U-M engineering student team win second prize in INFORMS video contest

PEOPLE:

Last year, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Student Affairs Committee held a student video contest with the aim of promoting operations research, management science and analytics to undergraduate students.

U-M IOE graduate students from the University of Michigan INFORMS Student Chapter, Karmel S. Shehadeh, Qi Luo, Gian-Gabriel Garcia, Emily Tucker, Ece Sanci, Wesley Marrero Colon, and Fatemeh Navidi won second place in the contest for their video entry.

“I’ve always wanted to share my love and passion for operations research with the world and help others, especially younger students, discover the wonders of the field and the potential it has of making the world a better place,” said Shehadeh, who led the team.

“I’ve always wanted to share my love and passion for operations research with the world and help others, especially younger students, discover the wonders of the field and the potential it has of making the world a better place.”
Karmel Shehadeh

PhD Student, U-M Industrial & Operations Engineering

The idea of the video came from the team’s shared belief that showing your inner love and passion for something is the most powerful tool we all have to inspire others. They asked members of the U-M IOE community, both students, faculty and staff to share what inspires them about operations research, management science and analytics. The final video entry was compiled and edited by Qi Luo.

“This award renews our passion and dedication to continue contributing to our field and inspire the younger generation to join it. In our field, we focus so much on the big picture, on theoretical contribution and real-world impact, it felt great to have the opportunity to bring attention to it from different perspectives,” she said.

Video entries were judged by a diverse panel of INFORMS members, including members of the Student Affairs Committee with cash prizes being awarded to the first, second and third place winners.

First and third place was awarded to the Virginia Tech INFORMS Student Chapter, and the Clemson University Industrial Engineering Department, respectively.

Karmel Shehadeh is a PhD candidate whose research and teaching interests lie in the application of integer and mixed integer programming and optimization under uncertainty to real-world problems with a particular interest in scheduling theory and algorithm.

“Thanks to all of our friends, mentors and IOE staff who supported us and made this video possible.”