<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<style type="text/css" style="display:none;"> P {margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;} </style>
</head>
<body dir="ltr">
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Dear Colleagues,</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The IISE Energy Systems Division (ESD) and the INFORMS Quality, Statistics, and Reliability (QSR) Section are co-organizing a data challenge sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E). The contest challenges teams
to design analytics-based solutions for a real-world energy challenge. This year's challenge will be about electricity load forecasting.
</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: 700;">For a full description of the 2025 challenge, please use the following link:
</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135); font-weight: 700;"><u><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fdocument%2Fd%2F1l_j1ekLMOcHiAoeJvBP6vTwPozTGogVvBvWCw6mPwlo%2Fedit%3Fusp%3Dsharing&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7Ca199563c17104f246c3708dd3a122fd2%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638730571960994466%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=koQ6QDQSBBZ8y1CyYNLFdfHO3dwpdOzX%2BSBw%2Fgx93mQ%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l_j1ekLMOcHiAoeJvBP6vTwPozTGogVvBvWCw6mPwlo/edit?usp=sharing" shash="Ou1gndUUy44N9HAGV555xZXIECPuqOR1rbAC2wIU3j/Zjaw2mbDa8OleeOjRJ1c1+DhAGx12W0lI7yfY6Z17e5SFshygBDEF9oARVAolRis6bd0faNkj7vkZQpH45n76kiRPopRS+qKYBET+pBIWvyok/AOgIsjHFIbTP1CclPY=" target="_blank" id="OWA4d207bd0-9bed-400e-63b6-c7a3105824fc" class="embedly-content OWAAutoLink" rel="noopener" data-url="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l_j1ekLMOcHiAoeJvBP6vTwPozTGogVvBvWCw6mPwlo/edit?usp=sharing" style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);">Competition
Description</a></u></span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
The winner and up to two runners-up will be recognized with certificates and cash prizes, and will present their solutions at a special session at the 2025 IISE Annual Conference & Expo in Atlanta, co-organized with PG&E.<br>
<br>
In addition: The winner will present a lightning talk (5-minutes) about their final winning solution at the Energy Systems Town Hall Meeting. All finalists will have the opportunity to present their work at the 2025 INFORMS Annual Conference within a QSR special
session.<br>
<span style="font-weight: 700;"><br>
Eligibility Requirements:</span><br>
- Individuals or teams (up to four individuals) can participate in the challenge.<br>
- At least one team member must be an IISE member.<br>
- The winner and runners-up will be asked to join the ES Division for official recognition (joining ESD is free if you are an IISE member).<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: 700;">Application/Submission Guidelines:</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">- Individuals or teams are asked to register on the following link:
</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);"><u><a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flnkd.in%2Feekm2vaH&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7Ca199563c17104f246c3708dd3a122fd2%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638730571961016870%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Oxmidg9EIWfSsJfati79pzl%2F04%2Fgv6j3iIeO8LhfzFU%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://lnkd.in/eekm2vaH" shash="OXwxbWaGawiF8CGvNNEm8c3IWM/zmZPdJ5CF2970z//RVEFmmtbgAErPG+/lUF5Yn8cvNYNPcyfFxQnFYwtLXMxNo7u8FNa3GPyrrnU/TkLklM/nufJOfgHL8RzZaxfG7Va94K6WcctWuWYgQQ532XH8421NjdZqBCp+v58Gu+s=" target="_self" id="OWA10308a49-0a19-94cb-210b-52e989aa3a67" class="UCscCatRDSWOVGPsBHtBFxutMeBcJczyetPkw OWAAutoLink" data-test-app-aware-link="" style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);">https://lnkd.in/eekm2vaH</a></u></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> on
or before January 22nd, 2025, in order to be officially entered into the competition.</span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
- The participating teams will receive the dataset via e-mail by January 24th, 2025, which marks the competition's kick-off, along with specific instructions on the solution submission format (codes + output report).<br>
- All teams need to submit their final solutions electronically via an online form before March 24th, 2025.<br>
<br>
<span style="font-weight: 700;">Challenge organizers: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Dr. Mahan Mansouri (</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);"><u><a href="mailto:mahan.mansouri@pge.com" target="_blank" id="OWA92e88aad-4d42-d910-2c2b-3f1cff9898f9" class="OWAAutoLink" rel="noopener" style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);">mahan.mansouri@pge.com</a></u></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">)<br>
Dr. Murat Yildirim (</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);"><u><a href="mailto:murat@wayne.edu" target="_blank" id="OWAbcb36d8b-e37c-d4f0-9e0a-878cd964c705" class="OWAAutoLink" rel="noopener" style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);">murat@wayne.edu</a></u></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">)<br>
Dr. Aziz Ezzat (</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);"><u><a href="mailto:aziz.ezzat@rutgers.edu" target="_blank" id="OWAd4129a0e-5b89-521e-10dd-82e32f45eb03" class="OWAAutoLink" rel="noopener" style="color: rgb(0, 48, 135);">aziz.ezzat@rutgers.edu</a></u></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">) </span></div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div id="Signature" class="elementToProof">
<div style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<span style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Ahmed Aziz Ezzat, Ph.D.</span><span style="font-family: Constantia, "Hoefler Text", serif;"><br>
</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Assistant Professor | Director of the Renewables and Industrial Analytics (RIA) Research Group</span><span style="font-family: Constantia, "Hoefler Text", serif;"><br>
</span><span style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt;">Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (<a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fise.rutgers.edu%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7Ca199563c17104f246c3708dd3a122fd2%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638730571961030041%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0lILcMWletXLMIXf5SPY6ruvwlDxZlEpzB0Z8FaZEcs%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://ise.rutgers.edu/" shash="O2pJ7tN+tg3fPEcF7+kR58tNvFNUhRyXuGpK/3XerHUnlxCpDXx6hapA7jwLCnhiBI86r5Dasi45zgpY03O6kT3NEnWiR0ia95D1tPJ5QK5PF0yQl1ouMlkZnnrKswjReP/iQaOp1EPOvF222PergMhgARLwMXhg6ZKYOINOzOM=" id="OWAb50de1ea-8d5a-a5e2-9688-d4ca43eaef95" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://ise.rutgers.edu/">RU-ISE
Website</a> | <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Frutgers-university-industrial-and-systems-engineering-3bb77aa3%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7Ca199563c17104f246c3708dd3a122fd2%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638730571961042251%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=dLQlFrY80AWzLUOVa0tzTcBDtE4gZiiHPy1ByJ%2BsH08%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rutgers-university-industrial-and-systems-engineering-3bb77aa3/" shash="VekMK4h3SNhGgGKX7opt591fmSuQU0/kpj6Ef9HUdfqwCw8bzEXrL2EUXIhhQD06GqPbSsAxgn8OU4Ut3h2U668BWQPIwFVPW0HlzTnNyE/e28w4lpP6syqncWVlRFPWQhZy5WgDZ0G89nRjAqp6NXlIXERVRUbpCQJQAJoXfn4=" id="OWA9b748d50-0f0b-e93e-bc83-72317803adc7" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.linkedin.com/in/rutgers-university-industrial-and-systems-engineering-3bb77aa3/">
RU-ISE LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Frutgersise%3Flang%3Den&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7Ca199563c17104f246c3708dd3a122fd2%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638730571961052172%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=SBtZ8xMfpWg8g2klF3uN88Cx0zqT%2B1KnbZNziQaa%2BK8%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://twitter.com/rutgersise?lang=en" shash="k5b7uLCxgM9e6DlyeT4/3Q+j3x6sd3k3d2L6sRZbYWBEIV5lsDfmutO/1zaGZERCioM707kLYdRTdEhcN/K3dMcAvISEwdYaZCzeOgWF1lgNpkd9BJnxak1e26nmQ0KH47/eSk2FIgF9yujZ/A1khSFpnBikMsI+zru5QDUrCjY=" id="OWAf5aa489d-3c38-d55a-8262-338d3f548d6a" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://twitter.com/rutgersise?lang=en">
RU-ISE Twitter</a>)<br>
Rutgers, The State University of NJ, USA</span></div>
<div><span style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Research Website:
<a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsites.rutgers.edu%2Fazizezzat%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7Ca199563c17104f246c3708dd3a122fd2%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638730571961061918%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=NbZ9yk%2FYZC3QPdwkuLE%2FOzuHDEUTm6Cd%2Fi2CW11lqjs%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://sites.rutgers.edu/azizezzat/" shash="FlKe1fcC1dfKSpIRpzyGGfgNPYxiPc58opA0BciUn2HeosZzYmIgg9+VHwxRFiCj8W2CCMEKxTM/2M8TSDEBspiZIdWvY3wgaM6464h7z3Obu7Hu0knMP+WPB/eRsiNsNlbvxiCKwJXzp7SOH3im9AGQmrAZKfKQFjaopk9W9Ik=" id="OWAfe51589f-060b-c011-2c47-38e92bbde322" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://sites.rutgers.edu/azizezzat/">
https://sites.rutgers.edu/azizezzat/</a> | LinkedIn Profile: <a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fahmed-aziz-ezzat-60114271%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7Ca199563c17104f246c3708dd3a122fd2%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638730571961073340%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=C3ZSaYL%2B%2BCPUAm0OUSGGBut0bwIFTRjygxkektYNhZ8%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-aziz-ezzat-60114271/" shash="LOhc8Q3k3fcFJMyjdeBPxl7e/VIyZb2/822GpuTBkK3DX8aYFZrzk6ds7aG5xaByOaoz306pX5RSvY9n4jiJyuW7qsE4059+DxJKq0SvxqWvLmgpgVEFm+iRQRxG1HBgP/U5RSBczGU9ZwBqfNxEChft6zy4BpibaFPab3UwKzc=" id="OWAad73da8b-1a53-532c-8603-1207ec5b69c1" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ahmed-aziz-ezzat-60114271/" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
LinkedIn</a></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> | </span><span style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; font-size: 10pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Twitter:
<a href="https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FAAzizEzzat&data=05%7C02%7Ciefac.list%40mailman.clemson.edu%7Ca199563c17104f246c3708dd3a122fd2%7C0c9bf8f6ccad4b87818d49026938aa97%7C0%7C0%7C638730571961084281%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=w%2FgjBU7CcLWYleIya9SbJl%2BKZOBKtOV9yw%2Fg%2BAJwNYo%3D&reserved=0" originalSrc="https://twitter.com/AAzizEzzat" shash="tGCAi5WKn4wBvnFa3n8Dm5RvDuMSAvG4y8WOIyRzByw0uZlipBkdPlnAiFIpZTUULdeZJW//NiiB6WMFzkd0O0xAwmIFh9mBYnATJ9AfuFaXMDfN8I/mBS/vSY2dZM+stAWtPoQfY4SUI9F8nDXS4mlpgfwzU0r/u/x4ny5e3cs=" id="OWA3214a793-f5fa-cecf-c6be-c0a81df00f4e" class="OWAAutoLink" title="https://twitter.com/AAzizEzzat">
@AAzizEzzat</a></span><br>
<span style="font-family: Cambria, Georgia, serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><br>
</span></div>
</div>
</body>
</html>