06-09-2025
When Matthew Lanham, clinical associate professor of management, launched the Future Edelman Contest in 2022, he meant to create an innovative form of experiential learning that would inspire Master of Business Analytics and Information Management (MSBAIM) students to be competitive leaders within the most prestigious association for business analysts.
In its three years, the contest has become one of the Daniels School’s most transformative experiences for graduate students. Inspired by the prestigious Franz Edelman Award, the competition tasks MSBAIM students with building AI-powered solutions that deliver measurable results — and prepare them to lead analytics innovation in any industry.
Future Edelman projects balance technical excellence with real-world accessibility, emphasizing business impact and ethical AI use. Each year, student teams compete using the “E-del-man” rubric — Empirical, Delivery, Layman and Impact — which sets a clear standard for judging analytics work.
In its early years, projects focused on retail and logistics optimization, with teams producing solutions like a retail inventory model projected to save $6M+ annually. These foundational efforts cemented the competition’s emphasis on turning data science into practical business value.
By 2025, projects have grown in complexity, scale, and scope. This year’s winning solution used stochastic linear programming to reduce truck trips by 750 annually and improve agricultural shipment efficiency by 50%. Other teams automated trailer fleet operations with machine learning and applied generative AI to revolutionize B2B sales pipelines using LLMs and synthetic data. Watch the winning team's video:
Future Edelman has also become a developmental springboard. In 2025, mentorship has expanded across faculty and industry partners, while projects are increasingly designed for cross-sector application—from agriculture to enterprise SaaS. Additionally, the close partnership with INFORMS has led Purdue to be one of a few universities whose graduate students earn their aCAP certification as part of completing the program.
The result? Students graduate with more than a degree — they leave Purdue with proven, scalable solutions, presentation-ready case studies, and a mindset built for real-world analytics leadership.
As Lanham noted in the program’s early days, “I want to see one of our alumni be a real Edelman one day.” Today’s students are well on their way.
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