Spring 2024 Buffalo Business 21
Applying game theory to the front lines
"In the wake of ever-evolving adversarial threats, governments worldwide
have invested trillions to safeguard their nations. Through game theory model-
ing, strategic interactions between defensive agencies and adversaries can be
studied to tackle some of the world's most pressing security challenges, in both
the physical and cyber environments."
— Kyle Hunt, assistant professor of management science and
systems, on his research that analyzed how strategy can protect
against adversarial threats and found attacker-defender games have a wide range
of use, including infrastructure and asset protection, inspection and screening, and
patrolling. The study appeared in the European Journal of Operational Research.
Read more at tinyurl.com/ubmgtgametheory.
How to make flights more
punctual
"The airlines that take
action to change their oper-
ations will see the biggest
improvement in on-time
performance and rankings.
Understanding the relative
impact of active and passive
strategies is crucial for airlines aiming to
stay competitive in a dynamic industry."
— Milind Sohoni, chair and professor
of operations management and strategy, on
his study that found operational changes —
such as efforts to reduce travel time, increase
boarding efficiency and minimize gate-re-
lated delays — are the best way to improve
airline on-time performance. The research
appeared in Production and Operations
Management Society. Read more at
tinyurl.com/ubmgtflights.
Collaborative UB cyber-
security program awarded
$3.4 million NSF grant
"The cybersecurity envi-
ronment is constantly chang-
ing. Losses from insider
attacks, criminal activity and
nation-states can be signif-
icant and have increased
substantially in the past
several years. The effects can be devastat-
ing and lead to collateral damage involv-
ing customer losses, lawsuits and severely
damaged reputations. Our goal is to continue
developing students with the skills and tech-
nical expertise to combat bad actors seeking
access to sensitive information."
— Lawrence Sanders, professor of
management science and systems, on
the CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service
program, which UB has run since 2008 to
train the next generation of cybersecurity
experts. The program has graduated more
than 45 scholars who work for the FBI, CIA,
Department of Homeland Security and
several other agencies. Sanders is co-prin-
cipal investigator on the project, which
received an additional $3.4 million from the
National Science Foundation in August. Read
more at tinyurl.com/ubmgtcybercorps.
