Practice Prize Competition

Description
Application instructions
Recipients

 


Description

The Practice Prize Competition recognizes the outstanding application of OR by practitioners in Canada, and it attracts quality papers to the CORS Annual Conference.

Award

The Prize Committee will determine, at its discretion, First, Second, and Honourable Mention awards and the distribution of up to $1800 in prize money according to the extent to which the finalists have reported on a completed, practical application with results that had a significant, verifiable, and (preferably) quantifiable impact on the performance of the client organization. Every member of the winning teams receives a certificate.

Eligibility

The applicant must be a resident of Canada. The submission must include work completed over the last two years, but the entire project may have taken place over a longer period. The project may include published work, but it cannot have been previously submitted to this competition.

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Application instructions

The Process

By 2 March 2025 applicants must submit e-copies of the following to the Chair of the Practice Prize Committee Antoine Legrain:

  • An abstract, not exceeding 500 words, outlining the successful application of OR.
  • A letter from an executive of the client organization attesting that the application had an impact and giving permission for the project to be presented at the CORS Annual Conference.
  • The names, titles, phone numbers, and email addresses of all authors and of at least one executive of the client organization.

By 30 March 2025 the judging committee, consisting of three past winners of the Practice Prize, will select up to four finalists according to the following criteria:

  • The challenge of the application of OR and the significance of the problem.
  • The quality of the analysis and modeling and the implementation of the results.
  • The impact on the client organization.

By 27 April 2025 the finalists must:

  • Submit a detailed written report, not exceeding 25 pages in the body, presenting a "case history" of the project describing its development from start to finish and focusing on the challenges and results.
  • Submit a one-page project summary including key messages and best practices, suitable for publication in the CORS Bulletin and on the CORS website.
  • Present the project at the Practice Prize Sessions at the CORS Annual Conference.

Based on the written report and the oral presentation, the judges will determine the prizes to be awarded and announced at the banquet. The committee reserves the right not to award any prize.

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Recipients

2024

First Prize

Philippe Grangier, Louis-Philippe Bigras, Sayed Ibrahim, Nabila Remli, Adrien Rimélé, Yossiri Adulyasak, Maxime Cohen, Andréa Lodi, Louis-Martin Rousseau (Ivado Labs)

"Store-specific planogram optimization"

2023

First Prize
Mikael Rönnqvist, Nazanin Sharif, Kaoutar Hajli (Université Laval), Gurjeet Warya, Trung Ngo, Martin Brousseau, Brian Hatter (True North Marine), Jean-François Audy (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières), Jean-François Cordeau (HEC Montréal), Camélia Dadouchi (Polytechnique Montréal), Patrik Flisberg
"Weather Routing for Maritime Vessels"
Second Prize
Leandro Coelho, Jacques Renaud, Khaled Belhassine (Université Laval), Vincent Turgeon (Ville de Trois-Rivières)
"Real-time management of traffic lights — improving mobility and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions"
Honourable Mention
Timothy C. Y. Chan, Ian Yihang Zhu, Deborah O'Connor (University of Toronto), Rachel Wong (Ontario Health), Rafid Mahmood (University of Ottawa), Debbie Stone (Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank), Sharon Unger (Roger Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank, Sinai Health System, University of Toronto), Kate Wilkinson (Sinai Health System)
"Optimizing milk pools at the Rogers Hixon Ontario Human Milk Bank"

2022

First Prize

Srinivas S. Tamvada (Pennsylvania State University), Bahareh Mansouri (Saint Mary's University), Ramy Abdallah (McMaster University), Elkafi Hassini (McMaster University), Brian Bellino (Purolator International), Khelil Khelil (Purolator Inc.)

"Gateway Consolidation for Purolator International"
Second Prize

Mikael Rönnqvist (Université Laval) Linnea J. Hansson, Victoria Forsmark, Patrik Flisberg, Anders Mörk, Petrus Jönsson (Forestry Research Institute of Sweden)

"GoForward – an efficient tool for sequence dependent vehicle routing"

2021

First Prize

Imadeddine Aziez, Jean-François Côté, Leandro Callegari Coelho

Université Laval
"Fleet sizing and routing problem with synchronization for AGVs with dynamic demands"

2020

Not awarded

2019

First Prize

Francis Marleau-Donais, Irène Abi-Zeid, Roxane Lavoie, Edward Waygood

Université Laval, Polytechnique Montréal
"Prioritizing the redesign of streets according to Complete Street principles: A multi-criteria approach"
Second Prize

Antoine Legrain, Jonathan Patrick

Polytechnique Montréal, University of Ottawa
"Inventory Management Using an (s,S)-Policy at The Bank of Canada"

2018

First Prize

Florian Grenouilleau, Antoine Legrain, Nadia Lahrichi, Louis-Martin Rousseau

Polytechnique Montréal
"A Set Partitioning Heuristic for the Home Health Care Routing and Scheduling Problem"

2017

First Prize

Philippe Grangier, Marc Brisson, Michel Gendreau, Fabien Lehuédé, Louis-Martin Rousseau, John Ye

École Polytechnique de Montréal
"A Two-Phase Algorithm for a 3D Container Loading Problem"
Second Prize

Felipe Rodrigues, Greg Zaric, David Stanford

Western University
"Discrete-Event Simulation Model for Planning Level 2 'Step-Down' Beds Using NEMS"

2016

First Prize

Émilie Dufour, Gilbert Laporte, Julie Paquette, Marie-Ève Rancourt

HEC Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal
"Logistics service network design for humanitarian response in East Africa"

2015

First Prize

Guoqing Zhang, Nooshin Nekoiemehr, Qiqi Zhang, Jérôme-Olivier Ouellet, Jean-François Pagé, Adam Dudar, Anqi Chen

"Modeling of the Air Cargo Network Flow Optimization"

2014

First Prize

Fletcher Lu, Craig Trought

Faculty of Business & Information Technology, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada
"Computational Efficiencies in Insurance Fraud Data Analysis"
Second Prize

Daniel Karapetyan, Abraham Punnen

Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
"Operational Research Models and Algorithms for Fleet Size Planning and Schedule Optimisation for the British Columbia Ferry Services Inc."

2013

First Prize

Richard J. Caron, Esai Selvarajah, Sahand Ashtab, Carly Henshaw, Michael Higgins, Lily Wu, Dong Wang

Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
"A Network Optimization Model for The TDL Group Corp."
Second Prize

Claire Ma, Annie Zhang, Mahesh Nagarajan, Hamid Mahmoudi, Catherine Barnardo, Stuart Donald, Derek Atkins

Centre for Operations Excellence, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
"Fraser Health: An optimization tool to improve the deployment of home care nurses."
Second Prize

Emma Liu, Liping Liang, Derek Atkins, Chong Chen, Yue Zhang, Rachel Lewis, Jinjin Fu

Centre for Operations Excellence, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
"Patient choice analysis and demand prediction for a health care diagnostic company."

2012

First Prize

Peter Vanberkel, Richard J. Boucherie, Erwin W. Hans, Johann L. Hurink, Wineke A. M. van Lent, Wim H. van Harten

"Implementing algorithms to reduce ward occupancy fluctuation through advanced planning"
Second Prize

Derek Atkins, Vanessa Noonan, Marcel Dvorak, Argelio Santos, Rachel Lewis, James Gurling, Liping Liang, Andy Chen

"Traumatic Spinal Cord Injuries: Modeling the Care Journey from Accident to Post-Discharge"

2011

Not awarded

2010

First Prize

Burcin Bozkaya, Erhan Erkut, Dan Haight, Gilbert Laporte

"Designing New Electoral Districts for the City of Edmonton"
Second Prize

Kent J. Kostuk, Keith A. Willoughby

"A Decision Support System for scheduling a professional sports league"

2009

First Prize

Andrea Cameron, Corinne MacDonald, Eldon Gunn

"Improving Production and Inventory Planning for Scotsburn Ice Cream"
Second Prize

Sonya Vanderby, Michael W. Carter, Christopher Feindel, Timothy Latham

"Modelling the Future of the Canadian Cardiac Surgery Workforce Using Systems Dynamics"

2008

First Prize

Vincent S. Chow, Derek Atkins, Wenhai Huang, Martin L. Puterman, Neda Salehirad

"Reducing Surgical Ward Congestion at the Vancouver Island Health Authority through Improved Surgical Scheduling"

2007

First Prize

Mustapha Ouhimmou, Sophie D'Amours, Daoud Ait-kadi, Robert Beauregard, Satyaveer Singh Chauhan

"Optimization helps Shermag Gain Competitive Edge"

2006

First Prize

Saeed Zolfaghari, Vinh Quan, Ahmed El-Bouri, Banafsheh Namiranian, Maryam Khashayardoust

"Heuristics for large scale labour scheduling problems in retail sector"
Second Prize

Mehmet Aydinel, Ximena Cerda, Eric Cope, Mats Gerschman, Taraneh Sowlati

"Optimization of Production Allocation and Transshipment for a Leading Canadian Forest Products Company"
Third Prize

Bao Nguyen, David Hopkin, Handson Yip, John Fawcett

"Concepts of Operations for the Side Scan Sonar Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Developed at DRDC Atlantic"
Third Prize

Eric Cope, Ian Fichtenbaum, Neda Salehirad

"Optimizing Cargo Heating Practices at Teekay Shipping Corporation"

2005

First Prize

Li Chen, Mats Gerschman, Fredrik Odegaard, David K. Puterman, Martin L. Puterman, Ryan Quee

"Improving the Efficiency of Porter Operations in Two Vancouver Hospitals"

2004

First Prize

Bernard Gendron

"Scheduling Employees in Quebec’s Liquor Stores with Integer Programming"

2003

First Prize

Derek Atkins, Mehmet A. Begen, Bailey Kluczny, Anita Parkinson

"Reducing Pre-Board Screening Queues at Vancouver International Airport"
Second Prize

Brunilde Sansò, Frédéric Bodevin

"Assessing User QoS in a Deployed GPRS Network"

2002

First Prize

Ernest Urbanovich, Ella E.Young, Martin L. Puterman, Sidney O. Fattedad

"Early Detection of High Risk Claims at the Worker's Compensation Board of British Columbia"
Second Prize

Marko Blais, Sophie D.Lapierre, Gilbert Laporte

"Solving a Home Care Districting Problem in an Urban Setting"
Third Prize

A. Ingolfsson, E. Erkut, S. Budge

"Simulation of a Single Start Station for Edmonton EMS"

2001

First Prize

Jean-Marie Bourjolly, Leslie Dejoie, Ke Ding, Oumar Dioume, Michel Lominy

"DOCAF (TM): A Commercial Software Package for Frequency Allocation in Cellular Phone Networks"
Second Prize

Erhan Erkut, Steve Kabanuk, Russ Fenske, Jerry Davis

"Improving the Emergency Service Delivery in St-Albert"

2000

Honourable Mention

Bao Nguyen, Kevin Ng

"Modeling Canadian Search and Rescue Operations"

1999

Claude Berger, Fabien Chauny, André Langevin, Richard Loulou, Diane Riopel, Gilles Savard, Jean-Philippe Waaub, Agnès Wizere

"EUGÈNE : Un système d'aide à la décision pour la planification à long terme de la gestion intégrée des déchets domestiques"

1998

Erhan Erkut, Anthony Myroon, Kevin Strangway

"TransAlta redesigns its service delivery network"

1997

Paul Comeau

"DSS TANKER - A fuel management model for Air Transport Group"

1996

Michel Gamache, François Soumis, Daniel Villeneuve, Jacques Desrosiers, Éric Gélinas

"The preferential bidding problem at Air Canada"

1995

Maurice Elliott

"Optimizing gas production allocation"

1994

John Blake, Mike Carter

"An analysis of emergency room wait time issues via computer simulation"

1993

Michel Gamache, François Soumis, Gerald Marquis, Jacques Desrosiers

"A column generation approach for large scale aircrew rostering problems"

1992

Michael Carter, Gilbert Laporte

"A general examination scheduling system"

1991

Michael Scriabin, Jason Farlette, Dilip Kotak, Michael A. Matthews

"Air capacity planning symbiotic system (AIRSYM): Combining artificial and human intelligence"

1990

Jacques Ferland, Charles Fleurant

"Computer aided scheduling for a sport league"

1989

Eldon A. Gunn, Glenn Allen, John C. Campbell, Barclay Cunningham, Peter Rutherford

"One Year of OR: Models for Operational and Production planning in the Coal Industry"

1988

First Prize

Michael Carter

"A Lagrangian Relaxation Approach to the Classroom Assignment Problem"
Second Prize

Jacques A. Ferland, Gilles Guénette

"Decision Support System For the School Districting Problem"

1987

Not awarded

1986

Gilbert Laporte

"A System for Assigning Students to Course Sections at the École Polytechnique de Montréal"

1985

Not awarded

1984

A tie

Cary Swoveland

"Risk Analysis of Regulatory Options for the Transport of Dangerous Commodities by Rail"
A tie

Michel Goulet

"Système de Prévision des Déboursés"

1983

Iain R. Grunwell

"Simulation for Training Railway Yard General Yardmasters"

1982

Not awarded

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