This year my paper Gray-Box Optimization using the Parameter-less Population Pyramid was nominated for Best Paper in the Genetic Algorithms (GA) track of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO). As usual, all of my code and data is available on github. In order to be nominated, a paper must first be accepted by the track. This year, of the 45 submitted papers, the GA track only accepted 17. During the peer review process, any of the reviewers can suggest a paper for nomination. These suggested papers are then reviewed by the track chairs, and 3 are selected for nomination. This makes my second nomination for best paper, the first being my Parameter-less Population Pyramid paper which won last year’s award.

The final decision for who wins best paper is made by conference attendees. All nominated papers are presented back-to-back, with audience members voting for who they believe had the best work. This year I faced stiff competition from fellow BEACON members Liang and Miikkulainen at UT-Austin as well as from Whitley at Colorado State. I’m sad to say I wasn’t chosen by the audience this year. Congratulations Dr. Whitley for his work Mk Landscapes, NK Landscapes, MAX-kSAT: A Proof that the Only Challenging Problems are Deceptive.