promote the interesting work being conducted. His comments on using videos to further the reach and attraction of O.R. are right on target. Not all of our members are either interested in or suited for such activities, but with a membership of approximately 10,000, we certainly have our fair share of individuals who can "wave the O.R. flag" and serve as "O.R. ambassadors" for our profession within this medium.

In 2004, a passing thought of creating a video to highlight the research activities in the Simulation and Optimization Laboratory at the University of Illinois lead to a discussion with a video journalist faculty member in the College of Communications (Department of Journalism) at the university. After more careful thought, he suggested that VideoWorks@WILL-TV(c), a subsidiary of the University of Illinois public radio/TV station, would be an ideal unit to produce such a video. During our meetings, a vision was communicated to create a research video that would highlight the two research applications in our lab that have drawn the most national attention: pediatric immunization and aviation security.

The meetings with VideoWorks led to a decision to create two separate research videos, one for each application area. The VideoWorks personnel also posed several key questions necessary to produce the appropriate product: What should the videos be designed to achieve? Who will be the target audience? What message should be conveyed by the videos? Fortunately, the VideoWorks producer was able to translate our research activities into a loosely drafted script that flowed through several key ideas. Decisions also needed to be made concerning where the filming would take place, who would be in the videos, and how long would it take to shoot and produce.

After yet further discussion, it was decided that the pediatric vaccine video would be produced first, which involved filming at our research lab, as well as at the local public health clinic. Through personal contacts, local doctors and nurses were enlisted to participate. In addition, several of my graduate students spoke on issues that were pertinent to our pediatric immunization research. The video, "A Healthy Collaboration: Pediatric Immunization and Operations Research," discusses our standing research program in applying O.R. models to design optimal pediatric vaccine formularies (sets of vaccines stocked by clinics) and determine optimal pediatric vaccine stockpiles levels. This video was completed and released on April 24, 2006 (it can be viewed at https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/shj/www/shj.html).

The aviation security video was next on the agenda. Given that the University of Illinois operates and maintains the regional airport, it was straightforward to secure permission to do the filming on-site at the airport. VideoWorks also secured aviation security footage from the Transportation Security Administration (also facilitated through several personal contacts within the organization) that was blended in with the local footage to give the video a more national texture, and enlisted local Transportation Security Administration and airport personnel to be interviewed and participate in the production. Our congressman, Timothy V. Johnson (R-Ill.), was invited to provide his comments on aviation security in general and the research conducted in our lab. The video, "Aviation Security: Researching the Risk," discusses our research program in applying O.R. models to improve the performance of aviation security systems. This video was completed and released on Sept. 20, 2006 (it can also be viewed at https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/shj/www/shj.html).

Several lessons can be learned from these experiences. When it comes to video production, you get what you pay for. As a rule, the videos cost $1,000 per minute of the final product. Using a cell phone camera to film yourself speaking about your work will result in predictably poor quality. The professionals in the video production industry — the producer, videographer and editor — have a wealth of experience (and some interesting tricks of the trade) to make you and your work come to life. Although a script was created to track the flow and direction of the video, the specific comments shared by the participants were impromptu and spontaneous. The people in the videos were not acting, but rather, expressing their views candidly (as would be the case in any well produced documentary). It also took approximately 10 to20 minutes of shooting to obtain one minute of useable footage. Therefore, creating a 10-minute video could easily require three or more hours of filming time.

Since the videos were released, numerous individuals have requested copies to use in promoting mathematics in general (and operations research in particular) to high school students. They have also been used in undergraduate introductory operation research classes, as well as a recruiting tool for graduate students. Given the broad target audience of the first video, it is designed to showcase areas where operations research can be used. On Sept. 28, 2006, the National Science Foundation (NSF) held a media outreach day. Their ensuing press release, issued on Oct. 24, 2006, showcased our aviation security video (it can be viewed at www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=108133), creating even greater exposure and visibility for operations research to the news media. Also, given the "broader impact" component used to evaluate NSF proposals, research videos as such provide an effective (and distinct) way to set a proposal apart from (and hopefully above) the competition. We were also gratified to learn that the aviation security video received an Award of Excellence in two categories ("College or University" and "Video News Release") from the 13th Annual (2006) Communicator Awards competition.

Research videos provide a unique avenue to highlight and promote your research, and the operations research profession as a whole. If you are so inclined to "star" in your production, or simply want to showcase the work that you are doing, you will be thrilled with what a good video production can do in bringing your research ideas and work to life. I would be happy to assist anyone who is interested in pursuing this avenue of communication and dissemination.



Sheldon H. Jacobson (shj@uiuc.edu) is a professor, Willett Faculty Scholar and director of the Simulation and Optimization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He would like to thank Peter Horner, Richard C. Larson, Janet A. Jokela, Edward C Sewell and John E. Kobza for their suggestions, comments and feedback in writing this article. He would also like to thank Steven Drake and Jeffrey Cunningham of VideoWorks@WILL-TV(c) for their outstanding expertise in producing the two videos, as well as the National Science Foundation and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research for their support of the research highlighted in the videos.

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