Pittsburgh-area college students keen on mastering decision-making techniques and harnessing the power of generative AI to tackle complex challenges are invited to the T.L. Saaty Decision Making for Leaders Hackathon. This third annual competition on March 22- 24, 2023 is hosted by Pitt’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business in collaboration with the Creative Decisions Foundation.
Undergraduate and graduate students from any university in the Pittsburgh area are eligible to participate. The winning team will receive a $2,000 award, second place gets $700 and third place will receive $300. All participants will earn an Analytic Hierarchy Decision Making Using Python entry-level certification. If students do not have a team, they can register independently, and teams will be created by event organizers.
In its third year, the competition honors the legacy of the late Thomas L. Saaty, a Distinguished University Professor at Pitt known worldwide as the creator of the decision-making methods the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Analytic Network Process (ANP) to solve complex problems.
Decision-Making Method Touches All Industries
“This decision-making tool is pivotal in various professions,” states Dr. Elena Rokou, chief research officer for Creative Decisions Foundation and the hackathon organizer. “Currently, we’re integrating generative AI with Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) applications to refine strategies and enhance process efficiency. In engineering, AHP aids in creating optimized system designs. In healthcare, it supports complex decisions, from fair organ allocation to comprehensive patient care and treatment planning. The business and marketing realms apply AHP to understand market dynamics and consumer preferences better, demonstrating AHP’s role in fostering innovation and efficiency across different fields.”
The hackathon kicks off with intensive AHP training led by Dr. Rokou, equipping students with the necessary tools to tackle real-world challenges. The learning journey continues into the second day, setting the stage for participants to apply their skills in a team setting. The challenge: to address a complex business issue provided and presented during the first day by Duquesne Light Company, using a blend of hard data and personal insights. This practical exercise will be evaluated by a distinguished panel of judges from the global community of decision-making and optimization experts, making for a truly enriching experience.
Feedback from Past Participants
Bishal Dasqupta (MBA ’24) participated in last year’s hackathon. He has experience working as a consultant and understands the value of learning these methods and says, “with this hackathon experience, you learn how to transform a business problem into an analytical problem and then how you solve that problem.”
“The Saaty Hackathon has been incredibly rewarding, providing me with practical problem-solving experience, teamwork skills, and decision-making strategies like AHP,” says Lei Xue (MS ’23), a member of last year’s winning team. “These experiences have improved my critical thinking skills and enriched my overall growth both personally and professionally.”
To learn more and register, students can visit https://business.pitt.edu/t-l-saaty-decision-making-hackathon/. Registration deadline is March 20.
