text: Rob Leachman is a Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Leachman is the author of more than 50 technical publications and has supervised more than 30 PhD dissertations concerning production and operations management. He also is President and CEO of Leachman and Associates LLC, a firm providing consulting and software for operations management and logistics analysis to corporations and governments. He received the AB degree in Mathematics and Physics, the MS degree in Operations Research and the PhD degree in Operations Research, all from U. C. Berkeley, and has been a member of the UC Berkeley faculty since 1979. In 1995 Dr. Leachman was the winner of the Franz Edelman Award Competition sponsored by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), recognizing his work to design and implement automated production planning systems in the semiconductor industry. In 2001 Dr. Leachman was the runner-up in the Franz Edelman Award Competition, recognizing his work for automated floor scheduling and cycle time management in the semiconductor industry. The Edelman Award is the highest accolade from INFORMS, given annually recognizing outstanding practice of the management sciences.