21 Israel David
CURRICULUM VITAE
and List of Publications
November 2015
PERSONAL DETAILS
Name: Israel David
Date and place of birth: July 5, 1956, Israel
Office address: Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Tel: + 972 8 6472202
Fax: + 972 8 6472958
e-mail:
Home address: 5/12 Rahavat Keren-Ha'yesod,
Givat-Shmuel 54150, Israel
Tel: + 972 52 3434148
EDUCATION
1990 - 1991 Post-Doctoral fellow
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
1984 - 1989 Ph.D. Operations Research
Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Tel Aviv University
Date of award: July 16, 1989.
Title of Doctoral Dissertation: Sequential Stochastic Assignments Based on Discrete Match Levels.
Name of Supervisor: Professor U. Yechiali.
1981 M.A. Operations Research
Department of Statistics and Operations Research, Tel Aviv University
Title of Master’s Thesis: Optimal Stopping Problems with Time-Dependent Discount Factor, with Application to Kidney Transplantation.
Name of Supervisor: Professor U. Yechiali.
1975 B.A. Pure Mathematics (magna cum laude)
Tel Aviv University.
Other Studies
1989 M.A. Biblical Studies (magna cum laude)
Tel Aviv University.
military service
1984 - 1986 IDF Ground Forces Headquarters
1976 - 1983 IDF Artillery Headquarters
1975 - 1976 IDF Artillery Corps
positions and teaching experience
2015- present Member of the Higher Academic Counsil, HIT – Holon Institute of Technology
2005- present Associate Professor
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
2004 Visiting Senior Researcher. IMI (Israeli Military Industries, Ramat- Hasharon), Central Laboratory, Operations Research Group. (On sabbatical).
2003 (Nov) Delivering a tutorial on the Fair Allocation of Organs (for transplant),
Yale School of Management, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.
2002, 2003, Teaching the main Probability course (adjunct teacher),
2005 (July-Sep) School of Mathematics, Tel-Aviv University.
2001 (July-Sep) Visiting Research Fellow
School of Arts and Social Sciences, Waikato University, Hamilton, New-Zealand.
2001 Visiting Professor
Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University. (On sabbatical).
1999 Visiting Professor
Operations-Research Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.
1997- 2005 Senior Lecturer (tenured 1998)
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
1992 - 1997 Lecturer
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
1994 Visiting Lecturer
Boston University – BGU, MSM (Master of Sciences in Management) Program.
1989 - 1990 Lecturing Post-Doctoral fellow, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
1986 - 1989 Instructor, Department of Statistics and Operations Research,
School of Mathematical Sciences, Tel-Aviv University.
Undergraduate Courses taught (for engineers, unless otherwise stated)
Probability (School of Mathematics, TAU)
Introduction to Probability Theory, Introduction to Statistics
Statistical Estimation and Tests of Hypotheses
Project Management
OR spreadsheet Modeling
Operations Research I, II
Graduate Courses taught (for engineers, unless otherwise stated)
Stochastic Processes (Math Dept., BGU)Dynamic Programming
Queueing Theory
Reliability Theory
Applied Optimization for Engineers
Advanced Simulation / Military Operations Research
Decision Theory
Dynamic Optimization and Control
Optimization Software Systems
Operations Management (OR Dept.,
Naval Postgraduate School, CA, USA)
professional experience
1976 - 1984 Senior military operations-research analyst at the IDF. Implemented mathematical methods and extensive simulation to performance analysis of complex systems. Last position in the army with the rank of Major.
1988 - Present Consultant for Defence Administration, Ballistics and Military Operations Research.
IMI–Israel Military Industries; Hancal—Systems Engineering, Tel-Aviv
IMI Giv’on—Rocket Systems, Ramla; Swiss Ministry of Defence
Elbit Ltd., Haifa; The IDF; The Open University, Israel.
Languages
Hebrew, English and French. Some Greek.
current research
Stochastic optimization. Application of stochastic dynamic programming to production and inventory research. Health-Care Applications. Military applications.
honors and awards
1. First place in the International Youth Bible Contest, Jerusalem, 1971.
2. The Blecher award for achievements in studies, Tel-Aviv University, Department of Statistics, 1981.
3. Fellowships for Ph.D. studies at Tel Aviv University, 1986–1989.
4. The Hebrew University Seeligman Prize, 1989 (National competition for best post-graduate work in biblical research).
5. The Oded Levin Prize - the biennial (young scientists) best-paper award of ORSIS (Operations Research Society of Israel), 1990.
6. Post-Doctoral fellowships from the Department of Mathematics, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, 1990-1991.
7. Israeli National Contributor to ifors meeting (International Federation of OR Societies), Lisbon, Portugal, 1993. (Paper: “Optimal control-values for the second-best request”). A travel stipend awarded by ORSIS on a competitive basis.
8. INFORMS Koopman Prize 2001, (best paper in Military Operations Research), awarded at INFORMS annual meeting, San Jose, California, November 2002.
9. BGU Rector's certificate for excellence in teaching 2005.
10. INFORMS Meeting 2015, Philadelphia, USA – 6th place in the annual poster competition (out of some 90 finalist, on-site competition).
membership in professional/scientific societies
1988 - orsis: Operations Research Society of Israel. Secretary of the society (1999- 2005).
1989 - INForMs: The Operations Research and Management Science Society of America. (Before the merger in 1995 member of ORSA and TIMS).
1996 - ISIR: The International Society of Inventory Research.
2000 - MAA: The Mathematical Association of America.
2002- INFORMS’s MAS: Military Applications Section, HAS: Health Applications Section, and Education Section.
2005- ISA: The Israel Statistics Association.
refereeing FOR SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS
Article refereeing for the following journals:
Journal of Applied Probability, Operations Research, Management Science, Stochastic Models, Annals of Operations Research, OR Letters, Naval Research Logistics, IIE Transactions, European Journal of Operational Research, Medical Decision Making, Health-Care Management-Science, International Journal of Production Economics,
Military Operations Research, International Transactions in Operational Research.
reSEARCH GRANTS
1997-1998 – Primary Researcher: “Hit probability applications to robotics and sensor layout”. Ministry of Science, the Government of Israel, NIS 88,000.
1997-1998 – Primary Researcher: “Efficient algorithms for inventory control in large stochastic systems”. Ministry of Science, the Government of Israel, NIS 88,000.
2009- – associate Researcher: “Knowledge Base – Safety with Explosives” (מוקד ידע לאומי בטיחות נפיצים). A bid of the Directorate of Defense R&D, Ministry of Defense, the Government of Israel, משרד הבטחון מפא"ת) ) won by the BGU team headed by Prof D. Ornai of Mechanical Engineering. Total of NIS 950,000.
thesis supervision (RESEARCH STUDENTS)
All students are of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, BGU.
1. Biran, Sigal, “A heuristic policy for a partially observable Markov decision process”, 1994 (in Hebrew). M.Sc. thesis, supervised jointly with Prof. Z. Sinuany-Stern. It has won the award of the Paul Ivanier Center for Robotics and Production Management, BGU, 1994.
2. Agrovich, Meir, “Performance analysis of a multi-target weapon system”, 1995 (in Hebrew - unclassified). Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for M.Sc. degree.
3. Israeli, Arie, “Analysis of target location methods based on angular observations”. M.Sc. thesis, 1997.
4. Levi, Ofer, “Sequential assignment of randomly arriving stochastic values”.
M.Sc. thesis, 1998. The research has won the prestigious Eshkol Fellowship of the Ministry of Science, the Government of Israel, 1996. (A two-year grant of NIS 50,000.)
5. Perry, Amir, “On computing safety distances from dispersing hazardous materials”, 1999. Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for M.Sc. degree.
6. Alalouf, Amir, “Hit probability applications to robotics and sensor layout”. M.Sc. thesis, 2002.
7. Shechtman, Sarit, “Web-tutoring of the Knapsack problem: Dynamic-Programming algorithms, and applications”. M.Sc. thesis, 2005.
8. Geffen, Gabriel, “Topics in Artillery-Accuracy Research”. M.Sc. thesis, 2004.
9. Beiser, Ro’i, “MATLAB Tools for establishing optimal dynamic rules for Yield- Management”, 2003. Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for M.Sc. degree.
10. Hashavya, Eyal, “Safety from explosives – comparative analysis of available calculating tools”. M.Sc. thesis, 2007.
11. Alalouf, Amir, “Fair and Efficient Rules for Allocating Organs on the Transplant Waiting List”. Ph. D. thesis (submitted, 2008).
12. Moatty, Michal, “A new approach for live organallocation - amathematical analysis”. M. Sc. Thesis, 2009. The thesis has won the ORSIS prestigious Mehrez prize for 2009 – NIS 4500.
13. Bendersky, Michael, “The David-Yechiali Algorithm to Decide Kidney Eligibility for Transplant – Generalization for Gamma Lifetimes”. M. Sc. thesis, 2009.
14. Douek, Yifat, “Evaluating the Prospects for a Live Kidney Match on the Waiting List for Sub-Populations". M. Sc. thesis, 2010.
15. Bendersky, Michael, “Advanced Methods for Artillery Firing Shift”. Ph. D. thesis, 2014.
16. Manor-Natan, Sarit, “A Sample-Size Formula for the Mixed Normal Distribution with Numerical Tests and a Study of a Related Innovative Teaching Method ”. (Department of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University). Ph. D. thesis, 2014.
supervision OF STUDENTS ENGINEERING PROJECTS
The list refers to engineering undergraduate final projects. All students are of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben-Gurion University.
1. “Iron-in in Petach-Tikva” (Obsolescent inventory control). 1993. (Supervised jointly with E. Greenshtein).
2. Levi, Ofer, “Algorithms for sequential stochastic assignment with applications to yield-management”, 1996.
3. Alalouf, Amir, “Hit probabilities, linear targets”, (Best project award, 1997).
4. Talshir, Yaoz, “Efficient algorithms for inventory control in real-life large stochastic systems”, 1997.
5. Efross, Boris, “Analysis of algorithms for yield-management”, (Best Project award, 1998).
6. Lahav, Amit, “On managing inventories of obsolescent chemicals at Intel, Israel”, 1999.
7. Cohen, Ariel and D. Zmiri, “A simulation system to evaluate and compare estimators of an object in the plane by angular measurements”, (Second-best project award, 2000).
8.. Hammawy, Oshrit, and Tammy Eyal, “Transplant sharing with Jordan – a simulation study” , 2002.
9. Katav, Shai and Jacob Sandler, “Analysis of target location by angular measurements in an operational (airforce) system”, (Second-best project award, 2003).
9. Sa’ar, Ophir, and Doron Sapir, “Integrating smart predictors into a software package to simulate object location in the plane”, 2003.
10. Nahum, Liat and Orly Krams, “A new decision-making algorithm for organ-transplant allocation”, 2004.
11. Shani, Yael, and Sela Kotzer, “Simulation of dynamic allocation of kidneys to ESRD patients: utility and equity”, 2004.
12. Sagie, Yael, and Yael Brume, “The Israeli versus the British systems of organ sharing”, 2004.
13. Schaham. Roni, and Talia Gazit, “Upgrading, updating and implementation of the information system for research and simulation of allocation policies in organ transplants”. Dean of Engineering award 2008.
14. Or Brezel, “A first look at the Notar correction”, 2012.
15. Omri Dubovi and Amit Schulz, “Kalman filter in artillery fire transfer”, 2013.
16. Natali Bistrizer and Reut Ashkenazi, “Fire transfer – a two auxiliary target correction”, 2013.
17. Amit Shayovic and Eliran Naim, “Fire transfer – a wind based correction”, 2013.
18. Shiran Peleg and Stav Nutkevich, “A Kalman Filter based approach to artillery fire transfer”, 2014.
19. Sapir Vatavo and Ella Flechser, “Optimal weights for a multiple Correction”, 2014.
20. Chen Netzer, Nimrod Schawer and Meital Waltman, “Comparison between fire transfer corrections”, 2014.
21. Nir Biton and Ira Katz, “A Kalman based solution to the observers problem”, 2014.
22. Alex Borisov, “Fire transfer – a multiple factor based Correction”, 2014.
23. Shani Cohen and Miryam Baron, “Matching an optimal policy for a dialysis patient”, 2014.
24. Liran Schwartz, “A Multiple factor and a two target based correction”, 2015.
25. Liat Tenenbaum and Tamar Michaeli, “Observers problem – a Kalman filter based approach”, 2015.
other academic activities
A. Academic Programs
1. Designing and coordinating an exclusive double-degree program for outstanding students of IE and Management. Students study concurrently in the Dept. of Mathematics, BGU, for a period of 4 years graduating with a degree from both departments. These students comprise a core of future research assistants in the graduate program as well as serve as highly qualified assistants for undergraduate quantitative courses. The program is currently in its eleventh year.
Past records of the program includes 1 Ph.D. graduation at Stanford, 3 Ph.D students at BGU and the Technion, 1 post-doctoral position at the Dept. of Computer Science, University of Houston, 7 M.Sc. graduations at BGU IE dept and BGU Math dept, 6 “best project” awards at BGU-IE, and the publication of some twenty scientific papers (coauthored with BGU-IE faculty, BGU-Math faculty, and Stanford faculty).
B. Evaluation of Ph.D. and Master Theses
1. A. Shmilovici, “Methods for control and dynamic routing in flexible manufacturing systems—analysis and design”, Dept. of Electronic Systems, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, 1991.
2. M. Eisenberg-Mashiah, “Optimal policy for selling an asset”, Dept. of Mathematics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mathematics, University of Haifa, 1993.
3. E. Khmelnitsky, “Optimal flow control for scheduling in flexible manufacturing systems with continuous setups”, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, 1996. (A Ph.D).
4. A. Levi, “Algorithms for multiprocessor scheduling”, Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management, Faculty of Engineering, Ben-Gurion University, 1998.
5. D. Erlich, “Inventory (r,Q) models using Utility Theory”, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, 2001.
6. A. Herbon, “Modeling of feedback and optimal control in Engineering and Management, under uncertainty”, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Tel-Aviv University, 2001. (A Ph.D).
7. O. Suchard, “Multi-item optimal search and selection problems”, Dept. of statistics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mathematics, University of Haifa, 2001. (A Ph.D).
8. G. Gadnir, “Long-term planning in military organizations”, School of Business, Ben-Gurion University, 2002.
9. S.G. Joshi, “Some Mathematical Models for Financial Inventory Management System", Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, 2005. (A Ph.D).
10. K. Patel, "Some Quantitative Techniques in Medical Research”. Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, 2006. (A Ph.D).
11. U. Kartoon, "Human-Robot Collaborative Learning Methods". Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management, Faculty of Engineering, Ben-Gurion University 2007, (A Ph.D).
12. J. Wachs, "Optimal Hand Gesture Vocabulary Design Methodology for Virtual Robotic Control", Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management, Faculty of Engineering, Ben-Gurion University 2007, (A Ph.D).
13. F. A'wad, "Characterization of the statistical properties of Response Modeling Methodology (RMM), and comparison of the effectiveness of systems of distributions (including RMM) as a general model for distributions fitting", Dept. of Industrial Engineering and Management, Faculty of Engineering, Ben-Gurion University 2007, (A Ph.D).