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.

Submit your 2026 entry here after December 1, 2025

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.”

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.
  • 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: December 1, 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 

Past winners 

Amazon
Bilstein (Mexico)
Binghamton University
IBM Corporation
Bosch Center of Artificial Intelligence/Washington University
Dunwoody College of Technology
GE Appliances		 Iowa Valley RC&D 
Cummins Inc
 IBM (Guadalajara)
ANSA McAL
Inova Health System
Mt. Sinai Health System
University of the West Indies

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

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