<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 2pt 0in 0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:DengXian"><a name="OLE_LINK7"><b><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Call
for Papers</span></b></a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0in 2pt 0in 0in;text-align:center;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt;font-family:DengXian"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">INFORMS QSR Best Student Paper Competition</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin:0.45pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 4.9pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;text-align:justify;font-size:11pt"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The Quality Statistics and Reliability (QSR) Section of INFORMS</span></b><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> announces the Best Student Paper Award to recognize excellence among its student members. The award program brings prestige to the QSR Section as well as to the recipients honored.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Conference dates</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">: October 20-23, 2024</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0.05pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Location</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">: Seattle, WA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Conference website</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">: <a name="m_-2549757142086196254_OLE_LINK2"></a><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmeetings.informs.org%2Fwordpress%2Fseattle2024%2F&data=05%7C02%7CIEFac.list%40mailhost.ces.clemson.edu%7C22002964023545091fa108dc6d38df1c%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638505338748655953%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lRYdXdruenkcPkzXJOHETfvv3MEAlsLErvPYG92eO0c%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://meetings.informs.org/wordpress/seattle2024/" shash="UzUE+gh9eKQ5fy4dfib+yGFYhNrjmeDVuv6B86eAwLwhL16XrL56tFyHuKIQDBt9xljqLNL2xsCrNWch2FEOI+RiuV6IuLsP8XlE2DLJc7vovmcAoydEYhxT1JTj4yRInrnTIOZSeWY15ikn994TNKeHiG4AqlTIEhSxV1Kr5vk=" target="_blank" style="color:blue">https://meetings.informs.org/wordpress/seattle2024/</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:5.9pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Four finalists for the Best Student Paper Award will be selected to make presentations at the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting. The winner will be announced at the QSR business meeting at the conference. All finalists will receive an award certificate. The winner will also receive a plaque of recognition. The broad criteria for selecting the recipient of the QSR Best Student Paper Award are: (a) Academic significance (originality, depth, and completeness of the work and its potential impact on future research); (b) Engineering or business relevance (importance of the problem and its impact on engineering or business practice). Specifically, papers will be assessed in six aspects: originality of ideas, depth of study, thoroughness of literature review, importance of problem, expected impact on future research, and potential impact on engineering or business practice. The selected papers will be recommended to submit a full paper to a fast track in the INFORMS Journal on Data Science (IJDS).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:5.9pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0.85pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"></p><ul><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Complex Systems Sensing, Modeling, and<span style="letter-spacing:-0.1pt"> </span>Optimization</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Complex Data Analytics and Data Fusion for Quality Assurance</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Data Analytics for Reliability Evaluation and Maintenance<span style="letter-spacing:-0.35pt"> </span>Optimization</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Data Analytics in Manufacturing and Service<span style="letter-spacing:-0.2pt"> </span>Industries</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Data Analytics for Quality and Reliability<span style="letter-spacing:-0.6pt"> </span>Assurance</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Design and Analysis of Modern-Day Scientific Experiments</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Decision Theory and Predictive Modeling for Uncertainty Management</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Graph Theory and Network Analysis for Quality and Reliability Applications</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Image and Functional Data<span style="letter-spacing:-0.05pt"> </span>Analysis</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Integrated Nanomanufacturing and<span style="letter-spacing:0.05pt"> </span>Nano informatics</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">IoT-enabled Data Analytics for Manufacturing System Informatics and<span style="letter-spacing:-0.55pt"> </span>Control</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Maintenance and Reliability Analysis of Complex Engineering<span style="letter-spacing:0.05pt"> </span>Systems</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Modeling and Analysis of Data with Complex<span style="letter-spacing:0.05pt"> </span>Structures</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Predictive Modeling and Control for Complex Systems</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Quality Monitoring in Complex Manufacturing<span style="letter-spacing:-0.25pt"> </span>Processes</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">System and Process Informatics in Advanced<span style="letter-spacing:0.05pt"> </span>Manufacturing</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">System Informatics for Operations Research and Operations<span style="letter-spacing:-0.3pt"> </span>Management</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Multimodal Data Analysis for Manufacturing and Healthcare Systems</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Federated and Distributed Learning for Complex Systems</span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><b>Eligibility Requirements and Application Process:</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"></p><ul><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The award nominee <b>must be a student member of the QSR Section</b> (</span><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fconnect.informs.org%2Fqsr%2Fjoin-qsr%2Fmembership&data=05%7C02%7CIEFac.list%40mailhost.ces.clemson.edu%7C22002964023545091fa108dc6d38df1c%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638505338748655953%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LpoKFXFjhGJDhhvCrTkKff5ThGELfTt6ZJWbO8yReAw%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://connect.informs.org/qsr/join-qsr/membership" shash="oQX4YDfJdRRiJgc8aaxugvj3V9nuxy6AbmrgBEzzMPjhZTNRx+rQdT9/E/XL/bJ/G39O6vg8Ff3FeyjAm6GYKtYJO7VBe3Rv/Iqr7H8NT4/RY6K29xa6g0lSAVlhOhyhdvTeQnULeP0XGg4Ga6rMWuaJ0FJPTz3YQ+Ec3002nb0=" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Link</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> to join QSR).</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px">Previous<span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.4pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">finalists</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.35pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">who</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.35pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">wish</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.5pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">to</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">compete</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">again</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">should</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">submit</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.5pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">an</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">entirely</span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify;letter-spacing:-0.5pt"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;text-align:justify">different paper from their previous submissions.</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Past winners are not eligible for the competition.</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span>submitted<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span>paper<span style="letter-spacing:-0.4pt"> </span>should<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span>not<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> have </span>been<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span>selected<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span>as<span style="letter-spacing:-0.35pt"> a </span>winner<span style="letter-spacing:-0.35pt"> </span>of<span style="letter-spacing:-0.3pt"> any </span>past<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span>competitions<span style="letter-spacing:-0.35pt"> </span>in<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span>conferences.</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The submitted paper for the competition can be unpublished manuscript or published paper. If the paper has been published, the publication date (online) has to be on or after <b><span style="color:red">Oct 23, 2024, which is after INFORMS 2024</span>.</b></span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The student must be the first author. <b>A formal, signed statement by the student's advisor should be submitted along with the paper affirming that 1) the majority of the original results presented in the paper were produced by the student rather than the advisor or other collaborators involved in the work; 2) the paper has not been selected as a winner of any past competitions in conferences; 3) the publication status of the paper, whether it is unpublished or published with a specific publication date.</b></span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The student must be committed to presenting the paper at a special QSR session of the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting.</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Finalists <span style="letter-spacing:0.1pt">may </span>not be announced before other INFORMS sessions are organized. Thus, papers considered for this competition <b>MAY </b>be simultaneously submitted to other sessions of the INFORMS Annual Meeting. If a finalist is scheduled to present in another session, they need to present the paper twice: once in the QSR Best Student Paper Competition session, and once in their previously scheduled<span style="letter-spacing:-0.55pt"> </span>session.</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The QSR Section does NOT own the copyright of the paper. However, the paper must be available to the QSR Section to be posted on their web<span style="letter-spacing:-0.25pt"> </span>page.</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Required Format for Submission</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">: The submitted paper should have a maximum length of 6 pages, including references. The paper should have a 10-point Times Roman or Times New Roman typeface, be single-spaced, and have two columns with margins of 1 inch or more.<span style="letter-spacing:-0.5pt"> The p</span>aper<span style="letter-spacing:-0.55pt"> must</span><span style="letter-spacing:-0.5pt"> </span>begin<span style="letter-spacing:-0.45pt"> </span>with<span style="letter-spacing:-0.5pt"> </span>an<span style="letter-spacing:-0.55pt"> </span>abstract of at most 50 words.<span style="letter-spacing:-0.6pt"> </span>The<span style="letter-spacing:-0.65pt"> </span>paper<span style="letter-spacing:-0.65pt"> </span>must follow the required format, or it will be returned without<span style="letter-spacing:-0.55pt"> </span>review.</span></li><li style="margin-left:15px"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">To enter the competition, <b><span style="color:rgb(226,29,29)">a blinded as well as an unblinded version </span></b>of the paper in MS WORD or PDF format should be emailed to <b>all Co-<span class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small">C</span>hairs</b> of the QSR Best Student Paper Competition Session, with the email subject line “Name+University+2024 QSR Best Student Paper Competition” prior to the deadline <span style="color:black">of </span><b><span style="color:rgb(225,29,29)">July 14, 2024</span></b>. This deadline will not be extended. Late submissions will be ineligible for the competition, and not be reviewed.</span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0.05pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><u><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Timeline</span></u><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0.05pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Paper submission deadline (Submitter's local time): <b><span style="color:rgb(225,29,29)">July 14, 2024</span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Decision notifications to authors: <b><span style="color:rgb(225,29,29)">September 24, 2024</span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0.4pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> <a name="m_-2549757142086196254_For_inquiries,_please_contact_co-chairs_"></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0.4pt 0in 0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">The Co-Chairs of the INFORMS QSR Best Student Paper Competition Session:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 5.55pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Bing Si, PhD (Co-Chair)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Assistant Professor</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Department of Systems Science & Industrial Engineering</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">State University of New York at Binghamton</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Email: </span><a href="mailto:bsi@binghamton.edu" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">bsi@binghamton.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Cesar Ruiz Torres, PhD (Co-Chair)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">Assistant Professor</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">University of Oklahoma</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">Email: </span><span style="color:black"><a href="mailto:caruiz@ou.edu" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"></span>caruiz@ou.edu</span></a></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0.25in 0in 5.55pt;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">    Chen Zhang, PhD (Co-Chair)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Assistant Professor</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">Department of Industrial Engineering</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black">Tsinghua University</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="left" style="margin:0in 0in 0in 0.25in;line-height:normal;font-size:11pt"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Email:</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> </span><a href="mailto:zhangchen01@tsinghua.edu.cn" target="_blank" style="color:blue"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-size:small"></span>zhangchen01@tsinghua.edu.cn</span></a></p></div>