The WMU chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers [IIE] won several awards last month at the 2007 IIE Region IV Conference held at Ohio State University, in Columbus, OH.
IME professors and IIE advisors Dr. Steven Butt, current IIE Region IV vice president, and Dr. Tycho Fredericks, current IIE Region IV assistant vice president for student development, accompanied 19 WMU students to the event.
Four WMU students won first and third place honors for two papers presented in the technical paper contest.
Seniors John Knapp, Michael Kruse, and Lawrence Pitcher took the top prize for a paper based on their senior design project. "Analysis of Forecasted Capacity Utilization Through a Simulated Environment of an Outpatient Pharmacy."
The paper explores a Southwestern Michigan hospital's outpatient pharmacy and uses work design and a simulated environment to develop models, analyses, and recommendations to improve the workflow and customer wait time.
To complete the project, the students used several exploratory tools to uncover the items that were adversely affecting productivity, efficiency, and customer wait time. The seniors will compete on May 20, 2007, at the national conference in Nashville.
Attending 2007 IIE Region IV Conference, left to right, front row: Benjamin Smith, Ella Lambrix, Alisha Hankins, Aarti Valsadia, and Krisana Gutierrez; second row: John Knapp, Robert Cookingham, Ashley Bazzana, Larry Pitcher, Dr. Steven Butt, Melanie Zaleski, Shannon Bowerson, and Michael Kruse; third row: Dimas Insani, Anthony Moguel, Matthew Pridgeon, Dr. Tycho Fredericks, Bryan Dopkins, Eric Drzewicki, and Jason Saksewski.
Senior Jason R. Saksewski won third place with “Process Design and Improvement: Primary and Finish Broaching Operations,” a paper based on his experiences as an intern.
The WMU group also won awards for having more students in attendance than any other travelling chapter and for travelling farther than any other chapter. “We are very excited about how the conference turned out,” said Shannon Bowerson, president of WMU IIE chapter.
Winning awards in the technical paper contest at the 2007 IIE conference are (left to right) Larry Pitcher, John Knapp, and Michael Kruse, who won first place and the right to compete at the national conference in Nashville in May, and Jason Saksewski, who won third.
Other IIE Region IV universities include Dayton University, Kettering University, Ohio University, Purdue University, University of Louisville, University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Michigan – Dearborn, University of Toledo, Wayne State University, Wright State University, and Youngstown State University.
This year’s regional conference, with its “Think Global” theme, included social networking, team-building events, a panel discussion on post-graduation opportunities, and several prominent speakers including Dr. Deborah J. Nightingale (MIT – Lean Aerospace Initiative), Dr. Scott Sink (VP, MTS Corp.), Dr. Seth Bonder (CEO, VRI), and Ms. Darlene Martin (GM, GE-Aviation) .
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