Soulaymane Kachani SM '00, PhD '02
Innovating Management of Dynamic Pricing and Inventory
Soulaymane Kachani SM '00, PhD '02 receives the MIT Arab Student Organization Young Professional Award.
Soulaymane Kachani SM '00, PhD '02 is probably the first Columbia University faculty member to begin teaching with a sabbatical. The assistant professor in the Industrial Engineering and Operations Research Department spent the year after earning his MIT PhD in operations research with McKinsey & Co. working on pricing and supply chain issues worldwide. "The experience was extremely valuable," says Kachani, who was born in Morocco and earned an applied mathematics degree at Ecole Centrale Paris. "When I started teaching in 2003, I had a better idea of what research would have impact on our economy and it's been helpful in the classroom to relate to real life examples."
Kachani's strong commitment to teaching and student mentoring earned him a distinguished teaching award from Columbia's School of Engineering Alumni Association in May. A month earlier, he received the MIT Arab Student Organization Young Professional Award, which cites his rise as a prolific researcher in dynamic pricing and inventory management. Based on work that began during an MIT internship, he is co-creator of patented asset allocation models now used in managing a $2 billion portfolio. His innovation uses the real options concept, which applies options pricing to real life investments to create a flexible investment model that dynamically maximizes return and minimizes risk over time. That's turned into an annual return since 1999 of more than 10 percent for the portfolio's nonprofit endowment funds.
At MIT, Kachani won the Karl Taylor Compton Prize for his leadership efforts. As president of the Graduate Student Council, he successfully advocated for more affordable housing close to campus and for higher stipends for graduate students. Kachani also led a fundraising drive, new among graduate students, that resulted in the gift of a Saferide van.
At Columbia, his interest in leadership continues. At the end of his first teaching year, he was elected to the Columbia Senate and joined its budget committee. Subsequently, he was elected by fellow senators to serve on the Senate's 12-member executive committee, which includes the president and provost. "There is no better way of influencing a university's educational mission than being involved in the governing body," he says. "I try to leverage best practices, especially from MIT because that's what I know best, and see how they can be best used at Columbia."
By Nancy DuVergne Smith
(First published in Technology Review, March/April 2006)
