Facilitating new commerce strategies

Of there's a good way to conduct business online, Professor Dharmaraj ("Raj") Veeramani will find a method to make it better. Over time, Veeramani's research has evolved from the idea of using auction-based mechanisms to allocate widely the tasks and resources in manufacturing systems, to forming Internet-enabled supply webs and designing new models for business-to-business electronic commerce.

"Even as a boy, I was introduced to the importance of personalized customer service & business alliances." — Professor Raj Veeramani

"After moving to UW-Madison (in 1992), I was fortunate enough to come in contact with various faculty in the College of Engineering, computer sciences department and the School of Business who had research interests and expertise that were complementary to mine," he says. "This allowed me to expand the scope of my research."

Dharmaraj ("Raj") Veeramani (13K JPG)

Currently Veeramani's group is investigating multilevel cascading auctions as a mechanism to dynamically form and coordinate manufacturing supply webs. The research will provide a host of insights, including what information companies should share in cascading auctions, how companies can make quick and effective business decisions with that information, and what models might describe job requirements and the suppliers' capabilities during online auctions. Ultimately, the group's research supports the national effort to use Internet-aided supply-web interactions to do business, says Veeramani.

To further his mission to improve E-commerce and help companies deal with the myriad of challenges they face while conducting Internet-based business, Veeramani founded UW-Madison's Global E-Business Consortium (CGEC) in December 1998. Its participants include faculty and students from such varied disciplines as engineering, business, law, and library and information studies; and representatives from 35 companies. CGEC creates an unbiased forum for its participants to identify and exchange E-commerce best practices and learn together about the state-of-the-art and next-generation ideas. It also conducts collaborative research with industry to develop new E-commerce paradigms.

Soft-spoken and sincere, Veeramani dates his interest in commerce to his childhood. "I literally grew up in the hotel that my family ran in Calcutta," he says. "Even as a small boy, I was introduced to the importance of personalized customer service and business alliances."

After his first year in high school, Veeramani was admitted to the Indian Institute of Technology at Madras, one of India's premier engineering institutions. He earned a degree in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in manufacturing, but decided what he had learned was just the tip of the iceberg.

"Upon completion of a luxurious five-year, 230-credit bachelor's degree, I realized that even though I had gained a good understanding of design and manufacturing at the product/machine level, I needed to complement this knowledge with an understanding of manufacturing at a systems-level perspective," says Veeramani. He completed MS and PhD degrees in industrial engineering at Purdue University in 1987 and 1991, respectively.

Recently Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson recognized Veeramani for the role he has played in advancing E-commerce in the state. During his "State of the State" address in January, Thompson introduced Veeramani. "Main Street businesses and corporations built today's strong economy. Now, we need to help these companies use E-commerce to better compete and increase their profits," said Thompson. "Dr. Raj Veeramani is leading a new consortium of higher education, business and state government to make sure we take the greatest advantage of our newest tool of commerce."

Veeramani also shares his time with three other campus departments. "My research interests lend themselves naturally for active collaboration with faculty in various departments on the UW-Madison campus," he says. In mechanical engineering, he has researched topics ranging from CAD/CAM to auction-based shop-floor control. With colleagues in civil and environmental engineering, he is exploring how to use what he's learned from the manufacturing industry in the construction industry. And in the School of Business, he is investigating Internet-enabled dynamic supply webs and E-marketplaces.

Although his research energizes him, Veeramani says his interactions with students are the most rewarding. "One of the most fulfilling facets of being a faculty member is the time I get to spend with students, both inside and outside the classroom," he says. Veeramani's teaching style—he calls it "concurrent education"—employs collaborative learning, hands-on experience and industry-based education. Veeramani received the first Alpha Pi Mu Outstanding Undergraduate Industrial Engineering Professor Award in 1998.

Yet another layer of this multifaceted, in-demand educator is a very private one. It is, perhaps, his core. "I am a highly family-oriented person and greatly cherish the time outside work that I spend with my wife, new baby and 3-year-old son."