The Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) program in Cornell's School of Operations Research and Information Engineering was a finalist at a competition that recognizes excellence in preparing students to become practitioners of analytics and operations research.

Cornell competed for the first UPS George D. Smith Prize, which was awarded April 16 at the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences Conference on Business Analytics and Operations Research, in Huntington Beach, Calif. Eighteen schools had vied for the prize, and Cornell was one of three finalists.

In their prize committee presentation, the Cornell team, which included Akansha Gawade, M.Eng. '12, and Sam Davis, M.Eng. '12, emphasized the diversity of specializations in the ORIE program, innovations introduced throughout its 50-year history, and the integrated framework of coursework, professional development and practical capstone projects.

The team was led by Mark Eisner, former M.Eng. program director, and director Kathryn Caggiano.

The winner was University of Michigan's Tauber Institute for Global Operations, and the other finalist was Lehigh University's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. The UPS George D. Smith Prize is named in honor of the late UPS CEO.