Society for Engineering & Management Systems (SEMS) Best Student Paper Competition

Sponsored by Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group and Sparc Engineers, LLC

The SEMS Student Paper Competition recognizes the academic work of students that demonstrates or describes the use of techniques that improve productivity and quality through effective and economical managerial techniques and philosophies. Both undergraduate and graduate students are invited to submit papers.

Student winners must present their papers in the Best Paper Engineering Management Track at the IISE Annual Conference & Expo. Lead authors of first, second and third winning papers will receive a certificate.

We believe that participating in the SEMS Student Paper Competition is a wonderful way to kick off the professional or academic careers of students!

Eligibility Criteria

  • The applicant must be a full-time student at the time of submission. All authors should be students.
  • The paper must present original research results.
  • The research must have been conducted while the applicant was a student.
  • The paper must not have won or been considered for an award in another competition.
  • At least one author must be an IISE member and present the paper at the IISE Annual Conference & Expo May 18 - 21, 2024, in Montreal, Canada.
  • Winning papers will appear on the SEMS website.
  • The main author will be asked to sign an ethics statement stating that all authors are full-time students and that the research and writing is their own work.
  • Advising by a non-student is allowed, such as an academic or industry advisor. However, only students can be authors or co-authors and there cannot be a major contribution from advisors.

Submission Form and Ethics Statement 

Please submit the paper in the IISE submission site and send a separate email with your ethics statement to the committee chair Sandy Furterer.
Papers will be blind-reviewed. To this end, do not include any author information in the draft paper submission. Papers must follow the guidelines of the IISE Conference & Expo.

The winning papers will be published in the proceedings. Up to three awards may be given upon recommendation of the SEMS selection committee. As this is a student competition, papers co-authored by professors are excluded from the competition, but your professor's assistance is welcome.

The first-place winner only will be officially announced before the Tuesday morning keynote address and be included in the IISE Honors & Awards Program.

Deadlines

  • Full paper submissions are due: Feb. 18, 2024
  • Winners notified by Mar. 24, 2024

Recognition

  • First Prize - $600 and a certificate with hardback cover.
  • Second Prize -$300 and a certificate
  • Third Prize -$100 and a certificate

For more information, contact Amy Straub.

2024 Winners

First Prize

Iman Naderi, Deborah Dickerson, & Maryam Ashrafi
Virginia Tech, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic)
"From Crisis to Strategy and Action: Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Implementing Knowledge Management in Organizations"

Second Prize

Esther Forson & Dr. Ying Thaviphoke
Western Michigan University
"Stakeholder Analysis Using a Problem Structuring Method (PSM) to Enhance Stakeholder Management in Ghana’s Artisanal Mining Problem"

Third Prize

Adewole Adegbola & Dr. Venkat Allada
Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST)
"A Model for Integrating Distributed Product Development Requirements with Product Portfolio Planning"

Past Winners

SEMS website

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