Quentin Witkowski, a senior in the engineering management (UEM) program, was awarded a $2000 scholarship last month for maintaining high academic standards and for having a minor in the Integrated Supply Matrix Management (ISM) program.
The scholarship, designated for ISM minors, was funded by Kellogg’s.
IME Professor Dr. David Lyth, who is the engineering representative in the ISM program, said that Kellogg’s is one of several companies that are actively involved on the advisory board of the Integrated Supply Matrix Management program. “There is a significant group of advisory board companies that support the program,” he said
Witkowski, 21, did not have to apply for the scholarship. “The award is based on academic performance, so no application was required,” Lyth said. “He [Witkowski] is an outstanding student.”
Lyth, who recommended Witkowski for the scholarship, surprised the senior with news that he had won the scholarship in an IME 4120 Industrial Systems Management class taught by Dr. Larry Mallak. “You have been awarded a scholarship, even though all you get today is a handshake,” Lyth said.
The formal award came in a ceremony at WMU’s business college on the first Friday in October.
Developed in 1989, Integrated Supply Matrix Management combines business with engineering; it leads toward a supply management career. “It’s a joint venture between the business and engineering colleges,” Lyth said. “Business students can take it as a major, and engineering students can take it as a minor.”
The ISM focus is on understanding what the supply chain is, from marketing to purchasing to production to logistics.
IME Professor Dr. David Lyth (left) with scholarship winner Quentin Witkowski, 21, a UEM senior with an ISM minor.
Engineering and technology minors take a 15-hour set of courses while business majors take that same sequence plus others, including those supporting infrastructure, like engineering graphics, manufacturing engineering, and manufacturing processes and materials. “They understand the processes involved in a supply chain,” Lyth said. “The program is directed by representatives of marketing, management, and engineering.”
Witkowski, who came to WMU from Battle Creek and who plans to graduate in December 2006, said that having an ISM minor enhances his engineering management technology degree. “It broadens your appeal to employers,” he said.
Because of his interest in integrated supply management, Witkowski is presently working with others to start a student chapter of the American Society of Engineering Management (ASEM). The first meeting was held this fall. “We’ve filed all the paperwork,” he said.
ASEM is a professional organization, founded in 1979 and “dedicated to the science and art of engineering management,” according to its website.
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