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Restricted<br>

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<br>

<div class="WordSection1">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Dear Prof Nan Kong,<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful holiday season.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Thank you very much for sharing this exciting opportunity with our faculty members.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">My name is Robert Wijaya, and I am the Industry Collaborations and Partnerships Manager at the Engineering Systems and Design (ESD) pillar in SUTD.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I am reaching out to seek some clarification regarding the details of the competition. From my understanding, the selected finalists or teams will have the opportunity to run their

 codes, produce their results, and present their products in 2025 IISE Annual Conference & Expo, which will take place from May 31 to June 3, 2025, in Atlanta, USA. A blind vote cast by invited judges will determine the winner after the presentations.

<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">I would like to inquire if the organiser will be covering the relevant costs associated with the overseas trip for those who are shortlisted as finalists. Specifically, will expenses

 such as flights and accommodation be provided for the finalists?<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US">Thank you very much for your time and assistance. I look forward to hearing from you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Best regards,</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Robert WIJAYA (Mr)</span></b><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Manager, Industry Collaborations & Partnerships</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> </span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Engineering Systems and Design (ESD)</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">Singapore University of Technology & Design</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">E:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> <a href="mailto:robert_wijaya@sutd.edu.sg"><span style="color:blue">robert_wijaya@sutd.edu.sg</span></a></span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual">A:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"> 8 Somapah Road, Singapore 487372</span><span style="mso-ligatures:standardcontextual"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"><img border="0" width="179" height="85" style="width:1.868in;height:.8888in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01DB6384.DFE855E0"></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-language:EN-US"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>

<div>

<div>

<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>

</div>

<div>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><br>

Begin forwarded message:<o:p></o:p></p>

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<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">

<div>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><br>

</p>

<p style="font-family:Calibri;font-size:12pt;color:#FF0000;margin:5pt;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none;" align="Center">

Restricted<br>

</p>

From:</b> "Kong, Nan via IEFac.list" <<a href="mailto:iefac.list@mailman.clemson.edu">iefac.list@mailman.clemson.edu</a>><br>

<b>Date:</b> January 8, 2025 at 9:12:53<span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span>PM GMT+8<br>

<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:iefac.list@mailman.clemson.edu">iefac.list@mailman.clemson.edu</a><br>

<b>Cc:</b> "Li, Mingyang" <<a href="mailto:mingyangli@usf.edu">mingyangli@usf.edu</a>><br>

<b>Subject:</b> <b>[IISE Faculty List] Please encourage your students to participate in the IISE Data Analytics and Information systems division (dais) student data analytics competition</b><br>

<b>Reply-To:</b> "Kong, Nan" <<a href="mailto:nkong@purdue.edu">nkong@purdue.edu</a>><o:p></o:p>

<p></p>

</div>

</blockquote>

<blockquote style="margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">

<div>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif"></span> <o:p>

</o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Dear Colleague,</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season. Please encourage your talented students to participate in this exciting competition. To many institutions you are affiliated

 with, the spring semester is about to start. You may consider publicizing this opportunity in the first class of any relevant course you are about to teach. This is a friendly reminder. The deadline of submitting the Letter of Intent is

<u>Jan 17, 2025</u>. </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">IISE Data Analytics and Information Systems Division (DAIS) Student Data Analytics Competition – Nursing Home Time-Series Data Prediction Triathlon

</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">The Data Analytics Competition is an annual student competition organized by the Data Analytics and Information Systems (DAIS) Division of the Institute of Industrial and

 Systems Engineers (IISE). The main objective of the competition is to provide the students with the opportunity to learn, showcase, and enhance their data analysis and visualization skills through working on real-world problems with real-sized data sets.</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><a name="_Hlk182045055"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></a></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk182045055"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Problem Description – Nursing home staffing hour prediction triathlon</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<span style="mso-bookmark:_Hlk182045055"></span>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Nursing homes in the United States provide the most comprehensive set of professional care a person can receive outside hospital. The care includes a range of coordinated

 medical, personal, and social services to meet the needs of residents who are chronically ill or disabled. Staffing adequately in a cost-benefit manner is vital to nursing home management in the United States. Since staffing cannot be adjusted in real-time,

 it is critical for each nursing home facility to make accurate half-a-month to one-month-ahead prediction on the staffing level from the existing staff, which can help them make intelligent hiring and HR decisions.</span><o:p></o:p></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provides public data sets, known as Payroll Based Journal Public Use Files (PBJ PUFs), containing daily nursing home

 staffing levels (often measured by staffing hours) and resident census data. Nursing homes must submit accurate staffing information, including agency and contract staff, through the PBJ system, based on verifiable payroll data, in a format specified by CMS.

 Facilities report the number of hours each staff member is paid to work each day. The quarterly PBJ data files are available beginning with data from the first calendar quarter of 2017. New data files will be uploaded to data.cms.gov on a quarterly basis.

 The public use files report information on staffing hours for each day in the quarter. The staffing data in the PBJ PUFs is aggregated to the facility-day. This means that all included facilities have one record (or row of data) for each day in a quarterly

 file. For more information, please visit </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2Fnam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps*3A*2F*2Fdata.cms.gov*2Fsites*2Fdefault*2Ffiles*2F2023-06*2FPBJ_PUF_Documentation_July_2023.pdf%26data%3D05*7C02*7Ciefac.list*40mailman.clemson.edu*7Cfd06dc2002914d2a299c08dd2fae5a5c*7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97*7C0*7C0*7C638719148075866524*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C%26sdata%3DNqIkyqU5iyxoqtJhvvrC*2B5XH2frRMkgR9aZcoeLVow8*3D%26reserved%3D0__%3BJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!DZ3fjg!5QU5gm1VHQMXRMrtq8pU0hb5Y7uIGicnnb_iA0rmgRgbxWLUEkubdBuaUzl88-3vSSLAdT88RWIbYEy88HDZ0AtfGUKg-w%24&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7C3bfa58228fc04a07e43b08dd315909ac%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638720980719614126%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=letATrF08SfZhoCn6G6tHYMKnOlH2R9XjhTVJCISiLU%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fdata.cms.gov*2Fsites*2Fdefault*2Ffiles*2F2023-06*2FPBJ_PUF_Documentation_July_2023.pdf&data=05*7C02*7Ciefac.list*40mailman.clemson.edu*7Cfd06dc2002914d2a299c08dd2fae5a5c*7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97*7C0*7C0*7C638719148075866524*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&sdata=NqIkyqU5iyxoqtJhvvrC*2B5XH2frRMkgR9aZcoeLVow8*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!DZ3fjg!5QU5gm1VHQMXRMrtq8pU0hb5Y7uIGicnnb_iA0rmgRgbxWLUEkubdBuaUzl88-3vSSLAdT88RWIbYEy88HDZ0AtfGUKg-w$" shash="F7xeDUnUVAPJOMLKm4CaajJLuu/FPBoSbGma6kvArDDo4q8NYVUcpxftKLljXrlMw1iRgIRWV9k08kzrK9mfuwGvQYwPWPWtoLxqAVEniHvOG2oR773bdJuiBqS+ve5EkurDgSNL1Su3K9tSuM73Fs8BlUFagBiLr8kNQdoTgu4="><span style="font-size:11.0pt">https://data.cms.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/PBJ_PUF_Documentation_July_2023.pdf</span></a></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">.</span><o:p></o:p></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Rules for this competition:</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

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<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Training data set</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">. Nursing staff (e.g., CNA, LPN, RN) data files belonging to 100 nursing

 homes in Indiana and Florida, US (where the two institutions the competition steering committee chairs are affiliated with are located at) will be released to the participating teams by

<b>Jan. 24, 2024</b>. These files will contain data collected in the second quarter of 2024 (i.e.,

Q2 2024), the latest period with data available by the time of this announcement. The names of the selected nursing homes will not be released.

</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Prediction events.</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> Three staffing hour quantities that can be derived from the data files

 will be announced as the three prediction targets (i.e., “induvial race in a triathlon”) together with

several prediction performance metrics for each target. This is meant to give teams the leads to decide if they want to participate in this competition and perhaps a jump start as well.

</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Two-Phase Competition</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">. The competition will contain two phases of judging based on the

 prediction results submitted. From phase 1, we will select four finalists. From phase 2, we will determine among the four finalists a

<b>first-prize winner</b>, a <b>second-prize winner</b>, and two <b>honorable mentions</b>.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Phase-1 Judging</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">. After participating teams submit their results for the phase-1 competition,

 the competition committee chairs will schedule a virtual meeting with each team to run their model/algorithm trained with the 100 nursing homes on the data of the same period collected from 20 other nursing homes in Indiana and Florida. Those 20 additional

 nursing homes will not be released to the teams ahead of time. However, the two chairs will ensure a relative unbiased selection of the 20 nursing homes as test data against the original 100 ones. Phase 1 is about spatial transferability of the prediction

 tool.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Phase-1 Scoring</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">. All teams will be sorted based on the performance metrics. The team that

 has the worst prediction will be given 1 point. Then every team ranked one spot ahead will be given 1 more point until the top 3 high-performing teams, they will be given 2 more points than the team ranked one spot lower. 

</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Phase-2 Judging</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">. We assume a new data set will be released after the four finalists make

 their final submission together with the nursing home names. The two steering committee chairs will schedule a meeting with each finalist team at the conference to run their model/algorithm trained with the

same 100 nursing homes on the newly available data.  Phase 2 is about temporal transferability of the prediction tool.

</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1;background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Phase-2 Scoring</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">.  The four semi-finalist teams will be sorted based on the performance

 metrics. The four teams will be given 10, 7, 4, 1 based on their ranking in each category of performance metrics. The total score of each team will be the sum of their scores over all categories. The ranking based on the total score will carry 60% of the weight.

 The other two items will be the final report (20%) and the final presentation (20%).  

</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Eligibility</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

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<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Individuals or teams of a maximum of four members (no post-doc/faculty allowed).</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Student members must be either undergraduate or graduate students from higher education institutes in the field of Industrial & Systems Engineering

 or related fields.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Student members should be enrolled at the time of the submission of the proposal.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">At least one of the team members must be an active member of the Data Analytics and Information System (DAIS) division of IISE.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">A team must submit a notice of intent to be eligible for the competition participation.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Competition Process</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Notice of Intent</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">A team must submit a notice of intent to participate in the competition via email to the chairs of the competition steering committee by <b>Friday, Jan. 17, 2025.</b> The

 notice of intent needs to include:</span><o:p></o:p></p>

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<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l4 level1 lfo3;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">The list of names of team members, their affiliations, and contact information (email and phone).</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l4 level1 lfo3;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">One team member is identified as the main contact.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">The competition steering committee chairs will share the

<b>initial data sets of 100 nursing homes</b> through email to the main contact provided by each team on <b>Friday, Jan. 24, 2025.</b></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Submission and Judging of the Results for Phase 1</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">For Phase 1, participating teams or individuals are required to submit their source codes and scripts via email to the chairs of the competition steering committee by <b>Friday,

 Feb. 28, 2025.</b> The competition steering committee will evaluate the submissions, and a maximum of top four teams will be selected as finalists. More details about the submission guidelines and review criteria will be released along with the initial data

 set. The committee chairs will judge each team in the first week of March. The four finalist teams will be notified by

<b>Friday, Mar. 7, 2025</b>.</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Submission and Judging of the Results for Phase 2</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">For Phase 2, the finalist teams will be given the full list of the 100 nursing homes on

<b>Monday, Mar. 10, 2025</b>. This will give them more flexibility to adapt and refine their time-series prediction tool for the demand forecasting. The finalist teams or individuals are required to submit 1) source code and scripts and 2) final report via

email to the committee chairs by Friday, May 2, 2025 (this date may be changed once we have an update on the release date of the data by CMS).

</span><o:p></o:p></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Final Presentation</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">The selected finalist teams and individuals will present the model motivation, model approach, and results at the 2025 IISE Annual Conference & Expo, May 31 – June 3, 2025,

 Atlanta, USA. More information on the final report and presentation contents will be provided to the finalist teams.</span><o:p></o:p></p>

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Evaluation Process</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Approval of the Notice of Intent</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">The competition steering committee will review and approve or reject the submitted notices of intent to participate based on the eligibility criteria. Approval emails will

 be sent together with the dataset by the chair of the committee by <b>Friday, Jan. 24, 2025.</b></span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Selection of Top Finalist Teams</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">The competition steering committee will select a maximum of four finalist teams. Finalist teams will be notified by email by the chair of the committee by <b>Friday, March

 7, 2025.</b> </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Selection of Winners</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">The selected finalist teams will run their codes, produce their results, present their products in 2025 IISE Annual Conference & Expo, <b>May 31 – June 3, 2025, Atlanta,

 USA.</b> A blind vote cast by invited judges will decide the winner after the presentations.</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Recognition</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<ol style="margin-top:0cm" start="1" type="1">

<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l3 level1 lfo4;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Recognition at the Annual Conference:</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>

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<ol style="margin-top:0cm" start="1" type="1">

<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l3 level2 lfo4;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">at the DAIS Town Hall Meeting</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>

</ol>

<ol style="margin-top:0cm" start="1" type="1">

<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l5 level1 lfo5;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Certificate provided by IISE (either mailed or given at the town hall meeting) for the 1st prize winners.</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l5 level1 lfo5;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">2nd and 3rd prize winners will receive a digital certificate.<br>

Recognition in ISE magazine</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l5 level1 lfo5;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Recognition on </span><span style="color:black"><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2Fnam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl%3Dhttps*3A*2F*2Fwww.iise.org*2Fdetails.aspx*3Fid*3D872%26data%3D05*7C02*7Ciefac.list*40mailman.clemson.edu*7Cfd06dc2002914d2a299c08dd2fae5a5c*7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97*7C0*7C0*7C638719148075877625*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C%26sdata%3DwJV8v5S0kRbaUjIXlgg7pRx021MQ2mXkzFqrl7ppJhw*3D%26reserved%3D0__%3BJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!DZ3fjg!5QU5gm1VHQMXRMrtq8pU0hb5Y7uIGicnnb_iA0rmgRgbxWLUEkubdBuaUzl88-3vSSLAdT88RWIbYEy88HDZ0AuOT5lUuw%24&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7C3bfa58228fc04a07e43b08dd315909ac%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638720980719629209%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=m%2B9PytH8%2BIDOw0F%2FCBZ00Hx9X1TuykojOnx3tPfwyas%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.iise.org*2Fdetails.aspx*3Fid*3D872&data=05*7C02*7Ciefac.list*40mailman.clemson.edu*7Cfd06dc2002914d2a299c08dd2fae5a5c*7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97*7C0*7C0*7C638719148075877625*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ*3D*3D*7C0*7C*7C*7C&sdata=wJV8v5S0kRbaUjIXlgg7pRx021MQ2mXkzFqrl7ppJhw*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSU!!DZ3fjg!5QU5gm1VHQMXRMrtq8pU0hb5Y7uIGicnnb_iA0rmgRgbxWLUEkubdBuaUzl88-3vSSLAdT88RWIbYEy88HDZ0AuOT5lUuw$" shash="vK4QKdHB8Pgf0zlMca8Sp5SgYZjIWfo0bQXo7pWrEkk+wEihsgWIHflQEJA+Liz/ytT4mWkY8V0l6/jLiLD6e56EdiN5eWEyIo1Oybspcyc1Eh3+eO0dYPlhMVeEhNEQMftVFD4L39yaMTW34mh78pkyK6H5/Nev5JBhdoLAm5w="><span style="font-size:11.0pt">DAIS

 webpage</span></a></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> and in the newsletter</span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Important dates/deadlines</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<ol style="margin-top:0cm" start="1" type="1">

<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo6;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Notice of Intent: <b>January 17, 2025</b> </span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo6;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Competition challenge dataset for phase 1 made available: <b>January 24, 2025</b> </span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo6;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Deadline for submission for Phase-I judging: <b>Feb. 28, 2025</b></span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo6;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Notification to the finalist teams: <b>March 7, 2025</b></span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo6;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Competition challenge dataset for phase 2 made available to the finalist teams:

<b>March 10, 2025</b></span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo6;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Deadline for submission for Phase-II judging:

<b>May 2, 2025</b></span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l1 level1 lfo6;background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">IISE Annual Conference & Expo: <b>May 31 – June 3, 2025</b></span><o:p></o:p></li></ol>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Competition Steering Committee Chairs</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><a href="mailto:xchen325@buffalo.edu" title="Xiaoyu Chen"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Nan Kong,</span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> Purdue University<br>

</span><span style="color:black"><a href="mailto:wangy88@rpi.edu" title="Yinan Wang"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Mingyang

</span></a></span><u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">Li</span></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black">, University of South Florida</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Nan Kong, PhD</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Professor</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Purdue University</span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>

<p class="MsoNormal">_______________________________________________<br>

IEFac.list mailing list<br>

<a href="mailto:IEFac.list@mailman.clemson.edu">IEFac.list@mailman.clemson.edu</a><o:p></o:p></p>

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