Special Issue of the Journal of Scheduling Pushing the Envelope: Extending Classical Scheduling Models to Incorporate Practical Constraints Guest Editors: Reha Uszoy, Stephen Smith and Ken McKay ([log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]) Since its entry into the mainstream of academic research in the late 1950's, the field of scheduling has been addressed by a variety of authors from a variety of perspectives. Research in combinatorial optimization has evolved from basic formulations of single machine and job shop scheduling problems, while work in control theory alternatively has emphasized dynamics and stochastic scheduling models, and the field of artificial intelligence has promoted constraint satisfaction and heuristic search paradigms. Over the years, a vast and diverse body of literature has arisen from these various roots, and a large body of knowledge and algorithms now exists for tackling scheduling applications. At the same time, the complexities and idiosyncracies of practical scheduling environments continue to pose significant challenges for current techniques and there is a continuing need to expand the scope of scheduling research to address practical problems. The purpose of this special issue is to highlight current research aimed at pushing the envelope on classical scheduling models and tackling issues of applicability in practical domains. Of central interest is the issue of how to expand and to exploit the extensive knowledge base developed through mainstream scheduling research to address problem characteristics, constraints and contexts that may differ significantly from the original manufacturing formulations that have historically underpinned scheduling research. Some examples of such efforts include development of scheduling models for newly emerging scheduling applications (e.g., multimedia data transmission in the Internet); development of collaborative scheduling systems that combine human experts and algorithms in creative ways; how to alter or to extend existing formulations to incorporate specific complexities, how to exploit the immense amounts of real-time data that can be generated by modern sensor technology (such as shop-floor status data in manufacturing or information flow in computer networks) to develop execution sensitive solutions to dynamic scheduling problems. The development of effective methodologies for testing scheduling algorithms in realistic environments, and quantitatively assessing the impact and usability of a scheduling system within a given organizational structure are other examples of interdisciplinary approaches to making scheduling research more useful in practice. Deadlines: Submission deadline for manuscripts:May 1, 2003 First review cycle completed by: December 1, 2003 Second Review Cycle completed by: May 1, 2004 Cutoff date for accepted papers inclusion into special issue: July 1, 2004 Papers can be submitted electronically, following the Journal guidelines, to any of the three guest editors. Hard copy submissions should be sent to Reha Uszoy at the address below All papers submitted to the special issue will be reviewed in accordance with the standard procedures of the Journal of Scheduling. Accepted papers not re-submitted in time for publication in the Special Issue will appear in a regular issue of the Journal. Papers can be submitted electronically, following the Journal guidelines, to any of the three guest editors. For more details about the Journal of Scheduling, see http://www.kluweronline.com/issn/1094-6163 Correspondence Address: Reha Uzsoy, Ph.D, P.E. Director, Laboratory for Extended Enterprises at Purdue Professor of Industrial Engineering 1287 Grissom Hall Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907-1287 tel: (765) 494-0829 fax: (765) 494-5448 email: [log in to unmask]