Professor Kobbacy is a professor of management science at the Centre of Operational Research and Applied Statistics, and also the Director of Management and Management Sciences Research Institute, at Salford University, UK. He has a long-standing interest in "applied" operational research. He has previously lectured in operational research at Strathclyde University after gaining industrial experience in a major oil company. His research interests in operations management are directed towards the development of intelligent management systems for maintenance scheduling and inventory control. His research in preventive maintenance scheduling and management has been funded by industry and research councils. Professor Kobbacy was awarded the Operational Research President's medal in 1990 and was a vice president of the Operational Research Society, UK, from 2002 to 2004. Professor Murthy obtained B.E. and M.E. degrees from Jabalpur University and the Indian Institute of Science in India, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. He is currently a Research Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Queensland and a Senior Scientific Advisor to the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has held visiting appointments at several universities in the USA, Europe and Asia. His current research interests include various aspects of technology management (new product development, strategic management of technology), operations management (lot sizing, quality, reliability, maintenance), and post-sale support (warranties, service contracts). He has run short courses for industry on various topics in technology management, operations management and post-sale support in Australia, Asia, Europe and the USA.