Dear Colleagues,
The Quality Control and Reliability Engineering (QCRE) Division of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) announces the QCRE Best Track Paper Competition. Four finalists for the Best Track Paper will be selected to make oral presentations at the 2026 IISE Annual Conference to be held in Arlington, Texas, May 16 – 19, 2026.
The purpose of this competition is to honor outstanding papers in research and practice of quality control and reliability engineering. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
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· Big Data in Quality and Reliability
· Deep Learning in Quality Control and Reliability Engineering
· Data Streams and Online Data Analysis
· Reliability, Availability, Maintainability
· Reliability Prediction, Modeling and Analysis
· Physical Reliability Modeling
· Reliability Growth Modeling
· Degradation and Lifetime Testing
· Accelerated Life Testing
· System Reliability and Optimization
· Warranty Data Analysis
· Distributed Sensing and Data Analysis
· Decision Analysis and Risk Management
· High-dimensional Data Analysis
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· IoT & Cyber Manufacturing
· Systems Resilience Analysis
· Quality Engineering and Applied Statistics
· Quality Improvement in the Service Sector
· Quality Planning and Management
· Statistical Quality Control and Diagnosis
· Six Sigma Methods and Process Capability
· Statistical Process Control & Tolerancing
· Design and Analysis of Experiments
· Profiles and Multiple Responses
· Multivariate Data Analysis
· Bayesian Methods
· Response Surface and Surrogate Modeling
· Sampling and Inspection
· Nonparametric Methods
· Data Analytics in Cybersecurity
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Eligibility Requirements
· The paper topic should fit the QCRE themes. The paper must present original research results and cannot be accepted for publication elsewhere at the time of submission. (it can, however, be submitted and/or under review for possible publication at the time of submission for this competition).
· The submitted paper MUST follow the paper formatting guidelines and requirements of the IISE conference proceedings.
· The paper must primarily be submitted to the QCRE track.
· The authors should have an accepted oral abstract to be able to submit full papers for the competition.
· Previous finalists who wish to compete again should submit an entirely different paper.
· Papers considered for this competition may not be simultaneously submitted to other competitions at the 2026 IISE Annual Conference.
· Finalists must attend the IISE Annual Conference & Expo, May 16 - 19, 2026.
Evaluation Process
· Each eligible paper will be reviewed by two or three external referees, each of whom will assign a numerical score using the following five criteria.
o Contribution to quality control and reliability engineering research
o Significance of the problem
o Research methods/techniques are appropriate
o Results are interpreted correctly, and conclusions are reasonable
o Organization and quality of writing
· Four finalists for the Best Track Paper will be selected by ranking the review scores of all eligible papers. The winner(s) will be selected during the 2026 IISE Annual Conference based on the review evaluation and oral presentation. The winner(s) will be announced at the town hall meeting of the QCRE Track during the 2026 IISE Annual Conference.
Formatting and Submission Guidelines
Paper format: follow the paper formatting guidelines and requirements (6 pages including title and author data, references, and figures and tables) of IISE conference proceedings.
· Step 1 Abstract Submission: The authors must have an accepted oral abstract to be able to submit full papers for the competition. Please directly submit your abstract using the conference submission system before the abstract submission deadline (November 10, 2025). Please select the primary topic as Quality Control and Reliability Engineering Track during your abstract submission.
Abstract Submission Link: https://iise.secure-platform.com/annual2026
Conference Website: https://www.iise.org/Annual/
· Step 2 Full Paper Submission After the Abstract is Accepted: Submit your paper using the conference submission system before the paper submission deadline (January 18, 2026). During the paper submission process, please first select the primary topic as the Quality Control and Reliability Engineering Track. Then, please check A. I plan to submit a full paper (6 pages) via the online portal to be reviewed for (i) potential publication in IISE Conference Proceedings and (ii) a best-track paper competition. Next, please select Yes, please consider my paper for the Best Paper Competition. Late or incomplete submissions will not be eligible. The authors have the option to decide whether the papers will be included in the conference proceedings and transfer the copyright to IISE or not.
Fast-track to INFORMS Journal on Data Science (IJDS)
Finalists will have opportunities to fast-track their full-paper version to the INFORMS Journal on Data Science for expedited review. More details will be provided to finalists along with the notifications.
Deadlines (may be updated accordingly based on the IISE main Conference Submission Dates: https://iise.secure-platform.com/annual2026)
· Abstract Submission Deadline: November 10, 2025
· Paper Submission Deadline: January 18, 2026
· Notification of Decision on Paper: Februray 25, 2026
· Notification of Finalists: March 31, 2026
If you have any questions, please send an email (with the subject "QCRE Best Track Paper Competition") to the QCRE track chairs listed below.
Imtiaz Ahmed (imtiaz.ahmed@mail.wvu.edu)
Chao Wang (chao-wang-2@uiowa.edu)
Shubin Si (sisb@nwpu.edu.cn)
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Chao Wang
Associate Professor
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
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