As we face the continued challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, I hope this message finds you healthy and safe. In efforts to minimize the impact of the virus, many aspects in our professional and personal lives have been changed; working from home, virtual meetings, and hybrid or online education have become part of our daily routine.  Along with those changes, the two most important events of the year for our Division, the IISE Annual and the ELSS Conferences, have transitioned to fully virtual events. While the events are not in-person anymore, we have many activities on the schedule that will give us the opportunity to connect, socialize and network, maybe even more effectively on a virtual environment.   So please consider attending if you have not registered yet. 

The ELSS Conference this year offers the additional option of a one-day Artificial Intelligence Symposium, which will give the attendees an opportunity to participate in both events with the conference registration. At our OpEx Town Hall meeting at the IISE Annual we will share with you our planned activities and events for the near future, provide you information on how you can get involved, and listen to your ideas and feedback on how we can do better. The IISE members that have not registered for the IISE Annual Virtual Conference will still be able to attend their respective town hall meeting.  We hope to see you there and of course at the Lean & Six Sigma Track technical sessions that will give you a chance to hear about the best practices, new trends, and research in the domain of operational excellence, lean, and six sigma from the comfort of your home! While you are exploring the conference schedules, be on the lookout for the activities that our Operational Excellence Student Board is planning to hold at the conferences.