LG CNS (064400) said on the 20th that it had wrapped up the Optimization Grand Challenge 2026, the only mathematical optimization competition of its kind in South Korea, and held an awards ceremony. Mathematical optimization is a technology that weighs a vast number of possible cases within given resources and constraints to find the most efficient answer, and it is regarded as a core foundational technology underpinning next-generation industries such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing and robotics. LG CNS has held the competition annually since 2024 with the Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers to broaden the field's base.
This year's contest grew in scale. Entrants came from 55 countries, including the United States, Britain, China, Japan, Germany and India. The number of competing teams rose about 2.8-fold to 958 from 343 a year earlier, while participants more than doubled to 1,448 from 676.
Working professionals competed from overseas universities including Carnegie Mellon University, Imperial College London, Stanford University and the University of Tokyo; domestic universities including Seoul National University, KAIST and POSTECH; and companies at home and abroad including Accenture, IBM, Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor.
The task was "block placement optimization" at a shipyard. Ultra-large vessels cannot be built in one piece, so hundreds of "blocks" — massive structural pieces each the size of a building — are fabricated separately and then joined together. Teams had to build algorithms that decide where, in which orientation and when to place these blocks within a limited yard, saving as much space as possible while meeting delivery deadlines. Each block differs in size and shape, and sequencing constraints mean one process cannot begin until the previous one is finished, making the problem a tough challenge even at shipyards. For judging, a scoring system calculated points immediately after each team submitted an algorithm and posted the results on a real-time leaderboard.
The grand prize went to a team from Japan. LG CNS awarded a total of 200 million won ($144,000) in prize money to 20 teams, including the grand prize winner. Depending on their ranking, participants also receive either a hiring-track internship opportunity or an exemption from the document screening stage when applying for a job.
Park Sang-kyun, executive vice president and head of LG CNS's Entrue division, said, "Drawing the highest efficiency out of limited resources is extremely complex and difficult, but it can be solved with mathematical optimization." He added, "We will continue to grow the competition and expand the horizons of optimization technology together with talent from around the world."
LG CNS has used mathematical optimization to solve some 200 business tasks across industries including shipbuilding, defense, steel, logistics, transportation, manufacturing, process operations, finance, telecommunications, ground transport and aviation. More recently, it has improved clients' operational efficiency through work such as optimizing material stacking and crane operation schedules for a steelmaker, optimizing the movement paths and charging of airport guidance, patrol and self-service check-in robots, and optimizing painting work plans for a shipbuilder. Its optimization consulting unit, which handles this business, has about 50 experts with master's and doctoral degrees, the largest such team in the country.
