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CORVALLIS - An engineering professor at Oregon State University is a member of a 10-person research team at General Motors that has been awarded the 2005 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences, for operations improvements credited with saving the company more than $2 billion.

David Kim, a professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, worked for GM for 10 years before joining the College of Engineering at OSU in 2000. As a member of the GM research team, Kim developed a new, high-speed simulation method the company uses to improve efficiency of operations.

"In the field of operations research, the Edelman Award is viewed as the super bowl of awards," Kim said. "I'm honored to be a member of the winning team, and to bring my industry experience to the students and research enterprise here at Oregon State University."

The Edelman Award, which recognizes innovation and problem-solving, is sought by operations researchers and planners around the world. The annual award, which includes a $10,000 prize, is presented by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences.

Ron Adams, dean of engineering at OSU, said faculty like Kim are helping OSU engineering students be better prepared for work in industry upon graduation.

"A key part of our drive to move our very good engineering program into the top-25 national rankings is emphasizing collaborative research with industry partners and hiring faculty members, like David Kim, who have experience in industry," Adams said. "These professors bring their real-world experience into the student learning environment."

Kim was hired using funding provided by the Engineering and Technology Industry Council, which the Oregon legislature established in 1997 to make engineering and technology education a strategic resource to fuel the Oregon economy and create opportunity for all Oregonians, Adams said.

The GM team of which Kim is a member won for its entry, "Increasing Production Throughput at General Motors." Using operations research to achieve greater efficiency, GM has employed the team's research to save more than $2 billion through improved productivity at 30 assembly plants in 10 countries. The savings have been realized using novel algorithms and modeling systems developed for estimating throughput performance, identifying bottlenecks, and buffer allocation.