Melissa Dunford Email and Phone Number

Provide subject matter expertise in advanced analytics, mathematical modeling, and the design and development of auction systems.

Senior member of the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force. Worked with leading auction design experts, computer scientists, mathematicians, and the US telecommunications industry to research and design the world’s first ever spectrum auction exchange known as the Broadcast Incentive Auction. The auction reorganized the US television band in order to free up radio spectrum to be used for wireless telecommunications. Widely recognized as the most complex undertaking by the FCC and winner of the INFORMS 2018 Franz Edelman Award for achievement in Advanced Analytics and Operations Research. Responsible for the development and testing of all software tools and systems needed to conduct the incentive auction including multiple bidding systems, mathematical optimization software, and a public reporting system. Directed the integration and deployment of all systems and served as the senior auction manager during the conduct of the auction. • Directed the work of over twenty mathematicians and IT professionals including four senior managers • Allocated resources from a multimillion dollar contract to ensure system readiness on time and at budget• Reported directly to the Chair of the Incentive Auction Task Force• Developed and presented executive briefings to the Chairman of the FCC• Successfully managed the implementation of the Broadcast Incentive Auction which took a year to conduct and raised revenues of over 19 billion dollars

Formed consulting company to serve as an independent contractor to the FCC. Provided expert advice to the FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force in the development of integer optimization models used for the reorganization of the US television band. Specified requirements for the design and development of new auction systems and supported research and development studies to assist in establishing auction policies and procedures.

Worked with stakeholders and subject matter experts to define, design, and develop integer optimization models and associated enterprise-class software to solve key organizational problems. Responsible for the development and deployment of all software and systems. Directed the daily activities of diverse cross-functional teams of statisticians, mathematicians, and software engineers.Walt Disney World (2005 to 2009)Design and development of distributed mathematical software modules to increase the efficiency of a fleet of 250+ buses and 1200 drivers operating over a large, closed network. Applications developed included: • Demand forecasting tool to input large amounts of historical operational data and forecast future demand on the network using choice and negative binomial models• Planning tools to plan future fleet and personnel needs based on demand and operational forecasts using a mixed integer, time-space network model• Scheduling software to schedule vehicles and personnel using a variety of optimization techniques• Real-time scheduling component to update bus schedules based on real-time dataFederal Communications Commission (FCC) (2000 to 2005)Research, design, and development of the FCC’s first multi-round combinatorial spectrum auction. Technical lead for the design and development of an enterprise level auction system. Applications developed included:• Large-scale integer optimization models to determine, in less than ten minutes, the winning bids at the conclusion of each round • Mathematical algorithms to determine minimal acceptable bids for each spectrum license and package of licenses for the next round• Auction simulation platform with intelligent bidding agents to stress the performance of the mathematical models and study various auction designs • Enterprise auction system to collect applications and conduct FCC spectrum auctions