Student Paper Competition

CALL FOR PAPERS - PVP 2026 - RUDY SCAVUZZO STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION

Engineering and Physical Sciences Students
Win Prizes in the Student Paper Competition

The PVP Division is pleased to announce the 2026 ASME Pressure Vessels & Piping Conference, which will be held at the Hilton Anaheim in Anaheim, California, USA, from July 19 to 24, 2026. The PVP Conference is the ideal platform to keep up with new technologies, network and interact with experts, practitioners, and peers in the Pressure Vessels & Piping area. The PVP Conference is a recognized international forum with participants from more than 40 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, the Americas and the Oceania islands.

The Senate of Past Chairs of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' (ASME) Pressure Vessels & Piping Division (PVPD) will sponsor the Rudy Scavuzzo Student Paper Competition at PVP 2026. Technical papers, authored by graduate and undergraduate students, are invited in all areas relevant to the activities of the PVPD Technical Committees. Judging and awards will be divided into Ph.D. and BS/MS Levels. Papers that are part of the Competition will be presented as part of the regular Technical Sessions at the Conference. The Rudy Scavuzzo Student Paper Competition fosters the interaction and networking between future engineers and practicing and experienced engineers in their areas of interest and practice. The PVPD Technical Topics include, but are not limited to:

GENERAL TOPICS

• New! Advanced Energy
• Codes & Standards
• Computer Technology & Bolted Joints
• Design & Analysis
• Fluid Structure Interaction
• High Pressure Technology
• Materials & Fabrication
• Non-Destructive Examination
• Operations, Applications & Components
• Seismic Engineering

Also, a Symposium on AI Applications for Pressure Vessels and Piping will be organized for the conference. All papers that are related to AI from the above topics will be collected into sessions and presented during this Symposium.

RULES, PROCEDURES AND AWARDS

1. Eligibility
1.1. Students registered at an accredited college or university, either as graduate or undergraduate students, are eligible to submit papers. While co-authorship with other students and faculty advisers is permitted, a student lead author must be identified for communication and presentation purposes. Not more than one student lead author and two co-authors (for a total of three authors, including faculty advisor(s)), are permitted to appear on the abstract, draft and final papers, and on the presentation materials.

2. Submission requirements and selection of awards

2.1. An abstract (200 words minimum) must be prepared by the student lead author. Technical paper abstracts must be submitted electronically through the website for consideration under a suitable PVPD Technical Committee track. Please visit the website for additional information.

2.2. Upon abstract submission, each student lead author must notify the PVPD Student Paper Competition Coordinator, Hakim A. Bouzid, by email at hakim.bouzid@etsmtl.ca. In the email, the student lead author must be identified as a Ph.D., MS or BS student. A student lead author of a paper in the Ph.D. category must provide verification that they were a registered student in an accredited Ph.D. program in their graduate studies within six months of the acceptance of the final paper for the Competition. A student lead author of a paper in the BS/MS category must provide verification that they were a registered student in an accredited BS or MS program in their undergraduate or graduate studies within six months of the acceptance of the final paper for the Competition. Papers must reflect work performed during the course of their undergraduate or graduate studies. Upon acceptance of the abstract, a draft paper, which will be reviewed in accordance with ASME peer review procedures, must be submitted. Comments from the reviewers will be forwarded to the lead author.

2.3. Draft papers that meet the acceptance criteria will be invited for final paper submission. The final paper must be written in accordance with the ASME Publication Guidelines, and all reviewers' comments must be resolved.

2.4. Final papers must be submitted as per the Competition dates listed below. Accepted papers by all student authors will remain part of the regular Conference sessions and will be published in the Conference proceedings. Only accepted final papers will be considered for participation in the Rudy Scavuzzo Student Paper Competition.

2.5. Dates for the Competition are listed below. Abstracts, draft and final papers, or video presentations that are not submitted on or before the deadlines listed below, will result in the paper being removed from the Competition. Note that deadlines for the Student Paper Competition may deviate from the publication schedule for regular paper submissions.

2.6. On or about March 2, 2026, the Senate Review Committee will select and announce from the draft papers submitted by identified student lead authors a total aggregate of 16 papers as participants for the Rudy Scavuzzo Student Paper Competition from the two separate categories — 8 at the Ph.D. level and 8 at the BS/MS level. Draft papers by student lead authors will be evaluated using multiple criteria based on written technical content.

2.7. Selected Competition participants must prepare and record a video presentation for viewing by the Senate Review Committee. Guidance on recording a video presentation will be made available to selected Competition participants in due time. The video presentations by the 16 student lead authors selected for the Competition will be judged using multiple criteria based on technical content and presentation effectiveness. The Senate Review Committee will bestow awards, at their discretion, in each category (Ph.D. and BS/MS), to one Outstanding Student Author, one First Runner-Up Student Author, and one Second Runner-Up Student Author. Awards will be bestowed for not more than one paper in each category (Ph.D. and BS/MS) from any one participating academic institution. Likewise, a lead author may only receive an award for one individual paper.

2.8. Competition participants who participated in the Competition at a previous PVP Conference may only be re-selected as participants in a different category, i.e., BS/MS to Ph.D.

3. Conference Information for all student authors

3.1. Access to the electronic Conference Proceedings will be provided to all student lead authors and student co-authors registered for and attending the Conference. All student authors must register for the Conference and are invited to attend the Conference-Wide Reception on Monday, July 20, 2026, and the PVP Honors and Awards Assembly on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, where the Competition winners will be announced and celebrated with their awards.

3.2. All student lead authors and student co-authors must make their own arrangements for travel and hotel accommodations. All student lead authors and student co-authors who are not part of the 16 participants in the Rudy Scavuzzo Student Paper Competition are responsible for their expenses to attend the Conference, i.e., monetary allowances to cover travel and other related expenses will NOT be provided.

4. Conference information for Competition participants

4.1. Each of the 16 student lead authors selected for the Competition MUST also present their paper at the Conference to be eligible for the awards, Competition prizes and certificates. These 16 student lead authors are encouraged to participate in a poster display during the Conference-Wide Reception on Monday of the PVP Conference. The poster display is not a judged portion of the Competition; rather, it is a well-received addition to the Conference-Wide Reception and provides the student authors an opportunity to meet and network with Conference attendees and for the students to discuss their work in an informal, social setting. Each of the 16 student lead authors selected for the Competition MUST attend the PVP Honors and Awards Assembly on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

4.2. The 16 student lead authors selected for the Competition will be eligible to be reimbursed for travel expenses up to an amount of $1,000, and will receive a complimentary student registration.

4.3. Each of the 16 student lead authors selected for the Competition will receive a PVP Certificate of Recognition, or a Special Certificate for the winning papers, i.e. Outstanding, First Runner-Up and Second Runner-Up papers. In addition, a one-year FREE membership in ASME will be available to these 16 student lead authors. Moreover, these students are invited to become PVPD Student Ambassadors. In this role, they are encouraged to present their award-winning research at their local universities and stay connected to the PVPD leadership and technical community for mentorship in technical and professional matters.

4.4. From the 16 student lead authors selected for the Competition in each category (i.e., Ph.D. and BS/MS), $2,500 will be awarded to the lead author of the Outstanding Student Paper; $1,500 will be awarded to the lead author of the First Runner-Up Student Paper, and $1,000 will be awarded to the lead author of the Second Runner-Up Student Paper.

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SCHEDULE FOR RUDY SCAVUZZO STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION

October 13, 2025 Due date for abstract submittal to the PVP Conference website, and student lead author notification to hakim.bouzid@etsmtl.ca
November 10, 2025 Notification of abstract acceptance
January 20, 2026 Draft papers are due for review and selection
March 2, 2026 Paper acceptance notification, peer review comments are returned, and Competition participants are announced
March 17, 2026 Submission of revised paper for review (if required)
March 30, 2026 Author Notification of acceptance of revised paper
April 16, 2026 Copyright Agreement Form must be submitted for each paper
April 20, 2026 Final manuscripts* are due for publication
May 6, 2026 Presentations as video recordings by student lead authors selected for the Competition are due for judging
July 22, 2026 Competition winners are announced during the PVP 2025 Honors and Awards Assembly

*All final manuscripts must be submitted in the standard ASME format for publication. All presented technical papers will be published as citable documents available post-Conference.

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