Oklahoma State University engineering students win worldwide simulation competition

Monday, February 2, 2015

Eric Gilbert, Kaitlin Kliewer, Chinnatat Methapatara and Nutthapong Kerdkwan participated in a worldwide student simulation against 130 teams. Oklahoma State Industrial Engineering and Management’s team, “Cowboys Nation,” under associate professor, Dr. Ricki Ingalls, placed first in the competition presented by Simio.

A team of four Oklahoma State University Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) students won first place in a worldwide student simulation contest hosted by Simio. Eric Gilbert, Kaitlin Kliewer, Chinnatat Methapatara and Nutthapong Kerdkwan took home top honors and were awarded $1,500 in prize money. The competition was held online in December.

“The simulation competition was a great opportunity to learn more about very valuable software packages as well as a great opportunity to make new friends,” says Gilbert.

Simios’s biannual simulation contest is open to both graduate and undergraduate student teams and awards winners with cash prizes totaling $3,000. The 2014 competition included 425 participants on 130 teams from 13 countries and 27 universities. Students were presented a problem that included investigating a new start-up business at airports that allow passengers to drop-off their car at a parking facility at the airport. In addition to free parking, they may receive rental income for their car while they are away. With given information, students had to create a strategy that would solve the given issue. Resolving the problem challenged students’ model-building skills, project management, video production and presentation skills and required creativity.

The team’s objective was to determine the best layout and make operational decisions to maximize the chance of success and produce acceptable service levels. The team had a month to do all the work, which included a presentation and simulation video, a two-page executive summary and a 25-page explanatory report.

“To find the best solution or recommendation, we ran over a million simulations testing different values for the variables we had, and I think Chinnatat said his computer was running the simulations for over a week straight,” says Kliewer.

IEM’s team, named Cowboy Nation Simulation, was led by professor Ricki Ingalls, Ph.D. who is Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Engineering Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) in the School of Industrial Engineering and Management at Oklahoma State University. The team members came together in Dr. Ingalls’ simulation class and all took part in the Industrial and Management Program. Gilbert and Kliewer are from Oklahoma and Methapatara and Kerdkwan are originally from Thailand. The students said they enjoyed working on the model and have gained a lot of experience.

“I’ve learned to use the program more and gained valuable experience,” says Kliewer. “I enjoy working with the program and this might be something I would like to do in the future.”

The competition taught students not only simulation but time management and cooperation as well. Students planned their time in order to meet the goal and presented all the important details in a 15-minute presentation. Overall experience and outcome is beneficial for both. Simio gets a chance to increase awareness and promote the company, while students improve their skill with a chance to win cash prizes.

For more information on the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at OSU, visit http://www.ceat.okstate.edu.