The ORBEL award, organised by ORBEL, the Belgian Operations Research society, and sponsored by OM Partners, is bestowed on the author(s) of a scientifically oriented student's thesis (with the exception of PhD theses).

The criteria for judgement are based on the efficiency and effectivity of the scientific approach applied to solve the problem under study. The author(s) should put emphasis on the application of existing methods in new areas or on the application of new solution methods for models recognised as useful for solving real-life management problems: therefore, actual collaboration with industry during the thesis elaboration will be one of the selection criteria.

• ORBEL 2012 award: Bart Gadeyne and Pieter Verhamme (UGent) for their joint thesis supervised by Birger Raa
  Optimizing maritime container operations
  

• ORBEL 2011 award: Derek Verleye (UGent) for his thesis supervised by El-Houssaine Aghezzaf
  Modellering en optimalisatie van waterproductie en ?verdeling bij de Vlaamse Maatschappij voor Watervoorziening (VMW) -- link to full text
  (Modelling and optimization of water of production and distribution of drinking water at VMW (Flemish Agency for Water Supply))

• ORBEL 2010 award: Thijs Dewilde (KULeuven) for his thesis supervised by Frits Spieksma
  Het Profit-based Latency Probleem
  (The Profit-based Latency Problem)

• ORBEL 2009 award: Arnaud Vandaele (FPMs and EPFL) for his thesis supervised by D. Tuyttens (FPMs) and M. Bierlaire, M. Salani and I. Vacca (EPFL)
  Measures of congestion in container terminals

• ORBEL 2008 award: Nicolas Gillis (UCL) for his thesis supervised by F. Glineur
  Approximation et sous-approximation de matrices par factorisation positive : algorithmes, complexité et applications
  (Matrix approximation and underapproximation by nonnegative factorization: algorithms, complexity and applications)

• ORBEL 2007 award: Dieter Claeys (UG) for his thesis supervised by H. Bruneel
  A discrete-time Queueing Model with Batch Service

• ORBEL 2006 award: Joke Devriese (VUB) for her thesis supervised by F. Plastria
  Brandweerlocatiemodellen en toepassingen op België
  (Fire station location models and applications to Belgium)

• ORBEL 2005 award: Evy Hellinckx (KUL) for her thesis supervised by F. Spieksma
  Customer relationship management: de optimalisatie van de planning van campagnes
  (Customer relationship management: optimization of campaign planning)

• ORBEL 2004 award: François Warichet (UCL) for his thesis supervised by L. Wolsey
  Résolution d'un problème de portefeuille formulé en un programme quadratique mixte
  (Solution of a portfolio problem formulated as a mixed-integer quadratic program)

• ORBEL 2003 award: Toon Westra (Gent) for his thesis supervised by R. De Wulf and E. Ducheyne
  Integratie van genetisch algorithmes en GIS voor optimalisatie van ecologische en economische functies
  in Kirkhill Forest, Aberdeen, Schotland
  (Integration of genetic algorithms and GIS for optimization of ecological and economic functions
  in Kirkhill Forest, Aberdeen, Scotland)

• ORBEL 2002 award: Jean-François Macq (UCL) for his thesis supervised by L. Wolsey and B. Macq
  Optimisation d'un système de travail coopératif sur Internet
  (Optimization of an internet cooperative work system)

• ORBEL 2001 award: Christophe Steynen (FPMs) for his thesis supervised by M. Pirlot and Ph. Fortemps
  Classification des lésions pulmonaires sur base de cartes protéomiques
  (Classification of lung lesions based on proteomic maps)

• ORBEL 2000 award: Bert Timmers (KUL) for his thesis supervised by D. Van Oudheusden
  Pooling of repairable spare parts between airliners

• ORBEL 1999 award: Philippe Hauchamps (FPMs) for his thesis supervised by J. Teghem and Ph. Fortemps
  Optimisation du planning de maintenance des unités de production d'électricité du réseau belge
  (Optimization of the maintenance planning for electricity power plants on the Belgian network)

1. This award, organised by ORBEL, the Belgian OR-society (SOGESCI-B.V.W.B.), is bestowed on the author(s) of a scientifically oriented student's thesis with the exception of PhD theses. The criteria for judgement are based on the efficiency and effectivity of the scientific approach applied to solve the problem under study. The author(s) should put emphasis on the application of existing methods in new areas or on the application of new solution methods for models recognised as useful for solving real-life management problems. One of the criteria will be, therefore, the actual collaboration with industry during the thesis elaboration.
2. The award is sponsored by OM Partners n.v., a software and consulting company specialised in the development and implementation of supply chain planning solutions. The award is named: ORBEL Award (with indication of the current year in which it is delivered), Sponsored by OM Partners
3. The amount of the award will be fixed every year in agreement with OM Partners n.v. The amount is set to 1000 EUR for the academic year 2011-2012.
4. The thesis shall be written either in Dutch, French or English. Its text should preferably not be longer than 50 pages. It must be submitted in 3 copies or preferably by e-mail in PDF-format to the place indicated on the invitation poster on the ORBEL site before October 31 of the current year. This date can be revised if necessary.
5. The candidates in the short-list established as in 9) will be invited by the jury to give a half-hour presentation about their work. This presentation is a prerequisite for obtaining the award.
6. The authors should have the Belgian nationality or should have followed their studies completely or partially at a Belgian institute.
7. Members of the Administration Board of ORBEL (SOGESCI-B.V.W.B.) are not allowed to participate.
8. The jury is set up by the ORBEL (SOGESCI-B.V.W.B.) and consists of five members. The Board approves the selection of the chairman. The jury members (academics and industrials) come on an equal basis from both language communities (chairman not included). In addition, none of the jury members shall be connected in any way with the candidate, either academically or socially.
9. The jury prepares a short-list of candidates invited to make a presentation to the jury. In case several candidates have the same promoter, the latter will be consulted prior to the establishment of the short-list. The candidates who are not present at the time indicated by the jury in the invitation letter for presenting their work are eliminated without further deliberation.
10. The jury members take part in the deliberations organised by the chairman. Decisions made by the jury are only valid if at least two thirds (chairman included) of the members participate in the deliberation. The award is presented to the candidate achieving a clear majority of the votes. Abstention votes are not allowed.
11. The jury members convene on the invitation of the chairman for the presentations of the short-listed candidates. The jury has the right not to award the prize or to divide it among several authors. The minutes of the meeting, signed by all jury members present are put forward to the president of ORBEL (SOGESCI-B.V.W.B.) These minutes are made available to OM Partners.
12. The results of the award are made public during the next ORBEL-conference, during which the award winner will present his work. OM Partners will publish the results of the award deliberation in their OM Partners publications.
13. The Administration Board of ORBEL (SOGESCI-B.V.W.B) shall settle all disputes with regard to this set of articles.
    (as accepted by the ORBEL Administration Board in Brussels on March 11, 2011)