Skip to content Skip to main navigation Report an accessibility issue

Technical Paper Competition

In partnership with the IISE organization, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference is holding a technical paper competition! The top 3 participants will win awards, and the first-place winner will get the chance to compete in the Undergraduate Technical Paper Competition Global Finals at the IISE Annual Conference & Expo in Atlanta, GA, later this year.

Submission deadline: Sunday January 12th, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.

Eligibility

To be eligible for consideration:

  • Students must be an undergraduate student when the nominated paper is written.
  • Paper can be projects done for a company as part of a course, internship, or other activity. They may be undergraduate research projects done at the home institution.
  • A faculty member may serve as an advisor on a project, but the work should primarily be done by the students.
  • A faculty member cannot be a co-author of the paper.
  • Only IISE members are eligible to participate.
  • Each participating university, including the host institution, may submit up to two papers as entries.

The paper should be written in a professional journal format, including page numbers and table of contents. Every principal author must make an oral presentation at their respective University Region Conference. The first-place winner will be eligible to compete in the Undergraduate Technical Paper Competition Global Finals at the IISE Annual Conference & Expo on May 31 – June 3, 2025, in Atlanta, GA.

English is the official language of the IISE Annual Conference & Expo. The written document must be submitted in English for judging at the international level. IISE does not provide translation services.

Format

Papers must adhere to the following guidelines:

  • 8½-inch x 11-inch paper
  • The paper should not exceed 20 pages including appendices.
  • Font should be Times New Roman, point size 11.
  • Margins of 1 inch (2.5 cm) all around.
  • Single spacing
  • Full-text justification
  • The following information should be placed at the top of the first page:
    • Paper title: 16-point Times New Roman bold and centered.
    • Author(s) listing: 12 point Times New Roman bold, centered and include names, university, city, state, zip code and country.
  • Text should be organized into sections and subsections, with an introduction and a conclusions section being advisable. A single line should separate paragraphs; no indentation should be used. Font guidelines are as follows:
    • Section headings: numbered, 12 point, bold, upper and lower case, left-justified and leave one blank line above only.
    • Section sub-headings: numbered, 11 point, bold, upper and lower case, left-justified and leave one blank line above only.
    • Regular text: 11 point Times New Roman, full justified and a single line between paragraphs.
  • Sub-bullets must be indented.
  • Figures, tables and their captions
  • Tables and figures when included in the main text need to be as close to the point of their introduction as possible. It is noted that figure and table numbering should be independent. Captions guidelines are as follows:
    • Figure captions: 10 point Times New Roman, centered and place below the figure, leave one blank line above and below.
    • Table caption: 10 point Times New Roman, centered and place above the table, leave one blank line above only.
  • Equations should be centered and numbered, with the number in parentheses, positioned flush to the right margin. Preferably, they should be prepared with an equation writer.

Judging Criteria

Papers and presentations will be judged on the following criteria:

  • Depth, significance and originality of subject matter
  • Excellence of written presentation
  • Excellence of oral presentation

Regional Winners

There will be a first, second, and third place prize given out.

  • First Place – $500
  • Second Place – $300
  • Third Place – $200

Rules

Please see the complete list of rules and other criteria.

Event Details