operations Researchers! Many you only meet once a year at the annual conference, but they become your friends, sharing many professional interests and more. What I also enjoyed was being exposed to bright youngsters, giving great presentations albeit sometimes a bit nervously, hesitant to interact with those they “look up” too and then seeing how they blossom over time, wonderful."

What excites you about the field of OR?

"For me it was the wide variety of industries or areas, that I was privileged to get exposed too. If you then want to assist in supporting and addressing, or solving the problem in the specific area, you really needed to get to understand every aspect of what you are dealing with."

What’s the most unexpectedly interesting real-world application of OR you’ve come across?

"Models to solve Sudoku!"

Was there a specific project or moment that made you realise, “This is why I love OR”?

"There are many but one can be singled out: the election night forecasting model. With around 5 to 10% of votes counted the model can predict the results accurately. A very short-lived event but with huge excitement, relief and satisfaction. Early morning around five, one drives to the Election Centre with a lot of apprehension. What will the day be like? Will the model behave correctly this election?  Very soon it turns out the predictions were basically spot-on. I was just the spokesperson so the technical team, must justifiably get all the credit, but it is almost impossible to describe the feeling of those involved."

What OR method, tool, or concept do you find yourself using most often and why?

"As I indicated earlier being a generalist one uses the tool that is most suitable for the problem."

What is one common misconception people have about OR?

"The name, Operations Research, is very problematic, one always must elaborate using an example or case study to explain what it entails. My kids used to walk away when I say “I am an operations researcher” because they knew what was coming!"

What skills do you think are most important for students or early-career OR practitioners to develop today?

"Technical skills are essential, but communication skills are critical for me, both verbal and written skills. One needs to be able to convey your understanding of the problem, outline the model in an understandable manner and the solution to the problem, or how the problem was addressed, to your client."

What piece of advice would you give students, or anyone that is new to the field of operations research, that you wish you had at the start of your OR career?

"Never be afraid to ask the most “stupid” questions! Most times your aim is to translate, or represent, what you hear and understand into mathematical terms. You need to make sure you have a full and detailed understanding of the problem you are faced with."

What has been your favourite ORSSA memory over the years?

"The conference dinner at the IFORS 2008 conference that ORSSA hosted and held in Sandton that year. At the event IFORS celebrated its 50^th anniversary and the vibe amongst all the international delegates was just fantastic that evening. There are many other favourite memories."

What do you think is the biggest benefit of being part of ORSSA?

"The great people you meet and the exposure to new things, new techniques, new ways of thinking and the variety of OR applications."

 

If you had to describe Operations Research using only a movie title, what would it be?

"A Beautiful Mind – film depicting the complex life of John Nash, Nobel Prize winner and game theory man."

What’s the nerdiest OR-related thing you are secretly proud of?

"The late Pat Rivett, famous British OR personality, hosting me at his home in Brighton, UK and cooking a meal for the two of us. What an experience and honour!"