The IISE ESD/QCRE/PG&E Energy Analytics Challenge

The award, sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), and co-organized with the IISE - Energy Systems Division (ESD) and the IMFORMS Quality, Statistics and Reliability (QSR) Section, recognizes individuals and teams who excel in designing an analytics-based solution to a practical energy systems’ challenge. The winner and up to two runners-up will be recognized with certificates and cash prizes, and will present their solutions at a special session at the 2025 IISE Annual Conference & Expo in Atlanta, co-organized with PG&E.

In addition:

  1. The winner will present a lightning talk (5-minutes) about their final winning solution at the Energy Systems Town Hall Meeting.
  2. All finalists will have the opportunity to present their work at the 2025 INFORMS Annual Conference within a QSR special session.

For a full description of the 2025 challenge, please click below.

Full Description

Eligibility Requirements

  • Individuals or teams (up to four individuals) can participate in the challenge.
  • At least one team member must be an IISE member
  • The winner and runners-up will be asked to join the ES Division for official recognition (joining ESD is free if you are an IISE member).

Application/Submission Guidelines

  • Individuals or teams are asked to register on the following link: https://forms.gle/i9dsTee8EZ5EWMAHAbon or before January 15th, 2025, in order to be officially entered into the competition.
  • The participating teams will receive the dataset via e-mail by January 17th, 2025, which marks the competition’s kick-off, along with specific instructions on the solution submission format (codes + output report).
  • All teams need to submit their final solutions electronically via an online form before March 24, 2025.

Important Dates (Deadlines)

  • Registration starts: December 23, 2024 (Link: https://forms.gle/i9dsTee8EZ5EWMAHA)
  • Registration closed: January 22, 2025 
  • Competition kick-off: January 24, 2025
  • Final submission deadline: March 24, 2025
  • Results announced: April 10, 2025

Recognition

  • The first-place winner will be recognized with a monetary prize of $1,200 provided by PG&E. The prize, along with a framed certificate, will be presented at the Energy Systems Townhall Meeting at the 2025 IISE Annual Conference in Montreal.
  • Up to two runners-up will be recognized with monetary prizes of $500 and $300, respectively, as well as certificates at the Energy Systems Townhall Meeting at the 2025 IISE Annual Conference in Atlanta.
  • The first-place winner and the runners-up will be recognized on the Energy Systems website and newsletter.
  • The finalists will also be recognized at the QSR Townhall meeting at the 2025 INFORMS Annual Meeting.

Award Committee

  • Mahan Mansouri, PG&E, IISE Energy Systems Division (competition chair)
  • Murat Yildirim, Wayne State University, IISE Energy Systems Division
  • Aziz Ezzat, Rutgers University, IISE Energy Systems Division
  • Alva Svoboda, PG&E
  • Jim Galanis, PG&E

2024 Winners

1st Place
Salih Salihoglu, Afshin Asadi, Ramin Moghaddass, and Ibrahim Ahmed
University of Miami

2nd Place
Shivakumar Suresh, Rahul Makarand Kulhalli, and Natarajan Gautam
Syracuse University

3rd Place
Enrico Laoh and Boris Oskolkov
Oklahoma State University

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