INFORMS Case Competition

2024 - Winner(s)

2024 Winner(s)

Winning material: Potty Parity: Stadium Restroom Design

Purpose of the Award

The annual case competition is intended to encourage the creation, dissemination, and classroom use of novel teaching cases in operations research, management science and analytics. While the Case Competition Award Committee desires to promote creation of new and innovative cases, it recognizes that the dissemination of such cases cannot always wait for the timing of this award, and thus recognizes novel submissions for this award as those that have been first published within 12 months of the competition award deadline.

2025 Submission Deadline: July 31, 2025

Committee Chair

Cecilia Zenteno
Massachusetts General Hospital

Email: [email protected]

Click to view full committee

Application Process

All submitted cases must be previously unpublished at the time of submission, or have first been published within 12 months of the original published submission deadline. If the case contains material drafted originally by individuals or groups other than the author(s) submitting the case, then the intellectual history and ownership of these portions must be disclosed clearly to the Case Competition Award Committee upon submission of the case. Contestants are responsible for assuring that this guideline is strictly met.

The recipient of First Prize shall receive $500 and a framed certificate; there may be up a runner-up who shall receive $300 and certificate. 

All materials must be submitted to the committee via the INFORMS award software. Packages will be reviewed by a panel of judges familiar with the case method. The judges will select up to four finalists and the Chair will notify all contestants of the judges' decisions by the end of summer 2025.

Finalists must present their cases at the INFORMS Annual Meeting to be eligible to win. Click here for instructions »

Committee

2025 Committee Chair

Email: [email protected]

Click here for committee information.

Past Awardees

2024 Winner(s)
Ming Hu, University of Toronto Setareh Farajollahzadeh, McGill University, Desautels Faculty of Management Vahid Roshanaei, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management
2024 Runner-Up
Dan Guide, Penn State University
 Saurabh Bansal Wei Wu, Amazon Yinshi (Agnes) Gao, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
2024 Finalist
Darren Manion, JD candidate at the University of Virginia School of Law Jing Li Varun Gupta,  University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
 Vaughan Griffiths, Porsche Financial Services, Inc. Xiao Zhang, Saint Louis University
2023 Winner(s)
Deniz Akturk, Washington University in St. Louis Ozan Candogan, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
2022 Winner(s)
Albert Loa, University of Toronto Craig Fernandes, University of Toronto Nathan Sandholtz, Brigham Young University Timothy Chan, University of Toronto
2021 Winner(s)
Anton Ovchinnikov, Queen's University Georgina Hall, INSEAD Piyush Gulati, INSEAD
2020 Winner(s)
Dessislava Pachamanova, Babson College Keely Dwyer-Matzky, University of Rochester Medical Center and Golisano Children's Hospital Vera Tilson, University of Rochester
2019 Winner(s)
Saurabh Bansal, Philip Jones, Timothy Lowe
2018 Winner(s)

Maxime C. Cohen, C. Daniel Guetta, Wenqiang Xiao
2017 First Place
Sean Bandyopadhyay, Ivey Business School Shelly Bajaj, Ivey Business School Srini Krishnamoorthy
2017 Second Place
Elliott Weiss Kate Stets
2016 First Place
Fredrik Odegaard, The University of Western Ontario
2016 Second Place
David Kopcso, Babson College
2016 Third Place
Ganesh Janakiraman Mahesh Nagarajan, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
 Milind Dawande, University of Texas at Dallas Sridhar Tayur, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business Tim Huh, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia Vincent Slaugh, Carnegie Mellon University Yang Bo, Naveen Jindal School of Management, The University of Texas at Dallas
2015 First Place
Gregory Dobson, University of Rochester Vera Tilson, University of Rochester
2015 Second Place
Kathleen Iacocca, University of Scranton
2015 Third Place
Wendy Swenson Roth
2014 First Place
Yao Zhao, Rutgers University
2014 Second Place
Matthew J. Drake, Duquesne University, School of Business
2014 Third Place
Annie Gao, Babson College David Kopcso, Babson College Howard Simon, Babson College
2013 First Place
Allison Elias, University of Virginia Gal Raz, University of Virginia Tim Kraft, University of Virginia
2013 Second Place
Garrett J. van Ryzin, Cornell Tech Masoud Talebian, University of Newcastle
2013 Third Place
Ersin Korpeoglu, Carnegie Mellon University Fatma Kılınç-Karzan, Carnegie Mellon University
2012 First Place
Gökhan Ceyhan, Middle East Technical University Gülser Köksal, Middle East Technical University Murat Köksalan, Middle East Technical University Sinan Gürel, Middle East Technical University Sinem Mutlu, Middle East Technical University Şahan Yıldız, Middle East Technical University
2012 Second Place
Joshua Rheinbolt, Morganton Eye Physicians, PA Robert Noecker, UPMC Eye Center Sridhar Tayur, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business Tinglong Dai, Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University
2011 First Place
Anton Ovchinnikov, Queen's University Samuel E. Bodily, University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business
2011 Second Place
Akshay Mittal Samuel E. Bodily, University of Virginia, Darden Graduate School of Business
2011 Third Place
Matthew J. Drake, Duquesne University, School of Business Ozgun Caliskan Demirag, Georgia Institute of Technology
2010 First Place
Feryal Erhun , Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge Timothy Kraft, Stanford University Yenho Thomas Chung , Stanford University
2010 Second Place
Kenneth C. Lichtendahl Jr. , Darden School of Business, University of Virginia Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
2010 Third Place
Gonca Karakus, Georgia Institute of Technology Julie L. Swann, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial & Systems Engineering Matthew J. Drake, Duquesne University, School of Business Monica Villarreal, Georgia Institute of Technology Paul Kerl, Georgia Institute of Technology Pinar Keskinocak, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial/Systems Engineering Özlem Ergun, Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Industrial/Systems Engineering
2010 Runner-Up
Stefan Scholtes, University of Cambridge, Judge Business School Yun Shin Lee, Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
2009 First Place
Amr Farahat, Cornell University Susan Martonosi, Harvey Mudd College, Department of Mathematics
2009 Second Place
Jessica Heier Stamm, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial & Systems Engineering
 Julie L. Swann, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial & Systems Engineering Pinar Keskinocak, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial/Systems Engineering Özlem Ergun, Georgia Institute of Technology
School of Industrial/Systems Engineering
2009 Third Place
Gregory S. Zaric, University of Western Ontario, Richard Ivey School of Business Peter C. Bell, University of Western Ontario, Richard Ivey School of Business
2008 First Place
Brian Keller, University of Arizona Guzin Bayraksan, University of Arizona
2008 Finalist
Jeffrey Ohlmann, University of Iowa, Henry B. Tippie College of Business & Management Science
 Justin Goodson, University of Iowa
2007 First Place
Haldun Süral, Middle East Technical University Murat Köksalan, Middle East Technical University Selin Bilgin Özpeynirci, Middle East Technical University
2007 Finalist
Bert De Reyck, University College London, Dept. of Management Science & Innovation
 Harish Krishnan, University of British Columbia, Sauder School of Business Nicos Savva , London Business School Stefan Scholtes, University of Cambridge, Judge Business School Yael Grushka-Cockayne, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
2006 First Place
Murat Köksalan, Middle East Technical University Sakine Batun, University of Pittsburgh, Dept. of Industrial Engineering
Bert De Reyck, University College London, Dept. of Management Science & Innovation
 Pascale Crama, Singapore Management University Zeger Degraeve, London Business School
2006 Finalist
Julie L. Swann, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial & Systems Engineering Matthew J. Drake, Duquesne University, School of Business Paul M. Griffin, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of ISYE
James J. Cochran, The University of Alabama
2005 First Place
John C.W. Parsons, Parsons, McKinsey & Company Stephen C. Graves, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anton Ovchinnikov, Queen's University Dmitry Krass, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management
 Scott Sampson, Brigham Young University
2005 Finalist
Nicos Savva , London Business School Stefan Scholtes, University of Cambridge, Judge Business School
L. Robin Keller, University of California - Irvine, Paul Merage School of Business Tianjun Feng, The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California - Irvine Xiaona Zheng, Guanghua School of Management, Peking University
2004 First Place
Bert De Reyck, University College London, Dept. of Management Science & Innovation
 Pascale Crama, Singapore Management University Zeger Degraeve, London Business School
2004 Finalist
Julie L. Swann, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial & Systems Engineering Matthew J. Drake, Duquesne University, School of Business Paul M. Griffin, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of ISYE
Glen M. Schmidt, University of Utah Ricardo Ernst, Georgetown University
Glen M. Schmidt, University of Utah Jan A. Van Mieghem, Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
2003 First Place
Martin L. Puterman, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Communications & Business Administration Stanley Tse, Visual8 Corporation
2003 Finalist
Robert C. Carlson, Stanford University, Management Science & Engineering Department Russ G. Garber, Stanford University
Christopher M. Keller, East Carolina University, Dept. of Marketing & Supply Chain John F. Kros, East Carolina University, Dept. of Marketing & Supply Chain
2002 First Place
F. Sibel Salman, Koc University, College of Engineering Murat Köksalan, Middle East Technical University
2002 Finalist
Alexander M. Smith, University of British Columbia David Glenn, Profit Logic Martin L. Puterman, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Communications & Business Administration Mehmet A. Begen, University of Western Ontario
Richard Ivey School of Business
Christopher M. Keller, East Carolina University, Dept. of Marketing & Supply Chain John F. Kros, East Carolina University, Dept. of Marketing & Supply Chain Stephanie Leung, Cua-Oh Consulting
Pinar Keskinocak, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial/Systems Engineering Wedad Elmaghraby, University of Maryland, RH Smith School of Business
2001 First Place
Don Kleinmuntz, Strata Decision Technology LLC
2001 Finalist
Christopher M. Keller, East Carolina University, Dept. of Marketing & Supply Chain John F. Kros, East Carolina University, Dept. of Marketing & Supply Chain
Christopher M. Rump, Bowling Green State University
Katta G. Murty, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Dept. of I/O Engineering Woo-Je Kim, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Dept. of I/O Engineering
2000 First Place
Pinar Keskinocak, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial/Systems Engineering Sridhar Tayur, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business
2000 Finalist
Gregory S. Zaric, University of Western Ontario, Richard Ivey School of Business Robert McGowan, University of Western Ontario, Richard Ivey School of Business
Christopher M. Keller, East Carolina University, Dept. of Marketing & Supply Chain John F. Kros, East Carolina University, Dept. of Marketing & Supply Chain
Christopher M. Rump, Bowling Green State University