It’s a great pleasure to welcome all of you here in Karlsruhe, Germany. First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our host, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and especially to Prof. Dr. Stefan Nickel and Prof. Dr. Gerhard Satzger, for their strong support in organizing the Ninth International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management (ICMSEM). Thank you for your generous hospitality and thoughtful arrangements.

This year marks another important step in our journey to build a global academic community. Over the past nine years, we have held our conferences in different continents—Asia, Europe, and North America—aiming to promote state-of-the-art research in MSEM and to provide scholars worldwide a common platform for academic exchange and collaboration.

During this year’s conference, we are honored to present the 2015 Advancement Prize for MSEM. Out of 971 submissions, 132 full papers were recognized as valid entries, and the winners were selected by a rigorous international jury team from Spain, Australia, Germany, Russia, Canada, and more. This achievement reflects not only the high quality of submissions, but also the truly global participation of scholars from both developed and developing countries.

In the coming two days, we are excited to have keynote speeches delivered by seven outstanding scholars from Azerbaijan, Germany, Spain, USA, Canada, Portugal, and Japan. They will share their expertise in areas such as supply chain risk, innovation, sustainable operations, and data-driven decision making. I believe their insights will greatly inspire our discussions.

We also have four parallel sessions where 40 scholars—including many from Germany, USA, Canada, Australia, Spain, and other international institutes—will present their recent work. These sessions offer valuable opportunities to engage with new ideas in optimization, data mining, intelligent systems, and modern OR applications in engineering management.

Karlsruhe is not only a renowned hub for science and technology, but also a charming city with rich history and culture. I encourage you to take some time to explore the city, enjoy the local cuisine, and experience the beautiful German summer.

Let this conference be a celebration of academic exchange, cultural friendship, and collaborative innovation. Thank you once again for your participation and contributions. I wish you all a productive conference and a memorable stay in Karlsruhe.

Prof. Dr. Dr. Jiuping Xu

General Chair

President of the International Society of Management Science and Engineering Management

Academician of International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences

Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry

July 22, 2015