President's Medal


The President’s Medal is one of The OR Society’s most prestigious awards, and we’re inviting entries for the competition.

The President’s Medal is awarded for the best practical application of OR submitted to the competition (a wide definition of OR is used). Entries are welcomed from both industry based OR workers and consultants as well as from academics. One of the main qualifications for entry is that the work has been implemented before submission. If you’re thinking of giving a case study based paper at our annual conference, why not consider aiming a bit higher and going for the President’s Medal?

Criteria for judging include:

  • The level of demonstrable benefit
  • The intellectual and novel content of the solution
  • The likely longevity of the solution
  • The excellence of the OR process

 

The entry deadline is 30 June 2024 and should be submitted to the Head of Professional Services, [email protected].

President's Medal of The OR Society

Citation for President's Medal 2023

The Net Zero Strategy Directorate at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, led by Adam Mackenzie-Jones (Net Zero Systems Lead)

Net Zero Systems tool (NZST) for use in government departments.

The President’s Medal has been awarded for a Government project that combined technical expertise in a tool that delivered a variety of application. It has been seen through to implementation in supporting planning and policy decision making. Tackling the complex challenge of achieving Net Zero emissions targets requires collaborative efforts across various government departments.

To help decision makers better understand and navigate this intricate landscape, Adam, and his team collaborated with a number of other government departments, including DfT, Defra, Cabinet Office, and DLUHC, to design and create an innovative interactive visualisation tool using systems approaches known as the Net Zero Systems Tool (NZST).

The NZST is helping decision makers to understand and navigate the interconnected nature of this landscape, enabling identification of opportunities, and driving further collaboration across government. It complements other tools and models that are used by policy professionals and analysts alike.

A mix of hard and soft OR techniques were used in the development of the tool. The combination of excellence of process, technical challenge, impressive impact and the longevity of the tool made this project a worthy winner in the judges’ eyes, mirroring the sentiment of the audience at the conference.

Gilbert Owusu, President of The OR Society, commented, “The President’s medal is an annual opportunity to celebrate the remarkable work of OR specialists and share how they are using OR techniques to solve complex issues in government or industry. The Net-Zero Systems tool captures the innovative spirit of operational research and its potential to drive positive change.”

Seb Hargreaves, Executive Director of The OR Society, added, “We are immensely proud to recognise the exceptional contribution of Adam and his team to the field of operational research. His work exemplifies the mission of The OR Society, which has been at the forefront of advancing the discipline for 75 years.”

President-Medal-Team-2023.jpg

Team members:

DESNZ
Adam Mackenzie-Jones (Net Zero systems lead)
Beth Green (Buildings systems lead)
Adam Stannard (Energy systems lead)
Charlie Stewart (Industry systems lead)

Defra
Yaadwinder Sidhu (Land Use systems)

DfT
Katie Gronow (Transport systems)
Mary McKee (Transport systems)

Previous Awards

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Guidelines

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