The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have been presented the leading award in operations research and analytics, the Franz Edelman Award. The team were recognised for their ground-breaking work on the world’s first two-sided auction, revolutionising the way that the growing demand for spectrum for wireless communication can be met.

Baltimore harbour

To be presented with the Franz Edelman Award, which recognizes the greatest achievements in operations research and analytics, is an incredible testament to the ground-breaking work of our incentive auction team. The auction, which repurposed 84 MHz of valuable spectrum for mobile broadband, next-generation 5-G, and other wireless services, was the first of its kind in the world. It would not have been possible without the use of operations research tools to solve complex design and implementation challenges. We are deeply honored that our effort has been recognized with this prestigious award.

Ajit Pai
Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission

In expressing her congratulation to the FCC team, our CEO Dr Heather Tewkesbury said, “We are very proud to have worked with the FCC team on this ambitious auction. It was a fantastic opportunity for the Smith Institute to verify the design and implementation of all of the bidding algorithms, optimisation models and constraint generation upon which the auction implementation was based.

Other finalists from around the world were nominated for their pioneering application of operations research in healthcare, vehicle fleet management, inventory management, communication and alternative energy.

Find out more about the Franz Edelman Award.