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Hans Ittmann, manager of the Centre for Logistics at the CSIR, was invited to become a Fellow of ORSSA in recognition of his sustained contribution to operations research over a period of time. It was the first year that the society extended this honour to members; Ittmann is one of four people to become an ORSSA Fellow.
Esbeth van Dyk, also from the Centre for Logistics, was awarded the Tom Rozwadowski medal for the best paper published by a member of ORSSA. Her paper, published in ORiON (the ORSSA journal), is titled "An Analysis of the South African Fruit Logistics Infrastructure" and was co-authored by her CSIR colleague Emma Maspero.
Van Dyk furthermore received an award for her role as project manager of the Fruitlog project, a comprehensive investigation into the national fruit logistics infrastructure. The project was conducted jointly by the CSIR, the University of Stellenbosch and Optimal Agricultural Business Systems. Van Dyk was the driving force behind the initiation and execution of the project, and played a major role in securing the necessary funding. The Sector Partnership Fund of the Department of Trade and Industry funded 65% of the study, with the fruit industry providing the other 35%.
Van Dyk was also pivotal from a technical point of view - through her own technical contributions, her mentoring of students involved and ensuring that top quality work was produced by a diverse team. The project has resulted in a number of journal articles and conference papers.
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Hans Ittmann, CSIR |
Esbeth van Dyk, CSIR, with Professor Wim Gevers, President of the Operations Research Society of South Africa (ORSSA)
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