| Kenneth (Ken) Murphy | Fenglian Pan |
| Asst. Professor, University of California Irvine | Asst. Professor, UNC Charlotte |
| Yifeng Wang | Zihan Zhang |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia Institute of Technology |
From Concept to Execution: Building a First-Year Competition
Organizing the competition required creating all materials from scratch, including the event flyer, competition website, and participation certificates. Establishing a clear identity for the competition was a key first step in attracting participants and building visibility within the INFORMS community. Coordinating both in-person and online components presented expected challenges in communication, scheduling, and hybrid logistics. As with many first-year initiatives, clarifying expectations for participants and judges, and coordinating across platforms required flexibility and creativity. These experiences provided important lessons that will help streamline future competitions.
A Nationwide and Interdisciplinary Community of Participants
This year’s competition featured 12 poster entries from 9 universities across the United States, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the INFORMS community. Students represented a wide range of academic backgrounds and demonstrated how core OR/MS/business/industrial analytics principles (e.g., modeling, optimization, and data analytics) can address pressing global challenges.
The posters highlighted applications across healthcare, sustainability, AI ethics, emergency response, and space systems. From improving disaster response strategies to promoting algorithmic fairness, participants showcased the powerful societal impact of OR/MS/business/industrial analytics. Engagement from both students and professionals was high, and feedback emphasized how inspiring it was to see outreach, education, and technical impact come together in one space.
A Multidisciplinary and Inclusive Judging Process
The competition was evaluated by six judges whose backgrounds represented the full spectrum of education and professional practice, including high school educators, an education outreach director, academic faculty members, and the INFORMS Continuing Education Program Manager. This diverse judging panel strengthened the evaluation process and ensured that projects were assessed from both technical and educational perspectives.
Looking forward, future competitions aim to further expand judge recruitment by welcoming more high school students and additional high school educators, strengthening the bridge between INFORMS and K-12 education.
In-Person Engagement at the INFORMS General Reception
All posters were showcased during the INFORMS General Reception, creating a vibrant space for interaction among conference attendees. Students presented their outreach projects to an audience that included K-12 parents, university faculty, and undergraduate and graduate students.
For many attendees, this was their first exposure to K-12 outreach within INFORMS, sparking genuine curiosity and enthusiasm. Conversations during the session revealed strong interest in launching similar initiatives at home institutions and within local INFORMS chapters, highlighting the broader ripple effect of the competition.
Online Poster Sharing and Resource Accessibility
The virtual poster component significantly expanded the reach of the competition. Online access allowed participants and viewers to revisit projects, explore outreach strategies, and share ideas beyond the physical conference space. This improved accessibility and long-term dissemination of educational resources, and it will remain a vital feature in future years.
Lessons Learned: Strengthening the Competition Moving Forward
As plans take shape to continue the competition, several important lessons emerged while the experience remains fresh.
How Can We Attract More Submissions?
One of the strongest takeaways is the importance of early, consistent, and targeted promotion. Effective outreach through local student chapters, department chairs, LinkedIn, and INFORMS open forums plays a crucial role in participation. Additionally, once students from a given institution become involved, interest tends to grow organically within that university.
Beginning promotion earlier in the academic year will give students more time to develop outreach activities and prepare thoughtful poster submissions, significantly strengthening both quantity and quality.
Refining Submission Guidelines: Showing What’s “Under the Hood”
This year’s posters did an outstanding job demonstrating the variety and societal relevance of the problems addressed by INFORMS’ student members. A potential enhancement for future competitions is to encourage more transparency in the OR/MS/business/industrial analytics tools and technical methods behind the outreach projects.
Future guidelines may encourage students to more explicitly describe:
- The problem context
- The OR/MS tools used (e.g., optimization, simulation, data analytics)
- The technical and analytical skills applied
This added “under-the-hood” perspective would help high school students better understand not only what OR/MS/business/industrial analytics can do, but how it works, and what skills are associated with the field.
Balancing Accessibility with Technical Depth
A key strength of this year’s competition was its clear communication of real-world impact. Future competitions can build on that success by also encouraging:
- Light but meaningful technical depth
- Simple visual explanations of models or workflows
- Clear connections between problems, methods, and outcomes
This balance would further strengthen both educational value and outreach effectiveness.
Dissemination and Sustainability
Beyond the competition itself, dissemination is essential for long-term impact. The competition website will continue to serve as a hub for sharing outreach materials and posters, while in-person poster sessions remain one of the most effective ways to engage new audiences. As a first-year initiative, we feel that the competition successfully established all foundational elements, from branding and materials to workflows and judging structures, creating a strong framework for future organizers.
The inaugural STEM SPARK: INFORMS K-12 Poster Competition exceeded expectations in participation, engagement, and impact. By strengthening promotion strategies, refining submission guidelines, expanding judge recruitment, and continuing thoughtful dissemination, the competition is well positioned to grow in both scope and influence.
Most importantly, this first year demonstrated tremendous enthusiasm within the INFORMS community for educational outreach, societal impact, and inspiring the next generation of problem solvers. The competition has laid the groundwork for what promises to become a lasting and meaningful INFORMS tradition.
Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Valentina for taking the time to review this article. The header and footer images were provided by the author and the INFORMS 2025 photo album.