Dean Michael Trick part of the Edelman award-winning team
INFORMS recognizes a US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) team for achievement in operations research
The dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), Michael Trick, is part of an FCC team that was awarded the 2018 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research, and Management Science. The prize was awarded at the INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research in Baltimore, Maryland, an event that drew more than 1,000 professionals in analytics and operations research.
The FCC team created a revolutionary approach to meet the demand for the spectrum used for wireless communication in North America. The FCC conducted the world’s first two-sided “Incentive Auction” that reclaims low-band electromagnetic spectrum from TV broadcasters. By purchasing spectrum from TV broadcasters and reselling it to wireless providers, the auction repurposed 84 MHz of TV spectrum for mobile broadband, next-generation “5-G,” and other wireless uses. The auction raised nearly $20 billion in revenue, and contributed more than $7 billion to reduce the US federal deficit.
“This was an important project that repurposed spectrum to allow further enhancement of the app- and wireless-economy,” Trick remarked. “Success for this auction relied heavily on advanced optimization and analytics methods.”
Michael Trick was appointed dean of CMU-Q in September 2017. He has been a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University’s main campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, since 1989. Trick’s research specializes in computational methods in optimization.
Presiding over the event was Ramayya Krishnan, the dean of Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, and the president-elect of INFORMS.
INFORMS is the leading international association for operations research and analytics. The Franz Edelman Award recognizes outstanding contributions of analytics and operations research in for- and non-profit sectors world wide.