INFORMS (www.informs.org) created the award to honor those whose work has had an impact on the fields of operations research and management science. To be given biennially, the prize goes to an idea or a technique that is widely used, or someone who has played a primary role in bringing significant methodology into widespread use.

With CPLEX, Dr. Bixby and Mrs. Lowe introduced companies throughout the world to advanced optimization for resource management. Today, it is used in a wide range of applications in almost every industry, including finance, manufacturing and transportation.

"Since this is the first year for the prize," says Warren Powell, chairman of the Impact Prize committee, "we had no shortage of strong nominations. But the five-member prize committee unanimously approved the decision to recognize Bob and Janet’s contribution of making advanced optimization algorithms broadly accessible through CPLEX."

Currently ILOG’s chief science officer and vice president of strategic projects, respectively, Dr. Bixby and Mrs. Lowe co-founded CPLEX Inc. in 1987. Through direct telesales and partnering with independent software vendors, their company quickly became the leading supplier of mathematical programming optimization engines.

ILOG acquired CPLEX Inc. in 1997, adopting its flagship product as ILOG CPLEX. ILOG also adopted CPLEX’s sales operations, which are now among ILOG’s most profitable.

For more information on ILOG CPLEX and the winners of the Impact Prize, please visit www.ilog.com.

The board provides guidance on W3C matters relating to strategy, management, legal issues and processes. It also helps determine which industry and technology issues should be addressed by the W3C, the leading Web standards organization.

"The advisory board is an important vehicle for ensuring that the W3C receives input from the industry and its leading citizens," says Tim Berners Lee, director of the W3C. "Jean-François’ insights, which come from his extensive experience with Web standards, as well as his experience implementing them and understanding how they impact customers, will be an invaluable contribution to the W3C."

Mr. Abramatic was chosen along with four other people to join the board’s five current members. The other new members are Ann Bassetti (Boeing), Jim Bell (Hewlett-Packard), Eduardo Gutentag (Sun Microsystems) and Steve Holbrook (IBM). Mr. Abramatic served as W3C chairman from 1996-2001. He has also advised the French government on Internet matters, and is a former director of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

As ILOG CPO, Mr. Abramatic oversees product development, product management and product marketing at ILOG, directing an international team of scientists, product managers and software engineers.