The American Society for Quality Silicon Valley Section is sponsoring the Flaig Prize competition for best paper on a Quality related subject by a student.

Prizes: First place $1000, Second place $500, and Third place $250

Purpose: To encourage future leaders in business, engineering and science to examine the fundamental role Quality plays in advancing society in many arenas, including management, science, engineering, statistics, and in products and processes. 

Eligibility: Any enrolled Graduate or Undergraduate student is eligible

Evaluation: Members of the ASQ Executive Committee will evaluate all papers. Winners are required to make a one hour presentation at one of the monthly ASQ dinner meetings held at the Biltmore Hotel in Santa Clara on the third Wednesday of the month between May and November (see www.asq-silicon-valley.org).

Pre-Approval: The paper topic must be pre-approved by Dr. John J. Flaig representing the American Society for Quality (www.asq.org). A thesis or project that has been or will be submitted for a class is acceptable for submission.

Submission Timeline: One page Outline due by March 1, Final Papers due by May 1. Draft and Final Papers must be emailed to Dr. Flaig at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Paper Format: 15 to 20 pages, double spaced, 1" margins, 12 point, Times font. Journal article quality standards are expected (i.e., title, author, abstract, key words, references).

Awards Dinner: All entrants will be invited to attend the Quality Awards presentation dinner scheduled for the third Wednesday in June.  The dinner is free to all winners.

Suggested Topic Areas:

Sciences: Design of Experiments, Statistical Process Control, Measurement Systems Analysis, Optimization, Operations Research, Robust Design, Response Surface Design, Software Quality

Engineering: Reliability, Six Sigma, Failure Analysis, FMEA, Fault Tree Analysis, Process Capability Analysis, Calibration, HALT, HASS, Root Cause Analysis, Kaizen, Metrology, Lean Manufacturing

Business: Outsourcing, Metrics, Supplier Management, ISO Standards, Supply Chain, Project Management, Customer Satisfaction, Process Mapping, Auditing, Team Management, Leadership, Strategy, Deming