IISE INNOVATION Cup Competition
Every great innovation starts
with a challenge and ends with a breakthrough. The IISE Innovation Cup is an
international competition that provides industries a unique opportunity to
highlight their successful innovative solutions using industrial and
systems engineering (ISE) principles and practices.
Innovate. Implement. Impact.
Inspire! The IISE Innovation Cup celebrates teams who turn bold ideas
into measurable results using ISE methods. By sharing their breakthroughs,
winners ignite a wave of innovation that drives real change across
industries.
As one of IISE’s most prestigious
awards, launched in 2020, the IISE Innovation Cup spotlights outstanding
achievements in industrial and systems engineering by honoring top-performers. The top three teams will be
recognized live at the IISE Annual Conference & Expo, happening May
16–19, 2026, in Arlington, Texas.
Here's what the 2025 winners have to say about the IISE Innovation Cup
- 🥇 2025 Gold Award – Mayo
Clinic: Revolutionizing Patient Care with Digital Door Signs: Enhancing
Efficiency and Communication.
Aniket Ramekar, senior business analyst, “Working in healthcare, we are always in the pursuit of
excellence, but being there and winning (the Innovation Cup) was absolutely
amazing for our team and our members.”
- 🥈 2025 Silver Award –
Smurfit Westrock: Optimizing Spare Parts Inventory for Packaging
Machinery Business
Rishabh Bhandawat, operations research/data scientist,
“We’re thankful to IISE for the opportunity to present our
work. The feeling that what we’re doing is not just useful within the company
but can also be inspiring for others to learn about … sharing that knowledge
was nice.”
Past winners & Global Innovators
Eligibility criteria
- Teams of two or more members from any organization are welcome.
- Projects
must show innovative
use of ISE tools and methods with measurable results.
- Unlimited
entries per organization, but only one submission per site.
- Initiatives
must be implemented within the last 36
months with performance metrics.
- At least 75% of the work must be done by in-house personnel; consultants may assist, but only organization representatives can present.
Awarding process
- Up to 10 finalist teams will be selected through a pre-screening process.
- At least one member of all finalists must attend the IISE Annual Conference & Expo to present their innovations.
- The top three teams will be announced at the conference and be awarded Gold (1st), Silver (2nd) and Bronze (3rd) honors.
Evaluation criteria
- Challenge: The problem addressed should
be unique, significant to the organization, and have societal
relevance.
- ISE Solution: The approach must use innovative
ISE tools and techniques with measurable objectives such as cost
reduction, quality improvement, safety, energy efficiency, or business
transformation.
- Implementation & Impact: The solution
must be implemented and sustained for at least one year, demonstrating clear,
measurable impact.
- Communication: Entries are evaluated on
the clarity and quality of presentation materials (e.g., video, final
presentation, Q&A) that effectively highlight the challenge, metrics, and
results.
Submission Process
- Complete the application form and attach
a narrative document describing your initiative in detail.
- You may include supporting materials or
samples if directly relevant to your entry (note: these will not be
returned).
- The 10 finalist teams will be required to
submit a video presentation
according
to the competition’s submission guidelines.
Important Timelines
- Submission Start Date: November 17, 2025
- Submission Deadline: February 27, 2026
- Finalist Selection Date: March 15, 2026
- Virtual meet-and-greet: April 2026
- Final Presentations/ Conference: May 16 - May 19, 2026
2025-26 committee members
- Sagar Hirpara, Delta Air Lines (co-chair)
- Bhanu Sainathuni, Smurfit Westrock (co-chair)
- Faisal Aqlan, University of Louisville
- Pratik Parikh, University of Louisville
- William Harrington, St. Elizabeth Healthcare
- Aditya Akundi, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- Thomas Mazzone, New York University
- Aniket Ramekar, Mayo Clinic
- Kathy Gamboa, IISE
See the list of previous winners