Recently, the First Tsinghua Operational Research Competition, jointly held by the Department of Industrial Engineering, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Tsinghua University and Department of Management Science, City University of Hong Kong, came to a successful end. The competition aimed at providing a platform for undergraduates who intend to use mathematical tools (optimization, operations, probability and statistics) to solve practical problems, while enhance their scientific research potential and stimulate their enthusiasm for further study.

The Academic Committee of the competition consisted of five professors, including Prof. Xiuli Chao (University of Michigan), Prof. Ye Lu (City University of Hong Kong), Prof. Zuo-jun (Max) Shen (Tsinghua University, University of California, Berkeley), Prof. David Simchi-Levi (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Prof. Jiawei Zhang (New York University). 

The topic of competition was designed by the Academic Committee. Each competitor selected one topic and submitted the contest report. The competition had two rounds, beginning in April and ending in August. Nearly 50 students from Department of Industrial Engineering, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Department of Computer Science and Technology, Department of Electronic Engineering, Department of Automation etc., enrolled in the first round of the competition. The Academic Committee reviewed all the contest reports and identified students for the second round. Members of the Academic Committee provided one-on-one instruction to each student in the second round. After careful reviewing the reports of the second round, the final award list was confirmed as follows: Yufei Ruan from Department of Mathematical Sciences won the first prize. Yijun Yang from Department of Industrial Engineering and Shijie Xie from Department of Mathematical Sciences won the second prize. The winning students were awarded the honorary certificate and bonus of 4000 yuan (the first prize) or 2000 Yuan (the second prize).

Awards and discussions Scene of the first Tsinghua University Competition of Operational Research 

Group Photo of the winning students and Academic Committee Members

During the competition, students can not only gain academic support, improve their research skills, but also engage in communication with world-class scholars in the field of operational research. The Operations Research Competition is open to all undergraduate students at Tsinghua University, and particularly welcomes the potential students who are interested in doing research in operational research area.