RICHARDSON, Texas (Jan. 15, 2003) – Supply chain management in the air cargo and consumer electronics industries will be the topic of a seminar and a lecture series presented by the Center for Intelligent Supply Networks (C4ISN) at The University of Texas at Dallas’ School of Management beginning later this month. All sessions are free and open to the public.

The lecture series will kick off Jan. 27 with an introduction to supply chain structure in consumer electronics. Subsequent lectures – on Feb. 17, March 24 and April 7 – will address planning processes across the entire supply chain and will also include an in-depth discussion of planning practices in original equipment manufacturing. The series will conclude with a case study of an actual consumer electronics company. All four lectures will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. in Room 1.103 of Temporary Classroom Building HT (see http://www.utdallas.edu/campusmap.html).

Mohit Juneja, senior solution architect at i2 Technologies, will be the lead presenter for the lecture series. Juneja, who was at General Motors before joining i2Technologies, has been working with consumer electronics and durable goods businesses for more than five years and has been instrumental in developing a supply chain solution for the consumer electronics industry.

The seminar, which will feature Dr. Raja Kasilingam, vice president of cargo products for Sabre, as the speaker, will be held on Jan. 31 and will address air cargo supply chain issues. Kasilingam will present an overview of the air cargo supply chain and address challenges of the commercial air cargo system, including ways companies can manage demand, capacity and prices to maximize total network revenue.

At Sabre, Kasilingam is responsible for product management, product marketing and worldwide sales of cargo operational and decision support systems. Before joining Sabre, Kasilingam held positions in operations research, logistics and manufacturing for companies in India and Thailand and has served on the faculties of the University of Arkansas and the University of Regina. He also worked on the research faculty at Georgia Tech.

Kasilingam’s seminar will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. in Room 4.102 of the Erik Jonsson Academic Center.

The seminar and lecture series are the first two offerings of The UTD School of Management’s Center for Intelligent Supply Networks, which is in final stages of formation. Director of the center is Dr. Suresh Sethi, UTD’s Ashbel Smith Professor of Operations Management, and the center’s managing director is Dr. Divakar Rajamani, who recently joined the school after a 10-year career in industry at such companies as i2 Technologies and General Motors, where he worked in a consulting capacity. He also served on the faculty of the University of Manitoba from 1990 to 1996.

Both men have published widely in the operations management field and have written books on the topic. Sethi is the author or co-author of four books: Optimal Control Theory: Applications to Management Science, published in 1981; Hierarchical Decision Making in Stochastic Manufacturing Systems, published in 1994; Optimal Consumption and Investment with Bankruptcy, published in 1997; and Optimal Control Theory: Applications to Management Science and Economics, published in 2000. Rajamani’s co-authored book, Cellular Manufacturing Systems: Design, Planning and Control, was published in 1996.

More information on the seminar and lecture series as well as the Center for Intelligent Supply Networks can be obtained by contacting Rajamani at 214-718-1403 or divakar@utdallas.edu.

About UTD
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 13,000 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at http://www.utdallas.edu.