SIMIO Student Simulation Competition

Here is a brief summary of the first problem:

We are investigating a new startup business at airports that allow passengers to drop-off
their car at our parking facility at the airport, and in addition to free parking they may
receive rental income for their car while they are away. Their car is offered as a rental car to
passengers flying into the airport. Successful business implementation involves aspects of
parking, transportation, rental car asset management, and staffing.
Our business strategy is to first pilot this system at a mid-size airport, and then rapidly
expand to other airports once the concept is proven to be profitable. It's very important that
our pilot system be appropriately designed to maximize its chance of success to demonstrate
the business model to potential investors. For this reason we want to use simulation to make
critical design decisions with the layout of our system. We need to evaluate the logistics of
several aspects of the plan as well as investigate alternatives to control costs and/or improve
operations.
This problem will not only challenge student model-building skills, but also require some
creativity, project management, and even video production and presentation skills. We
believe that students will find participation to be both interesting and valuable.
Judging Criteria
Judging is based on a 10-item scoring system where each item is worth between 0 and 3
points, defined as follows: Poor 0, Average 1, Good 2, Excellent 3. The total score for
the project is the sum of all points across these 10 evaluation areas, with a maximum project
score of 30.
Evaluation Areas
The 10 evaluation areas are summarized below:
Quality/clarity of the presentation
The overall quality and clarity of the presentation, including the effective use of time
and of supporting aids such as slides, animations, and/or other materials. The
presentation should clearly define any expanded simulation objectives by the project
team, as well as any assumptions that have been made.
Analysis/use of input data
The appropriate interpretation, analysis, and use of the data that is supplied with the
model.
Modeling detail/approach
The incorporation of the appropriate level of modeling detail necessary to reach
conclusions and support the project recommendations. The model should include
enough detail to support the conclusions, but not unnecessary or frivolous detail.
Model internal documentation
The model components should include meaningful names and appropriate use of other
documentation features such as description, labels, categories, and color coding.
Someone unfamiliar with the project should be able to "figure out" the approach
without too much trouble.
Verification and Validation
Demonstrate use of appropriate measures to ensure validity of model.
Quality of animation
The animation should provide an effective communication of the model execution and
logic and provide a useful tool for model validation.
Experimentation/exploration of alternatives
An appropriate set of experiments should be defined and executed to fully explore the
business alternatives as described in the problem statement. Related alternatives not
specifically mentioned in the problem statement may also be explored.
Analysis of results
The results should be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods and the results
should be presented in a clear and concise way.
Quality of the recommendations
The project should provide a set of recommendations to the business supported by the
simulation results from the project.
Overall quality of the project and Executive Summary
This is an overall summary measured by the general quality of the project work,
soundness of the recommendations, and its potential impact on the proposed business
problem and how well this is communicated in the written Executive Summary.

Rules & Guidelines
1. Teams are given four weeks to develop a Simio solution for a case study which is
provided by Simio. This case study will be a realistic problem drawn from actual user
projects.
2. Teams are comprised of two to four students, of which no more than two can be
graduate students. Only students currently enrolled at the college/university are
eligible.
3. A faculty advisor is expected to distribute and explain the project and rules and
submit the best entries from their school. There is no limit to the number of teams that
can register, however each faculty advisor can submit a maximum of three projects to
the global competition. We encourage faculty with more than 3 potential entries to
hold a local preliminary competition with the top 3 finalists submitted to the global
competition.
4. Faculty advisors planning to offer the case in their classes must complete the
registration form on www.simio.com\studentcontest. The project case description will
be sent to the faculty advisor upon completion of the registration. The faculty advisor
will only make the case description available to the student teams at the start of the
four-week period.
5. The contest is held twice yearly: Once in March April with judging in early May
and once in October November with judging in early December. Projects can be
done during any four week period during these open times.
6. Solutions are submitted online and include the Simio model along with a Project
Video (maximum 15 minutes) that is posted on YouTube and clearly explains the
model and project results. All presentations must be in English.
7. The Video presentation may use slides and video recordings from the model but
should not include logos or other identifying materials of the university/college or
team members. A separate Team Introduction video (maximum 2 minutes) should be
posted on YouTube that introduces the college/university and project team members.
Both videos must be posted by the teams as unlisted YouTube videos, and a link to
each video shall be submitted with the project.
8. Teams should use the Judging Criteria as a checklist to ensure that they have
addressed all relevant issues. Judging is done by a panel of commercial and academic
judges using this Judging Criteria. Judging of the projects will be blind based on the
submitted Simio model and the Project video. The Team Introduction video will be
withheld from the judges, and the names of the judges will be withheld until final
judging is complete.
9. The project is submitted online at www.simio.com\studentcontest and must include
the following:
a. The Simio model for the project.
b. A written Executive Summary, not to exceed 2 pages.
c. You may optionally include an appendix containing any project background
you choose to share. The appendix may be written informally and will not
itself be judged, but may be used by judges in evaluating your work.
d. A link to the unlisted YouTube Project Video presentation (maximum 15
minutes).
e. A link to the unlisted YouTube Team Introduction Video (maximum 2
minutes).
f. A form signed by the faculty advisor and team members certifying that the
project work was completed solely by the team members, and certifying the
start and end dates for the four week project.
g. Contact information for the advisor and team members, along with a
publication quality photo of the team members (at least 300 dpi).
h. Submission is completed upon receipt of a confirming email from Simio.
10. Three winners are selected and announced at a biannual 90 minute online Simio
Student Competition conference that is announced at the start of the contest and held
soon after the contest closing date. The conferences will be held in early December
and early May. The Team Introduction and Project videos for the three winning teams
are shown during this online conference. The first video shown is for 3rd place which
has a cash award of $500. The second video shown is for second place which has a
cash award of $1000. The final video shown is for first place which has a cash award
of $1500. All awards are divided equally among the participating team members. In
addition to the cash awards, winners receive an award certificate and are announced
on the Simio website, newsletter, and at the Simio Users Meeting at the Winter
Simulation Conference. The winning presentations are permanently posted on the
Simio website for general viewing.