T.L. Saaty Decision Making Hackathon

Third Annual

Thomas L. Saaty Decision Making
for Leaders Hackathon:
March 22-24, 2024

The team in first place receives $2,000, second place receives $700 and third place receives $300!

Challenge Yourself and Learn How to Solve Complex Business Problems

Are you a graduate or undergraduate student attending a Pittsburgh area university who wants to see how you can tackle the toughest decisions with confidence? Are you interested in learning how you can change the way we measure things?

Join the T.L. Saaty Decision Making for Leaders Hackathon, sponsored by Pitt’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, to learn how to solve complex practical business problems using both hard data and your personal perspective and experiences. Experience new ways to provide custom solutions that reflect the way a company operates and sees the world.

The Hackathon, honors the legacy of Thomas L. Saaty, who created the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Analytic Network Process (ANP), best known for complex decision-making. This event brings together highly regarded representatives of academia, businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations. You will learn decision-making techniques that will help you stand out by teaching how to avoid cookie-cutter solutions and easily explain your solution processes.

Business Partner

This year’s real-world business issue was presented by Duquesne Light Company (DLC) a leader in the transmission and distribution of electric energy in the Pittsburgh region and has been for more than 100 years. They have consistently ranked among the most reliable utilities in the state and part of that reliability is their commitment to upgrading their infrastructure. That includes nearly $2 billion in transmission and distribution infrastructure investments between 2023 – 2027. Their employees are dedicated to ensuring equal access to safe, resilient, reliable, and affordable energy while also enabling our region’s clean energy future.

Christine Prosser, an Operations Analytics Manager at DLC presented the business issue at the competition. Before joining DLC in 2019, Prosser worked in Analytics/Project Management/Supply Chain in the oil & gas, and steel industries.  Prosser holds an MBA with a Finance Concentration from the University of Pittsburgh and a bachelor’s in science in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University.  She lives in Mt. Lebanon, PA with her two sons, husband, cat, dog, tortoise, and fish.

Competition Format

Teams: This competition is for teams of 2-3  students. If you did not sign up as a team, you can still register, and we will help you join a team by the competition day. Students do not need any prior knowledge of the AHP/ANP methods.

First Day: In the morning, students will receive intensive training in AHP and ANP methods, while the afternoon will be split between hands-on practice with the decision-making software tools to be used the next day. Students will also meet the company representative(s) and hear about their strategic objectives and business challenges. The teams will then discuss the decision problems of the company and decide on their approach.

Second Day: After training in the morning, teams will assemble and work on structuring their ideas. They will define the decision-making problem they will solve, describe the framework, identify the decision factors, and model the problem using the appropriate decision-making methods and software tools. In the afternoon, the teams will finalize their case and prepare their presentation for the final day.

Final Day: All teams will have 15 minutes to present their case analysis and recommendations. Following each presentation, the judges will conduct a question and answer (Q&A) session for a maximum of 10 minutes and may then offer feedback. Final Judging: the top 3-5 teams will compete in the final round that afternoon with 15 minutes to present, followed by a 10-minute Q&A with the judges. The final presentations are open to public viewing and non-finalist teams are encouraged to watch and see which three teams receive prizes in the awards ceremony.

Thomas L. Saaty

A Distinguished University Professor at Pitt, the late Dr. Saaty (1926-2017) was the inventor of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) decision-making framework and the Analytic Network Process (ANP), earning him multiple international awards. Both processes are still in use today for large-scale, multi-criteria decision analysis. Dr. Saaty also wrote more than 35 books and 350 papers on mathematics and decision-making and was passionate about conflict resolution and global peace.

Established in 1996 by Thomas L. Saaty and his wife Rozann Whitaker Saaty, the Foundation promotes the cause of rational decision making. Mrs. Saaty now serves as president and is supported by a board that includes two of the Saaty sons along with educators from around the world. The Foundation, among other endeavors, sponsors training workshops and competitions like the Hackathon to increase awareness of how to make decisions using the AHP/ANP family of methods.

Recap of the Third Annual Hackathon, March 22-24, 2024

Congratulations to the students who participated and earned a valuable certification. They learned AHP modeling techniques and applied them to a real business case provided by Duquesne Light Company. The top three finishers were:

First Place: [Left to right] Pitt students Ana Reyes, Sambhavi Bhayana, and Kylie Scullion.

Saaty winners 2023

Second Place: Pitt students Hannah Ye, Bradley Wiggins, and Carnegie Mellon student Zining Chen.   

Third Place: Carnegie Mellon students Logan Starta, Saraj Dhillion, and Condredge Currie.

Prizes and Certifications: The winning team received a $2,000 award with $700 for second place and $300 for third. All participants received a Pitt Decision Making for Leaders certification.

Steering Committee: 

Rozann Saaty
Elena Rokou
Laura Oknefski
Michael Taljan
Carole Reinert

Second Hackathon: March 24-26, 2023

The winning team included Lei Xue, (MS Management Information Systems with Business Analytics), Shang Jing, (MS Civil and Environmental Engineering), and Diya Qu, (MS Management Information Systems).

Inaugural Hackathon: March 18-20, 2022

In 2022, the inaugural competition featured 15 teams composed of 2-3 Pitt students. The winning team “HR & Workforce” included Shri Krishna Kumar (MENGR ’22) and Enkhjarga Ganbaatar (MBA ‘22).

About the Judging and Panel of Judges

Presentations will be evaluated based on each team’s ability to analyze the information presented by the business partner, to provide a clear definition of the problem to be solved, to effectively use the decision-making methods, and to be creative with their proposed solutions. The creativity shown by the proposed alternatives and the feasibility of the team’s solution will be of significant importance. Paramount, of course, is how effectively the teams communicate the recommended course of action.

The judges will comprise professionals with wide-ranging backgrounds and experiences related to the business partner’s issues or the AHP/ANP decision-making methods. Judges will include members from the international AHP/ANP community of academics, practitioners, and professionals/executives working with the business partner. The panel of judges for the preliminary and final rounds will differ.

Student Testimonials

The Saaty Hackathon has been incredibly rewarding, providing me with practical problem-solving experience, teamwork skills, and decision-making strategies like AHP. These experiences have improved my critical thinking skills, enriched my overall growth both personally and professionally.

Lei Xue

MS '23

There are lots of opportunities inside and outside of the classroom, such as the Saaty Hackathon, case competition, workshops, alumni networking, real-world projects with external client, and more. Also, various resources are available for professional developments such as CMCE, EIR, and student clubs.

Chahee Park

MS '23