What ORMS can do for your company

We can provide solutions to some of the Operational Research (OR) problems that your company may face:

• Major Problems: obtain problem solutions to major OR problems by co-funding a PhD candidate
• Minor Problems: obtain problem solutions to smaller OR problems by supporting an MSc project

Doctoral collaborative research: funding sources

1. ESRC Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) collaborative studentships - these would be open to Home/EU students only in line with the ESRC' s residency requirements. Under this scheme, the industry partner should fund at least 20% of the funding required for the studentship.
2. Warwick Collaborative Postgraduate Research Scholarships (WCPRS) -usually the University requires a minimum of 50% of funding for fees and maintenance for 3 years from the industry partner. Research expenses etc are optional but a contribution towards these would be good.
3. EPSRC Industrial CASE studentships Students receive funding for a full EPSRC studentship for 3.5 years (currently ~£69,121). Companies provide additional top up to the project of a minimum of a third of the EPSRC funding. This top-up is £23,040 over the course of the project. The student must spend at least three months at the company, and the company pays any travel and subsistence costs. Projects should be in the area of engineering and the physical sciences.

MSc Projects

Graduates of the degrees are in high demand by industry and the course hosts a number of recruitment events each year. Organisations that have specifically targeted students from the MSc BAC and MSOR in the past 12 months have included Proctor and Gamble, IBM, Virgin Media, British Airways, Tesco and Centrica, with many more visiting in the past few years. A key part of both programmes is the final external organisation-based consultancy project. This income generating activity (each project costs the hosting company a certain amount - please, ask for current fees - per student) is extremely popular with a diverse range of external organisations and a significant number of projects take place each year. Organisations that have run projects in the past year include Santander, Virgin Media, AOM, Pepsico, Red Bull Racing, Sunningdale Golf Club, Warwickshire County Council, the NHS and the Home Office. This diversity of organisation shows the immense breadth of demand for people with the skills that the MSc BAC and MSOR produce.

As such, our graduates can be found in a wide variety of organisations and as the number of recruitment visits and projects show, there is high market demand for skilled professionals with analytical and OR knowledge. Typical graduate destinations are:

• HSBC- Research Analyst
• PWC- Associate
• Government- Government Economics Service
• Ernst and Young - Consultant
• Boston Consulting Group – Consultant
• LEK Consulting- Consultant
• Steer Davies Gleave – Consultant
• Citibank – Management Associate
• Price Waterhouse Cooper - Associate Auditor
• Capital One –Senior Business Analyst
• Abbey – Risk Analyst
• OR Consultant – British Airways

The MSc courses have cemented their strong industry links through forming a Course Advisory Board in 2006. The Board’s terms of reference are: “The overall aim of the Course Advisory Board is to provide input to the development of the BAC and MSOR degrees at Warwick Business School. The specific objectives of the Board are:

• To advise on course developments (including the curriculum, programme design and external organisation liaison activities) so the course continuously reflects developments in OR/MS/Analytics
• To advise on course developments in order to increase the relevance of the courses for students and external organisations It is also hoped that members of the Board will:
• Provide direct input to students from time-to-time on OR and analytic practice, developments in OR and analytics and information on careers in OR and analytics
• Promote the BAC and MSOR courses within the business community and public sector”

The Course Advisory Board includes members from IBM, DSTL, Lanner Group and British Airways and it has proved extremely useful in recent years, particularly in advising on the creation of the MSc BAC.

Engagement with Industry

• Joint project with Honda Research Institute on Evolution and Learning, 2004-2007
• Closely collaborating with Locom GmbH (Logistics Consultancy) on various project 1999- 2008
• OR training for Methode (Malta)
• OR training for Xerox (France)
• Course coordinator for the OR Society Introduction to OR I and II training courses.
• Delivery and coordination of the OR Society Supporting Strategy training course.
• Network Rail Senior Leaders Programme: 20+ cohorts of managers (2007 -2010), training on scenario based strategy development.
• Strategy workshop facilitation: Network Rail, Newcastle University Library, Warwick University Library and the Operational Research Society.
• Worked with Harwood Levitt Consulting (based in Brussels) and Molson Coors to produce a report for the Treasury on the implications of different cider duty schemes.
• Peer review of Sellafield Ltd simulation models and OR Group
• Simulation training for the National Audit Office
• Expert Witness on simulation in High Court London
• Coventry City Council – numerous projects
• Clinical report to Bibby-Sterilin (2004)