BALTIMORE, Feb. 28, 2026 – Six finalists have been selected for the 2026 Innovative Applications in Analytics Award (IAAA) brought to you by the Analytics Society of INFORMS, BCG X, Adelphi University, and Georgia Tech. The six will compete on Tuesday, April 14, during the 2026 INFORMS Analytics+ Conference in National Harbor, Md. The IAAA recognizes the creative and innovative application of combined analytics techniques to create economic or social value. The first, second and third place winners will be announced at an awards luncheon immediately following the competition.
Submission titles and members of finalist teams (in no particular order) are as follows:
AI & Big Data Brand Intelligence: Sales-Correlated Social Metrics and Market-Valuation Signals
· M. Tolga Akçura, eBrandValue, Inc. and Özyeğin University
· Ayşe Akçura, eBrandValue, Inc.
Designing Novel Adsorbents for Removing Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORMs) from Produced Waters of Oil & Gas Industries using Computer-Aided Molecular Design
· Urmila Diwekar, Stochastic Research Technologies LLC
· Sanjay Joag, Stochastic Research Technologies LLC
· Daniel Kestering, Stochastic Research Technologies LLC
· Rajib Mukherjee, Stochastic Research Technologies LLC
· Narendra Boppana, Vishwamitra Research Institute
Hidden in Plain Sight: Detecting Illicit Massage Businesses from Mobility Patterns
- From the Institute of Data and Analytics, Culverhouse College of Business, The University of Alabama:
- Nick Freeman
- Roya Shomali
- Greg Bott
- Iman Dayarian
- From The Network, Arlington, Va:
- Jason Parton
- Louis Wilbrink
- Jesus Lopez Lugo
- Carlos Garcia
Stabilizing Compensation for a Service-Oriented Business
· Kat Tomon Veidmark, Colorado School of Mines
· Alexandra Newman, Colorado School of Mines
Analytics for Better Urban Cycling at the City of Toronto
· Bo Lin, National University of Singapore
· Madeleine Bonsma-Fisher, University of Toronto
· Shoshanna Saxe, University of Toronto
· Timothy Chan, University of Toronto
Hierarchical Spatio-Temporal Uncertainty Quantification for Distributed Energy Adoption
· Wenbin Zhou, Carnegie Mellon University
· Shixiang Zhu, Carnegie Mellon University
· Feng Qiu, Argonne National Laboratory
· Xuan Wu, Pedernales Electric Cooperative
· Patrick Maguire, AES
· Victoria Cooper, AES
· Ryan Yang, AES
Juan R. Jaramillo, Pallav Chhaochhria, and Jiaxi Zhu are the IAAA Co-chairs.
About INFORMS
INFORMS is the world's largest association for professionals and students in operations research, AI, analytics, data science and related disciplines, serving as a global authority in advancing cutting-edge practices and fostering an interdisciplinary community of innovation. With a network of more than 12,000 members spanning academia, industry and government, INFORMS connects thought leaders, experts and emerging professionals who advance and apply AI, mathematics, analytics and other sciences and technologies to solve complex challenges and drive impactful decision-making.
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Contact:
Rebecca Seel, Public Affairs Specialist, INFORMS
443-757-3578
rseel@informs.org
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