Meet the 2021 Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics Prize Committee

Durai Sundaramoorthi, Prize Committee Chair

Durai is the area coordinator and senior lecturer of data analytics at Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis. He received his doctorate in industrial engineering (data analytics concentration) from the University of Texas at Arlington, where he performed his research in the Center on Stochastic Modeling, Optimization, and Statistics (COSMOS). His research interests include business analytics, machine learning, optimization, simulation, and simulation-based optimization applied to diverse applications.

Along with his colleagues, he won third prize in the 2017 Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics. Additionally, the paper he co-authored with his colleagues from the 2016 Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics won the 2017 INFORMS Data Mining Best Paper Award and 2018 Olin Award.

Greg Doonan

Greg is Head of Advanced Analytics at Syngenta, where he and his team are responsible for delivering insights and solutions to improve the quality, efficiency and productivity of Syngenta’s breeding programs and operations. During his nearly 20 years at Syngenta, he has held a variety of roles in research and development — encompassing platform and protocol development of high throughput systems, soybean trait development and global genetic projects in oilseeds.

Greg’s efforts, along with the work of his colleagues in Soybean Product Development, were recognized in 2015 when Syngenta won the Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences and became the first agriculture company ever to win the prestigious award.

Saurabh Bansal

Saurabh Bansal is an associate professor of supply chain management and information systems, and on the faculty of operations research at the Pennsylvania State University. His research focuses on developing mathematical models, algorithms, and data-analysis protocols to estimate business risks and optimize business operations under risks. His recent research has looked at estimation of parametric uncertainty and portfolio optimization in the agribusiness domain. This body of work has been recognized with several awards including the Wagner Award by INFORMS in 2020, Production and Operations Management Society Applied Research Challenge in 2015, among others.

Esma S. Gel

Esma Gel is an associate professor of industrial engineering in the School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering (CIDSE) at Arizona State University. She holds a B.S. degree in industrial engineering from Middle East Technical University, Turkey, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in industrial engineering from Northwestern University, obtained in 1995 and 1999, respectively. Her research focuses on the use of stochastic modeling and control techniques for the design, control and management of operations in various settings, with emphasis on manufacturing and service systems, business and logistics processes, and health care systems. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation as well as several industrial partners such as Intel and Mayo Clinic. She is a former INFORMS Vice President and served on the INFORMS Board of Directors.

Ingmar Steinzen

Ingmar Steinzen is managing director at OPTANO where he and his team are delivering advanced analytics solutions to complex planning puzzles across various industries. His recent projects include E2E supply chain planning, production planning, and vehicle scheduling. Prior to founding OPTANO, Ingmar held an analytics position at McKinsey & Comp. In his more than 15 years of overall experience with advanced analytics software, he has authored over 15 scientific papers and articles.

Yong Bao

Yong Bao is currently working as a senior data scientist at Land O’Lakes. In this role, Yong’s responsible for developing advanced analytic solutions across the enterprise in collaboration with IT, business, and third-party data and technology partners to turn agricultural and business data into insight and value. Prior to Land O’Lakes, Yong worked as associated principal scientist in PepsiCo Global R&D. He holds a Ph.D. degree in quantitative genetics and plant breeding (2011 - 2014) from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, a M.S. degree in plant and soil science (2007 - 2009) from the University of Vermont and a B.A. degree in agricultural resource and environmental science (2002 - 2006) from Nanjing Agricultural University.