Student Paper Competition | Canadian Operational Research Society

Description
Application Process
Student Paper Competition Winners

Description

Each year CORS conducts a student paper competition to recognize the contribution of a paper either directly to the field of operational research through the development of methodology or to another field through the application of operational research. The competition serves to showcase the high quality of OR education in Canada as well as the excellence of the new generation of operational researchers. Prizes are awarded in two categories: Undergraduate and Open.

Requirements

The applicant must be enrolled as a full-time student in a Canadian institution, in an undergraduate, masters, or PhD program during the school year 2025–2026. Canadians who are studying outside of Canada are also eligible. Papers for which all applicants are undergraduates may be submitted to either category: Undergraduate or Open, but not to both. Papers for which some authors are graduate students must be submitted to the Open category. MBA students (and other specialized master students) must submit to the Open category with their applied projects. Published papers are eligible for the competition only if their initial submission date (for publication) is after the previous year's CORS Annual Conference.

Supervisors and industry partners may appear as coauthors on the paper, but the first authors must be the applicants. The applicants must have made substantial contribution to the project and have written the paper with only minor editorial assistance. If the paper includes such non-student authors, the supervisor should include information about the roles of the various authors when confirming the eligibility of the students.

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Application Process

Application deadline: March 30, 2026

Apply at https://site.pheedloop.com/event/cors2026/home

Open Category Chair: Sébastien Le Digabel (sebastien.le-digabel@polymtl.ca)

Undergraduate Category Chair: Alexander Rutherford (alexander_rutherford@sfu.ca)

Entry Requirements

Abstract of 200 words or less. Author's name, address, phone number, and email address. Make sure the abstract clearly highlights the motivation, contribution, and potential impact of the paper.
Academic institution and supervisor's name, if applicable.
Indication of whether the team is planning to attend the CORS Annual Conference if selected as Finalists. Note that papers selected as Finalists must be presented at the conference to further be considered for First Prize or Honourable Mention.
A PDF copy of the paper:
- No longer than 35 pages (with minimum 1-inch margins, maximum 34 lines per page, and minimum font size of Times 11) including all figures, tables, appendices, and references.
- The submitted paper must not contain any information identifying the authors or their institutions.
An email from the supervisor indicating that the participant is the first author of the paper should be sent to the Competition Chair. Supervisors must agree to be part of the competition's arbitration committee, which requires the evaluation of three competition documents in April. If this is not possible, the supervisor should designate an appropriate alternate member of the committee.
The same paper can be submitted to multiple CORS paper competitions in the same year. However, it CANNOT be selected as finalist to multiple CORS paper competitions in the same academic year (either SIGs, Undergraduate Category, or Open Category). If a paper is selected as finalist by multiple competition committees, then the student has to decide in which competition the paper remains as finalist.
Once a paper has been awarded as Winner or Runner Up in any CORS paper competition (either SIGs, Undergraduate Category, or Open Category), the same paper cannot be submitted again to a CORS paper competition.

Selection Criteria

Contribution of the paper either directly to the field of operational research through the development of methodology or to another field through the application of operational research
Originality
Writing style, clarity, organization, and conciseness of the paper

Awards

Prizes are awarded per paper. Cheques are sent to the first authors (unless otherwise specified), and allocation of prize money is up to the co-authors.
Open Category: First Prize $500, Honorable Mention $100. One award per team.
Undergraduate Category: First Prize $200, Honorable Mention $50. One award per team.
All papers selected as Finalists receive a certificate.
If an undergraduate student wins the open competition, no undergraduate prize will be awarded. Honourable mentions will be provided if there is no winner.

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Student Paper Competition Winners

2025

Open Category

First Prize: "Income Pools for Superstar Markets"

Craig Fernandes

(University of Toronto)

Second Prize: "Fair Resource Allocation in Weakly Coupled Markov Decision Processes"

Xiaohui Tu

(HEC Montréal)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Optimizing the Distribution of Mental Health and Substance Use Supported Housing Models in Vancouver"

Ananga Bajgai, Saffron Kozakova, Allan Che, Hannah Nadnaden

(Simon Fraser University)

Second Prize: "A Data-Driven Approach to Master Surgical Scheduling"

Larissa Troper, Aniq Premji, Matthew Chan, Adel Pazoki, Sunischit Thapa

(University of Waterloo)

2024

Open Category

First Prize: "Online Stochastic Optimization for Real-Time Transfer Synchronization in Public Transportation Networks"

Laura Kolcheva

(Polytechnique Montréal)

Honourable Mention: "Reducing Diagnostic Imaging Wait Times: Lessons from a Large-Scale Empirical Analysis"

Benjamin Ravenscroft

(University of Waterloo)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Inventory Slotting Optimization for Stable Palletization in Distribution Centres"

Claudia De Fazio, Anika Gapczynski, Chloe Pilon, Kayley Brash, Michaela Trevisan

(U of Waterloo)

2023

Open Category

First Prize: "Learning Consumer Preferences from Bundle Sales Data"

Setareh Farajollahzadeh

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "A Machine Learning Approach to Solving Large Bilevel and Stochastic Programs: Application to Cycling Network Design"

Bo Lin

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "Capacity Planning in Stable Matching: An Application to School Choice"

Federico Bobbio

(University of Montreal)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "A Time-Discretized Mathematical Model and Heuristic for Breast Cancer Radiotherapy"

Scholar Sun

(University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "Optimizing Product Allocation for Grocery E-Commerce Fulfillment"

Jenya Sourgaeva, Angelika Nowlan, Sanjay Alwani, Weiyi Liu

(Simon Fraser University)

2022

Open Category

First Prize: "Inverse Mixed Integer Optimization: Polyhedral Insights and Trust Region Methods"

Ian Yihang Zhu

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "Model-Free Assortment Pricing with Transaction Data"

Saman Lagzi

(University of Toronto)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Miss It Like Messi: Extracting a Signal from Off-Target Shots in Soccer"

Ethan Baron

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "The Vehicle Routing Problem for E-Commerce Grocery Delivery"

Kevin He, Lacey Liang, Sherlyn Ng, Viet Trinh, Ashutosh Dubal

(Simon Fraser University)

2021

Open Category

First Prize: "An Inverse Optimization Approach to Measuring Clinical Pathway Concordance"

Nasrin Yousefi

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "Heatmap design for crowdsourced delivery"

Aliaa Alnaggar

(University of Waterloo)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Static bike relocation optimization applied to Montreal's BIXI bike sharing system"

Imad Mechmachi, Philippe Lavoie, Reda Kzaz, Jean-Yves Potvin

(Université de Montréal)

First Prize: "A Vehicle Routing Problem for Livestock Feed Distribution"

Theodore Morissette, Eric Entz, Andrew Veldhuis, Razi Sayed

(University of Waterloo)

2020

Open Category

First Prize: "A Combinatorial Cut-and-Lift Procedure with an Application to 0-1 Chance Constraints"

Margarita Castro

(University of Toronto)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Smart Scheduling Tool: Improvement of Elementary School Timetables"

Sarah McCurdy, Meghan Stronach, Allison Jacobs, Alyssa Hopkins

(University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "Implementing Constraint Generation Methods for Solving Large-scale IMRT Treatment Optimization Problems"

Lucy Fountain

(University of Waterloo)

2019

Open Category

First Prize: "Tight-and-cheap conic relaxation for the AC optimal power flow problem"

Christian Bingane, Miguel Anjos, Sébastien Le Digabel

(Polytechnique Montreal)

Honourable Mention: "Calculus Identities for Generalized Simplex Gradients: Rules and Applications"

Gabriel Jarry-Bolduc, Warren Hare

(University of British Columbia)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Optimal Re-allocation of Pay and Display Machines for Toronto Parking Authority"

Milan Kaur, Mandeep Hanspal, Jui Champaneri, Sathana Srikanthan

(University of Waterloo)

2018

Open Category

First Prize: "Spatial separability in hub location problems with an application to brain connectivity networks"

Taghi Khaniyev

(University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "Multiple Observations and Goodness of Fit in Generalized Inverse Optimization"

Rafid Mahmood

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "UAV Service with Competition under Technological and Regulatory Limitations"

Gohram Baloch

(University of Waterloo)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "The Walking School Bus Routing Problem"

Negin Bolkhanian, Matthew Reyers

(Simon Fraser University)

Honourable Mention: "Evaluating NFL Game States using a Markov Reward Process"

Craig Fernandes

(University of Toronto)

2017

Open Category

First Prize: "Vehicle Routing Problems with Synchronized Visits and Stochastic/Time-Dependent Travel and Service Times: Applications in Healthcare"

Seyed Doulabi

(École Polytechnique de Montréal)

Second Prize: "Optimal Vaccine Administration Policies Using Multi-dose Vials of Different Sizes"

Gizem Nemutlu

(University of Waterloo)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "End-to-End Analytics: Wait Time Management of Ontario MRI Services"

Alexandra Hayes, Christian Gould, Kevin Chu, Srikajan Santhirakumaran

(University of Waterloo)

2016

Open Category

First Prize: "Dynamic Type Matching"

Yun Zhou

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "Cold supply chain design with environmental considerations: A simulation-optimization approach"

Ahmed Saif

(University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "The Value of Flexibility in Robust Location-Transportation Problems"

Amir Ardestani-Jaafari

(HEC Montréal)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "To Drone or Not to Drone: Investigating Drone Deliveries"

Taha Mirza, Rupan Dandiwal, Shayan Altaf, Brady Lee

(University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "Reducing Blood Distribution Costs for Canadian Blood Services"

Brianna Horton, Constance Gervais, Danielle Shawcross, Juliana Gonzalez

(University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "A Queueing Network Model for Refugee Language Courses in Vancouver"

Oshane Jackson, Ismael Martinez

(Simon Fraser University)

2015

Open Category

First Prize: "Modeling Yellow and Red Alert Durations for Ambulance Systems"

Amir Rastpour

(University of Alberta)

Honourable Mention: "Coalitional Operating Room Planning and Scheduling"

Vahid Roshanaei

(University of Toronto)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Redesigning Fischer Canada's Facility Layout and Scheduling Operations"

Zahra Bodla, Ahad Ismail, Ra'd Daoud, AbdulRehman Shaheen

(University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "Feeding Iqaluit: A Consolidated Shipment Ordering System"

Jordan Moreau, Ian Gresel, Andrew Scott, Mohamed-Akeel R. Hasham

(University of Waterloo)

2014

Open Category

First Prize: "Robust Facility Location Under Demand Location Uncertainty"

Auyon A. Siddiq

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "Allocation Policies in Blood Transfusion"

Vahid Sarhangian

(University of Toronto)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Selecting Optimal Tolling Levels: A Case Study for the Fraser River in the Greater Vancouver Area"

Kishley Bhalla, Craig Mathews, W Brett Robinson, Katie Sclater

(Simon Fraser University)

Honourable Mention: "Optimal Locations of Telecommunication Equipment: A Case Study for the City of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada"

Nicole Mo, Alborz Namazi, Joyce Tai, Eric Yuen

(Simon Fraser University)

2013

Open Category

First Prize: "Generalized Inverse Multi Objective Optimization with Application to Cancer Therapy"

Taewoo Lee

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "Bayesian control chart for multi-state processes in infinite horizon"

Jue Wang

(University of Toronto)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Selecting Optimal Locations of Food Trucks:A Case Study for the City of Vancouver"

Benny Wai, Alex Liu, Lawrence Huen

(Simon Fraser University)

Honourable Mention: "The University Course Selection Problem: Efficient Models and Experimental Analysis"

Bo Chen, Luheng Wang, Wenjiao Chen, Xiao Luo

(Simon Fraser University)

2012

Open Category

First Prize: "Joint Optimization of Sampling and Control of Partially Observable Failing Systems"

Michael Jong Kim

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "Adaptive and robust radiation therapy optimization for lung cancer"

Velibor Misic

(University of Toronto)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "The TA assignment problem with open tutorials"

Issac He, Mark Strange, Hans Aisake

(Simon Fraser University)

Honourable Mention: "Intersection Optimization Analysis: Cambie & W. Broadway, Vancouver"

Sam Maggs, Michelle Leung, Svyatoslav Glazyrin

(Simon Fraser University)

2011

Open Category

First Prize: "Portfolio Selection under Model Uncertainty: A Penalized Moment-Based Optimization Approach"

Jonathan Y. Li

(University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "The development and application of a new simulation model for multi-agricultural biomass"

Mahmood Ebadian

(University of British Columbia)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Staffing Requirements Based on Stochastic Arrivals and Infinite Server Model (M/M/s)"

Shuang E, Derek Hewitt, Jenny Morrow, Scott Van Bolhuis

(University of Alberta)

2010

Open Category

First Prize: "A Markov Chain Model for the Performance of an EMS System with Repositioning"

Ramon Alanis

(School of Business, University of Alberta)

Honourable Mention: "New Relaxations for Binary Quadratic Problems Using Second-Order Cone Programming"

Bissan Ghaddar

(Department of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "A New Class of Neighborhood Path-Following Interior Point Algorithms for Semidefinite Optimization with O(√nlog(Tr(X0S0)/ε)) Iteration Complexity"

Yang Li

(Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McMaster University)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Community Facility Services: Drive Time and Market Share Analysis"

Erin Hrycyschyn, Felicia Ng, Brent Ouwerkerk, Jimmie Tom, Sean Tomilin

(University of Alberta)

2009

Open Category

First Prize: "Product Differentiation and Operations Strategy in a Competitive Market"

Sachin Jayaswa

(Department of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "Fuzzy Hierarchical Production Planning"

Mahmood Ebadian

(Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia)

Honourable Mention: "Appointment Scheduling with Discrete Random Durations"

Mehmet A. Begen

(Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Robust Portfolio Selection for Index Tracking"

Chen Chen

(Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto)

Honourable Mention: "Production Facility Optimization"

Maxine Cunningham, John Schmidt, Jonathon Braamms

(School of Business, University of Alberta)

Honourable Mention: "Disabled Adult Transit Service – Optimal Shift Design and Demand"

Mike Clay, Yvan Fortier, Chris Samuel

(School of Business, University of Alberta)

2008

Open Category

First Prize: "Supply Chain Coordination Through Pricing and Bundling"

Chirag Surti

(DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University)

Honourable Mention: "Product Differentiation & Operations Strategy in a Capacitated Environment"

Sachin Jayaswal

(Department of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "A Nested Benders Decomposition Approach for Optimal W-CDMA Telecommunication Network Planning"

Joe Naoum-Sawaya

( Department of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo)

Undergraduate Category

Honourable Mention: "Optimization of Transit Services – Through Class Scheduling"

Sterling Todd Keys, Sean Lelacheur, Greg Ninowsky

(School of Business, University of Alberta)

Honourable Mention: "ETS Customer Service Standards"

Angela Kercher, Arthur Lee, Shawn Halvorson

(School of Business, University of Alberta)

2007

Open Category

First Prize: "Optimal Release of Inventory Using Online Auctions: The Two Item Case"

Fredik Odegaard

(Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia)

Honourable Mention: "Response Time Reduction in Make-to-Order and Assemble-to-Order Supply Chain Design"

Navneet Vidyarthi

(Department of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo)

Honourable Mention: "A Theoretical Comparison of Feasibility Cuts for the Integrated Aircraft Routing and Crew Pairing Problem"

Anne Mercier

(CRT, Universite de Montreal)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Capital Health: Forecasting Demand Beyond Population Growth of MRI / CT / Ultrasound"

Allison Bouthillier, Amanda Meleshko, Peter Wares

(University of Alberta School of Business)

Honourable Mention: "Simple Solutions: Inbound Truck Scheduling"

Kieran Ryan, Stewart Wilson

(University of Alberta School of Business)

2006

Open Category

First Prize: "A Robust Approach to IMRT Optimization"

Timothy C Y Chan

(Operations Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Honourable Mention: "L’optimisation du transport dans l’industrie forestière"

Catherine Gingras

(HEC Montréal)

Honourable Mention: "Incorporating Employee Satisfaction in Workforce Scheduling and Rostering"

Yong Yue Li

(University of Alberta School of Business)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Fountain Tire: British Columbia Retreading Plant Location"

David Mann, Anh Nguyen, Sean O’Donnell

(University of Alberta School of Business)

Honourable Mention: "Vendor Performance Evaluation and Cart & Warehouse Reorder Point Analysis"

Megan Inglis, Jen Tyrkalo, Jillene Wiebe, Mark Zschocke

(University of Alberta School of Business)

2005

Open Category

First Prize: "Improving Resource Utilization for Diagnostic Services Through Flexible Inpatient Scheduling"

Jonathan Patrick

(University of British Columbia)

Honourable Mention: "A Tactical Planning Model for the Railroad Transportation of Mixed Freight"

Manish Verma

(Memorial University)

Honourable Mention: "A simplex Algorithm For Piecewise-Linear Fractional Programming Problems"

Pooja Pandey

(University of New Brunswick (Saint John))

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Dynamic Simulation for Rail and Terminal Services Used in Sulphur Distribution"

Chelsea Baron, Jennifer Der, Lukas Deeg, Mark Zschocke

(University of Alberta)

First Prize: "A Heuristic for Solving the Bottleneck Traveling Salesman Problem"

John LaRusic

(University of New Brunswick (Fredericton))

2004

Open Category

First Prize: "Sensitivity Analysis in Convex Quadratic Optimization: Simultaneous Perturbation of the Objective and Right-Hand-Side Vectors"

Oleksandr Romanko

(M.Sc., McMaster)

Honourable Mention: "New solvable cases of the traveling salesman problem on permuted Monge matrices"

Zhihui Xue

Honourable Mention: "La localisation de centres de tri de colis chez Postes Canada"

Rémy Monfet

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "TELUS Operator Services Estimation Tool Project"

Alden Christianson, Wilson Mok, Gabriel Wong, Kelly O’Byrne

Honourable Mention: "Standards for Prostate Treatment in Alberta"

Daniel Bowker, Jared Poplawski, Scott Knibbs

(University of Alberta)

2003

Open Category

First Prize: "Real Options Valuation and Optimal Operation of Electrical Power Plants in Competitive Markets"

Matt Thompson

(Ph.D., Western Ontario)

Honourable Mention: "Aggregate Logistics Optimization for a Large Beverage Company"

Ernest Hongtu Wu

(M.Sc, UBC)

Honourable Mention: "Strategic Revenue Management Under Price and Seat Inventory Competition"

Xuan Zhao

(Ph.D., UBC)

Honourable Mention: "Exact solution of the centralized network design problem on directed graphs"

Fatma Gzara

(Ph.D., McGill)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Basis Identification Procedure"

Ayako Watanabe

(McMaster)

Honourable Mention: "Improving Forecast Accuracy for Purolator Courier"

Adam Crowe, Andrea Denney, David Fath, Elaine Siu, Linda Tarshahani

(University of Alberta)

2002

Open Category

First Prize: "A Continuous-Time Strategic Capacity Planning Model for Multi-Product, Multi-Machine Manufacturing Systems under Demand Uncertainties"

W.T. Huh, R.O. Roundy

(Cornell University)

Honourable Mention: "A Penalty-Evaporation Heuristic in a Decomposition Method for the Maximum Clique Problem"

P. St-Louis, J.A. Ferland, B. Gendron

(University of Montreal)

Honourable Mention: "Designing Distribution Networks: Formulations and Solution Heuristic"

S. Lapierre, A.B. Ruiz, P. Soriano

(CRT)

Honourable Mention: "A Compact Model and Tight Bounds for a Combined Location/Routing Problem"

M. Albareda-Sambola, J.A. Diaz, E. Fernandez

(CRT)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Supporting Wood Supply Chain Decisions with Simulation for a Mill in Northern BC"

J.A. Myers

(University of New Brunswick)

Honourable Mention: "Inventory Management and Reorder Point Analysis at the Edmonton Component Rebuild Center of Finning"

K. Bessette, J. Litchfield, J. Johnson, M. Riskin

(University of Alberta)

Honourable Mention: "Resource Simulation at Air Canada"

K. Chong, M. Grewal, J. Loo

(University of Calgary)

Honourable Mention: "Simulating a Job Shop: Metal Fabricators and Welding Ltd."

A. Benjamin, M. Noel, R. D'Ilio

(University of Alberta)

2001

Open Category

First Prize: "The Integration of Interior-Point Cutting Plane Methods within Branch-and-Price Algorithms"

Samir Elhedhli

(Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal)

Honourable Mention: "Le problème du postier chinois mixte avec pénalités pour les virages"

Nathalie Perrier

Honourable Mention: "Developing an Airline Network Inventory Control Policy Using Markov Decision Processes and Simulation"

Kyle Biswanger

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "A Forest Landscape Generator"

Gregory Paradis

(Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Management, University of New Brunswick)

2000

Open Category

First Prize: "Scheduling Start Times for Jobs With Uncertain Durations"

Brian Denton

Honourable Mention: "Identifying High-Risk Claims within the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia's Claim Inventory by using Logistic Regression Modelling"

Ernest Urbanovich

Honourable Mention: "Cellular Manufacturing System Design: A Price-directed Decomposition and Genetic Algorithm Approach"

Aaron Luntala Nsakanda

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Cost-effective and Reliable Grinding Schedules for Inland Cement"

Joey Cherdarchuk, Shahnoor Lalani, Kimberley Mik, Thaddeus Sim

(University of Alberta)

Honourable Mention: "Équilibrage d'une chaîne d'assemblage par Recherche Tabou"

Pascal Forget

1999

Open Category

Honourable Mention: "A Markov Decision Process Model for Airline Meal Provisioning"

Jason H. Goto

Honourable Mention: "A fast Algorithm to Minimize Makespan for the Two-Machine Flow-Shop Problem with Release Dates"

Jinliang Cheng, George Steiner, Paul Stephenson

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "TAU Utilities: Speciality Crew Location"

Chris Goodwin, Joanne Kok, Steve Kabanuk

(University of Alberta)

Honourable Mention: "Locating a Meat Processing Plant in the Prairies"

Laura Morrison, Les Stelmach, Mark Gannon

1998

Open Category

First Prize: "On the interaction of time and money invested in new ventures"

Moren Lévesque, Kenneth R. MacCrimmon

(University of British Columbia)

Honourable Mention: "A goal programming approach to strategic resource allocation in acute care hospitals"

John T. Blake, Michael W. Carter

(University of Toronto)

Undergraduate Category

First Prize: "Delivering results in the pizza industry"

Jay Baraniecki, Chris Neuman, Laura Morrison

(University of Alberta)

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