Showcase Event Highlights Student Solutions for Corporate Partners

The Poole College of Management hosted its 11th annual Leadership and Innovation Showcase on Thursday, April 25th, where 23 student teams showcased their supply chain solutions for companies including UPS, Siemens, and Lenovo.

Poole College students attend the event each spring to present innovative solutions for business and social challenges across a variety of disciplines, including entrepreneurship, operations, and supply chain management. 45 teams in total attended this year’s event.

“This showcase is one of the most visible ways to show how Poole College of Management students can think and do,” said Frank Buckless, interim dean, Matthew and Ruth Keen Faculty Fellow and professor of accounting. “It allows our students to develop their critical and innovative problem-solving abilities.”

Companies that partnered with supply chain student teams included  Duke Energy, American Red Cross, Lenovo, Advance Auto Parts,  Siemens, MetLife, Biogen, Merck, UPS, Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS), Restaurant Supply Chain Solutions (RSCS), Altria, and VF Corporation.

Teams competed for scholarship prizes ranging between $1,000 to $5,000. Judges selected 1st and 2nd place winners for graduate and undergraduate student divisions, and awarded one graduate supply chain team (pictured right) 2nd place for their development of an interactive supplier dashboard that will enable better short and long term decision-making for corporate partner Altria. Team members included Amanda Lee, Nicole Hensley, Greg Stryker, Prerana Rao, Dilip Raju, Ashish Burugpalli, Adenike Adeyemi. Tom Donahue was the project advisor.

For a complete overview of all the supply chain projects presented at the showcase, click here.

All winning team names and photos may be found on the Poole College of Management Facebook page.

Portions of this article were previously published in the article, “Poole Showcase Celebrates Student Innovation and Employer Engagement,” written by Carson Powell for Poole College of Management News, published here.