CEAT Student Wins Top Prize at Regional Competition
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
STILLWATER, Okla. – Bailey Whitman, master’s student in industrial engineering and management (IEM), placed first in the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) South Central Regional Student Conference Competition at Texas A&M University on March 3. She will compete in the national competition in Orlando on May 19-22.
Whitman developed a mathematical model to determine an optimal inventory mix for a regional manufacturer. Her work reduced the number of stock bar types by 33 percent, yield loss from 12 percent to 6 percent, and the number of die changes. It also allows the company to make additional sales. All these changes have the potential of generating new revenues and cutting expenditures for a total value of $427,800 annually.
“IEM students have placed in the top three in the regional competition in seven of the past nine years,” said Sunderesh Heragu, Regents professor in IEM and Humphreys Chair. “At the national level, IEM students have won the top prizes in three of the nine years. The work done by IEM students such as [Whitman] help the bottom line of for-profit and non-profit organizations alike. They help companies be more productive, efficient, and effective.”
After completing her master’s program, Whitman plans to pursue her doctoral studies in humanitarian logistics. Whitman has been engaged in research since her first year as a freshman research scholar and is interested in applying operations research models for the betterment of society. In this case, her efforts will help a regional company save or earn almost $0.5 million each year.
The IISE, founded in 1948, helps its members improve complex organizations around the world and across industries. IISE is the world's largest professional society dedicated solely to the support of the profession and is an international, nonprofit association that provides leadership for the application, education, training, research, and development of industrial and systems engineering.
The South Central region includes Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas with student chapters at 16 colleges and universities and six professional chapters.
RELEASE CONTACT: Kylie Fanning |CEAT Marketing|405-744-2745|kyliecf@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University is a modern land-grant university that prepares students for success. OSU has more than 35,000 students across its five-campus system and more than 24,000 on its combined Stillwater and Tulsa campuses, with students from all 50 states and around 120 nations. Established in 1890, Oklahoma State has graduated more than 240,000 students who have been serving the state of Oklahoma, the nation and the world.
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