Paper Competition

2025 Winner(s)

Winning material: Optimal resource allocation to minimize errors when detecting human trafficking

Purpose of the Award

The purpose of the paper competition is to  promote and bring visibility to recent contributions of MIF members in the field of operations research, management science, or information systems.  The paper competition has been in place since 2016.  Submissions must have been accepted or published within the past 2 years of the of the award year and are judged on the basis of the originality of the research, technical rigor, relevance and impact to future theory or applications. 

The first place winner receives a monetary award.  The first place winner and finalists  present their work in a dedicated session at the annual conference.

Application process:

For more information, please click HERE.

Past Awardees

2025
Winner(s)
Viplove Arora, Pumpkinseed
Kayse Maass, University of Michigan Student Chapter
Abhishek Ray, George Mason University
Mario Ventresca, Purdue University
Finalist
Saibal Ray , McGill University
Nymisha Bandi, McGill University
Maxime C. Cohen, McGill University
Shima Mohebbi, George Mason University
Behnam Momeni, George Mason University
2024
Winner(s)
Gian-Gabriel P. Garcia, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
Wesley J. Marrero, Harvard Medical School
Lauren Steimle, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
Jeremy Sussman, University of Michigan
Finalist
Aravind Chandrasekaran, Ohio State University
Deepa Goradia, Georgia State University
Yingchao Lan, University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Yunduan Lin, University of California, Berkeley
Zuo-Jun Max Shen, University of California Berkeley
Daniel M. Walker, Ohio State University
Mengxin Wang, University of Texas at Dallas
Renyu Zhang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Heng Zheng, Arizona State University
2023
Winner(s)
Jon Schneider
Brian T. Denton, University of Michigan
Negin Golrezaei
Rodney A. Hayward, University of Michigan
Mariel Lavieri, University of Michigan
Vahideh Manshadi, Yale School of Management
Daniel F. Otero-Leon, University of Michigan
Shreyas Sekar
Jeremy Sussman, University of Michigan
Finalist
Belleh Fontem
Megan Price, University of Mary Washington
2022
Winner(s)
Karmel S. Shehadeh, Lehigh University
Finalist
Shuchen Cong, Carnegie Mellon University
Kaitlin M. Daniels, Washington University in Saint Louis
Destenie Nock, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Yueming Lucy Qiu, University of Maryland College Park
León Valdés
Bo Xing, Salt River Project
2021
First Place
Linda Goler Blount, Black Women's Health Imperative
Shannon L. Harris, Virginia Commonwealth University
Haibing Lu, Santa Clara University
Michele Samorani, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University
Michael A. Santoro, Santa Clara University
Finalist
Siddhartha Banerjee, Cornell University
Tanzid Hasnain, North Carolina State University
Chamsi Hssaine, Cornell University
Julie S. Ivy
Irem Sengul Orgut, Lenovo
Noemie Perivier, Columbia University
Samantha Samaranayake, Cornell University
2020
Winner(s)
Steven P. Broglio, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Laurens Debo, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
Gian-Gabriel P. Garcia, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
Varun Gupta,  University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
CARE Consortium Investigators
Ruiwei Jiang, University of Florida
Mariel Lavieri, University of Michigan
Thomas W. McAllister, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
Michael A. McCrea, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
Luyi Yang
Finalist
Erin Baker, University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Hadi Charkhgard, University of Newcastle
Todd Levin, Argonne National Laboratory, Chicago, IL
Jennifer Mendoza-Alonzo, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Destenie Nock, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
José Zayas-Castro, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
2019
Winner(s)
Shadi Sharif Azadeh, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Michel Bierlaire, École Polytechnique
Yousef Maknoon, Delft University of Technology, Faculty of technology Policy and Management
Runner-Up
Andrew Daw, Cornell University, School of Operations Research and Information Engineering
Jamol Pender, Princeton University
Finalist
İ. Esra Büyüktahtakın
Lauren Davis, North Carolina A&T State University, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Eyyub Kibis, The College of Saint Rose, Albany, School of Business
Liping Liu, North Carolina A&T State University, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Jessye Talley, Morgan State University, Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering
Emmanuel des-Bourdes, Wichita State University, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
2018
Winner(s)
Sherwin Doroudi, Carnegie Mellon University
Ragavendran Gopalakrishnan, Cornell University
Amy R. Ward, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Adam Wierman, Carnegie Mellon University
Finalist
Naeem Bajwa, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Bahar Biller, GE Global Research Center
Canan G. Corlu, Boston University
Belleh Fontem
Karen T. Hicklin
Julie S. Ivy
Burcu B. Keskin, University of Alabama
Sharif H. Melouk, University of Alabama
Evan Myers, Duke University
Fay Cobb Payton, North Carolina State University
Sridhar Tayur, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business
Meera Viswanathan, RTI International
2017
First Place
Michelle McGaha Alvarado, Texas A&M University Student Chapter
Lewis Ntaimo, Texas A&M University
Honorable Mention
Laquanda Leaven, North Carolina A&T State University
Xiuli Qu, North Carolina A&T State University
2016
First Place
Belleh Fontem