IISE INNOVATION Cup Competition
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The IISE Innovation Cup could be yours!
The IISE Innovation Cup is an international competition that provides an exciting opportunity for companies to highlight their successful innovative solutions. The IISE Innovation Cup recognizes organizations for effective implementation of industrial and systems engineering
principles and practices that deliver exemplary business performance improvement. Starting in 2020 IISE conducted the award competition to promote successful implementation of industrial & systems engineering practices by recognizing best in class industries and sharing their stories with others. This is one of IISE’s most
prestigious awards to be given to a team and their industry.
The award will be bestowed to the top three teams and be presented at the upcoming IISE Annual Conference & Expo. The conference will be in Atlanta May 31 – June 3, 2025.
See what the past winners have to say about the IISE INNOVATION CUP:
Eligibility criteria
- Any team (2 or more members) of any organization who wants to showcase their successful implementation of industrial/systems engineering concepts.
- The team must demonstrate innovative uses of ISE methods, tools and techniques for its measurable outcomes.
- There is no limit on the number of entries from an organization. However, only one submission is allowed from the same site in the organization.
- The initiative should have been implemented within the last 36 months and performance measures should be presented.
- At least 75 percent of the problem-solving effort is conducted by in-house personnel. Support from outside consultants is permitted but only organization’s representatives are permitted on the presentation team if selected.
Awarding process
- All entries will be pre-screened to select 10 finalist teams.
- All finalist teams will be required to attend the IISE Annual Conference & Expo and present their cases.
- Top 3 teams will be selected and announced during the IISE Annual Conference & Expo. There will be a 1st place gold, 2nd place silver and 3rd bronze awarded.
Evaluation criteria
- Challenge: The challenge addressed is unique, important to the organization, and has societal relevance.
- ISE Solution: The approach used is innovative and based on ISE tools/techniques with measurable performance objectives (e.g., cost or effort reduction, quality improvement, health and safety, energy management, business transformation, or similar).
- Implementation, Impact and Sustainability: The solution has been implemented and sustained (at least 1 year) with significant impact.
- Communication: The quality of technical communication (e.g., uploaded video, final presentation at an in-person session, and Q&A with judges) that clearly highlights the challenge, metrics, implementation, and similar, along with visuals.
Submission Process
To provide necessary detail and ensure consistency in judging, you will fill in the application form and attach a narrative document that describes the initiative. Supporting materials or samples may be included if they are directly applicable to your entry however, they will not be returned. The selected 10 teams will need to submit a 90 second video entry according to the respective requirements on the submission.
Deadlines
- Deadline for submission of the project: Feb. 9, 2025
- Notification of acceptance of project: March 9, 2025
- Submission of video and other materials: March 24, 2025
- Confirmation of attendance and conference registration (at least one member): March 31, 2025
- Virtual meet-and-greet: mid-April 2025
- Attendance at the conference: May 31-June 3, 2025
2024-25 committee chair
Satya Aditya Akundi
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
2024-25 committee members
- Faisal Aqlan, University of Louisville
- Pratik Parikh, University of Louisville
- William Harrington, St. Elizabeth Healthcare
- Amrika Ramjewan, Mayo Clinic
- Sagar Hirpara, WestRock Company
- Bhanu Sainathuni, WestRock Company
- Kathy Gamboa, IISE