Before I get to the content of this post, let me take the opportunity to remind Pittsburgh friends of the upcoming International Poetry Forum event on April 15, 2025, this blurb from Jake Grefenstette:
If you love Dante, Ovid, the Mahābhārata, or other poetry on the afterlife, this one’s for you. Srikanth Reddy’s Underworld Lit (2000)—a TLS Book of the Year and finalist for the Griffin International Poetry Prize—presents a modern reimagining the Inferno in the form of an English professor’s “multiverse quest through various cultures’ realms of the dead.” Tickets are available here.
And my friends in Bengaluru of this play by Nilanjan Choudury on April 18th (3:30 pm & 7:30 pm; Venue: Rangashankara, Bangalore
Tickets: BookMyShow (Link)):
We cordially invite you to watch the critically acclaimed science play, “The Trial of Abdus Salam: The First Muslim Nobel Laureate in Science” – an imagined courtroom drama that explores the genius, faith, trials and triumphs of this towering figure of modern physics, who lies in a desecrated grave in the town of Rabwah in Pakistan, unacknowledged and isolated in the land of his birth. (More details here).
Now to the post.
Yoga Vasistha literally opens with this dialogue:
Sutiksna, the sage, asked the sage Agastya:
O sage, kindly enlighten me on this problem of liberation – which of the two is conducive to liberation, work (karma) or knowledge (jnana)?
Agastya replied:
Verily, birds are able to fly with their two wings: even so both work and knowledge together lead to the supreme goal of liberation. Not indeed work alone nor indeed knowledge alone can lead to liberation: but, both of them together form the means of liberation.
My practical interpretation of Agastya‘s (the twin brother of sage Vasishta, who, per my Puranic Itihasa, is my paternal ancestor) answer towards obtaining jivan-mukti was to equate it to me being a Professor-Entrepreneur, first with SmartOps (as an Academic Capitalist) and then with OrganJet (as an Academic Philanthropist), about which I have written about in (obviously a riff on Barack Obama‘s The Audacity of Hope)
Management Mathematics: The Audacity of BOPE
which motivated the title of my Inaugural Academic Spisak Lecture at Penn State (April 11, 2025):
The Audacity of Business-Optimizing Professor-Entrepreneur.
Some of you may remember my Bangs Lecture at Cornell (September 23, 2014):
OR/OM Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century.
Or this blurb for my Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT-Madras (in 2018) that closes with:
For his pioneering work in monetizing Operations Research, and seamless integration of academia with entrepreneurship, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer this award on Dr. Sridhar R. Tayur.
Indeed, my election to the National Academy of Engineering (2017) was for:
developing and commercializing innovative methods to optimize supply chain systems.
So, it was a real pleasure to receive this citation as part of the Spisak Lecture:
Spisak Lecture Award presented to Sridhar Tayur (CMU) with appreciation for his rigorous academic research deeply embedded in practice.
A most unexpected audience member that really made my already fun day even more so was Andy Mowery. Andy was a SmartOps user at J&J!
I closed my lecture with the question (that also concluded my paper Management Mathematics: The Audacity of BOPE):
How can we, using our professional craft, leave worthwhile footprints in the sands of time?
Andy sent me an email following the presentation:
Sridhar – it was great to see you and to reconnect today. After retiring from 35 years in the supply chain trenches I have really enjoyed my time as an adjunct and hoping my experiences with these future supply chain leaders will be the footprints I leave.
Putting it all together, then, unknown to me until well after the fact:
I am a market designer tackling wicked problems using engaged scholarship!
By now I expect you are also wondering what it is! Succinctly:
Engaged scholarship integrates academic research, teaching, and service to address societal issues. It bridges the gap between academic knowledge and practical application. This approach emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration and societal impact.
Anyhoo, among other things, I covered my Novelty Quadrant:
I asked Perplexity AI (founded by Aravind Srinivas, a IIT-Madras alum, who is also its CEO) to Sanskritize the above paper (and provide an English translation) as Navatva-Shastra (as a modern day treatise for Academics akin to Chanakya’s Artha-Shastra that was a treatise for Kings). The Sanskritists among you can grade Perplexity AI in its performance (what would Panini, of Ashtadhyayi (600 BCE) fame, say?) for this excerpt:
नवत्व शास्त्र
Navatva Shastra (Treatise of Novelty)
नवत्व चतुर्भुज
तयोः द्वारा निर्मितं नवत्व चतुर्भुजं समस्या चयनम् (कैनोनिकल या समकालीन) तथा समाधान पद्धतिः (पारंपरिक या नवीन) पर आधारितम्। एषःचतुर्भुजः चार विभागान् विभजति.
Novelty Quadrant
Tayur’s Novelty Quadrant is a framework that categorizes problems and solutions based on two axes: Problem Choice (Canonical or Contemporary) and Solution Methodology (Traditional or Novel). This quadrant is divided into four distinct sections.
सूत्राणि
- नवत्वम्: आत्म-सीमाओं से मुक्त होकर नवीन समस्याओं का चयन करें।
- साहसिकता: कल्पनाशीलता के साथ नवीन समाधान विकसित करें।
- व्यवहार्यता: व्यावसायिक भागीदारों के माध्यम से समाधान को व्यावहारिक रूप से लागू करें।
Principles
- Novelty: Embrace the courage to venture beyond conventional boundaries and select problems that offer opportunities for innovation.
- Audacity: Foster a culture of creativity and boldness in developing solutions.
- Practicality: Ensure that solutions are grounded in reality by collaborating with business partners and stakeholders.
Hmm…I would have liked to see some mention of achieving scalability through channel partners, but not too bad really.
Of course, there was considerable interest from faculty and PhD students on discussing concrete examples of how one can successfully obtain Academic Publications while Engaging with Practice:
Speaking of novelty, you may enjoy this recent CMU podcast on Quantum Machine Learning for Healthcare (April 9, 2025):
Healing with Intelligence Part 2: Quantum Science Diagnoses Diseases Faster, Better
PS. The last time I was invited to give a talk at Penn State there was a shooting on campus, just before I arrived, and so the check-in at the hotel and the planned dinner with the faculty were delayed. No such issues this time around! Had an enjoyable dinner with Aydin and Kevin at Allen Street Grille, and stayed at The Nittany Lion Inn, which is (Perplexity AI again):
a true gem, offering an unbeatable blend of historic charm, modern amenities, and exceptional service that makes every stay feel like a homecoming. From its beautifully appointed rooms to its award-winning dining options, this iconic hotel embodies the spirit of Penn State, ensuring a memorable experience for all who visit.
