Watch webinar presentations from the 2023 Cost Challenge

At the 2025 ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop, on Tuesday, May 13, our teams will present their estimates to a panel of judges. As there is no one truly right answer to this challenge, judges will focus on the teams’ methodology, approach, and presentation skills rather than the absolute accuracy of the output. The winning team will be announced during the morning General Session on Thursday, May 15, and this year’s winners will have the option to give their presentation as a breakout session later in the day.

Teams competing in the ICEAA Cost Challenge will have the opportunity to showcase their data analytical and storytelling skills in a supportive environment that encourages taking some risks and trying new approaches! Our judges will focus on the reasonable assumptions, methodology and approach to their analysis, and the team’s ability to produce thorough, communicable estimates. Teams will send their materials in advance and then give a live presentation to our judges on Tuesday, May 13 that include:

Team composition
Planning and research
Data sources
Approaches to data gathering
Ground rules & assumptions
Normalization techniques
Analysis of any economic trends
Any uncertainty or risks associated with their estimate
Analytical models

A maximum of six teams will be comprised of 3-5 junior estimators (5 or fewer years of experience) and one optional mentor that may provide guidance and support but not actively participate in the project. Teams can be comprised of participants from one company or a collaborative effort among two organizations. All team members will be required to attend the 2025 Professional Development & Training Workshop in Atlanta, and must be registered by May 1, 2025 or the team will be disqualified. ICEAA will award a $1,000 prize to the winning team to distribute among the participants as they choose.

Timeline:

January 29, 2025: Cost Challenge announced, team signup open

February 25, 2025: Six teams have registered to compete. If a team drops out before April 15, we will accept a new team from the wait list.

April 15, 2025: All teams must sign up by 9am (EDT) on April 15. ICEAA will distribute the challenge questions and guidelines at noon (EDT) on April 15 to the first six teams who have entered to compete, even if all six teams are registered prior to April 15. No new teams may enter after the challenge information is distributed.

May 1, 2025: All members of competing teams must be registered for the 2025 ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop by May 1. Teams who are not fully registered by May 1 will be disqualified.

May 11, 2025: Teams will email their final presentation files (MS Office formats, including PowerPoint, Excel, Adobe PDF) to ICEAA.

May 13, 2025: Teams will present their estimates live to ICEAA’s panel of judges throughout the day on May 15. Workshop attendees are welcome to observe the presentations but will not be allowed to comment or ask questions.

May 15, 2025: The winning team will be announced and awarded a $1,000 cash prize at the morning general session on Thursday, May 15 at the 2025 ICEAA Workshop.

All six spaces have been claimed by teams as of February 25, 2025. Interested teams may still apply to compete in the event that one of the teams drops out and can be replaced by April 15.

ICEAA Cost Challenge Team Entry Form 2025

Team Sponsor(s)(Required)

The team may be represented by up to two organizations.
Teams will be made up of 3-5 junior-to-mid-level analysts (<5 years of cost experience) and one optional mentor. Mentors may provide guidance and support to the team but may not directly participate in the preparation or presentation.
Team Lead/Participant 1(Required)
First Last
Team Lead/Participant 1 Email(Required)

Primary contact for the team
Team Lead/Participant 1 Job Title(Required)

Team Lead/Participant 1 Employer(Required)

Team Lead/Participant 1 years of experience(Required)
Please enter a number less than or equal to 5.
Team Lead/Participant 1 Year achieved undergraduate degree(Required)

Participant 2(Required)
First Last
Participant 2 Email(Required)

Participant 2 Job Title(Required)

Participant 2 Employer(Required)

Participant 2 years of experience(Required)
Please enter a number less than or equal to 5.
Participant 2 Year achieved undergraduate degree(Required)

Participant 3(Required)
First Last
Participant 3 Email(Required)

Participant 3 Job Title(Required)

Participant 3 Employer(Required)

Participant 3 years of experience(Required)
Please enter a number less than or equal to 5.
Participant 3 Year achieved undergraduate degree(Required)

Participant 4 (optional)
First Last
Participant 4 Email

Participant 4 Job Title

Participant 4 Employer

Participant 4 years of experience
Please enter a number less than or equal to 5.
Participant 4 Year achieved undergraduate degree

Participant 5 (optional)
First Last
Participant 5 Email

Participant 5 Job Title

Participant 5 Employer

Participant 5 years of experience
Please enter a number less than or equal to 5.
Participant 5 Year achieved undergraduate degree

Mentor (optional)
First Last
Mentor Email

Mentor Job Title

Mentor Employer

The ICEAA Cost Challenge data, questions, and criteria will be emailed to the Team Lead on April 15, 2025. It is the Team Lead's responsibility to distribute materials to the team members and serve as the team's primary contact with ICEAA.(Required)
I understand and agree

Team mentors may not actively participate in the Cost Challenge preparation or presentation, they may only provide counsel and guidance.(Required)
I understand and agree

Team members may be substituted/replaced prior to receipt of the challenge details on April 15. If any team members are unable to attend or participate after April 15, they will not be replaced. Should this reduce the team members to fewer than 3, the team will be disqualified.(Required)
I understand and agree

All team members must be registered for the 2025 ICEAA Workshop by May 1, 2025. If any team members have not registered by May 1, the team will be disqualified.(Required)
I understand and agree

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2023 Cost Challenge Presentations

The teams competing in the 2023 ICEAA Cost Challenge faced a ponderous question: how much does our cycle through life cost? How will the cost curves change from milestone to milestone, from birth to death? What risks or uncertainty need to be considered? What outliers or other unexpected elements will impact the project we call being alive, and what external societal costs or circumstantial benefits should we consider when looking at, well, everything?

Our rising estimators defined their ground rules and assumptions, the context of their estimate, and presented in current fiscal year US dollars. Items that may have been taken into consideration are government assistance, taxes, US population, life expectancy, and elements surrounding education, health, occupation, lifestyle, or other statistics. Our teams presented their solutions for a panel of judges at the 2023 ICEAA Professional Development & Training Workshop, and encore presentations from three of our teams are below: