2017
Bob Novack Recognized by Poets & Quants for Undergrads
Congratulations to Bob Novack, associate professor of supply chain and information systems, for his selection by Poets & Quants for Undergrads as part of its 2017 Top 40 Undergraduate Professors.
Robots by John Jordan Translated to Other Languages
Robots, authored by John Jordan, Penn State Smeal College of Business Clinical Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems, explores robots from many facets. The book, published by MIT Press, has already been translated into German and is now being translated in Russian, Chinese, Italian, Korean, and Japanese. Dr. Jordan’s Alumni Career Services webinar on robots has reached over 2,500 people via Smeal’s Facebook livestream.
SC&IS Department Welcomes New Faculty
The SC&IS Department has added two new faculty:
Yue Zhang, assistant professor, holds a doctorate from Duke University, a Master’s from Hong Kong University, and a Bachelor’s from Tsinghua University.
Tariq Mughal, instructor, has held the position of visiting professor at Bucknell University. He holds two Master’s degrees from University of Utah and also a Bachelor’s from University of Utah.
Smeal Research Reveals Computer Program Helps Pick the Best Expert Forecaster
Combining the intuition of humans with the impartiality of computers could improve decision-making for organizations, eventually leading to lower costs and better profits, according to a team of researchers.
In a study, researchers said a computer program that analyzed the estimates of an agribusiness expert helped a business division at Dow AgroSciences improve the accuracy of its forecasts, leading to an increase in profits of 2 to 3 percent and a decrease in costs of 6 to 7 percent, said Saurabh Bansal, assistant professor of supply chain management in Penn State's Smeal College of Business.
The team worked with a production expert from Dow AgroSciences management to improve predictions in the company's seed corn division. Producing seed corn, which farmers eventually use as seeds to produce their own crops, can be a tricky endeavor with several factors, including variations in demand and weather, increasing the uncertainty, according to the researchers.
"Every year, the company needs to figure out how many acres of land they are going to use to produce seed corn," said Bansal. "But in this competitive industry, many varieties of the seed corn are new, and the company does not have a lot of experience in growing the new type. As a result, it does not know what the yield would be, or how many bushels of corn they will get from its fields. Yet, an estimate of the yield is necessary to optimize the resources used for growing seed corn."
First SCOR Grant Awarded to Faculty from Penn State Smeal, College of Engineering
The inaugural monetary award in the Smeal Commercialization of Research (SCOR) Grant Program demonstrates the power of research collaborations across Penn State University.
As awardees in the Penn State Fund for Innovation program, Hui Zhao, associate professor of supply chain management in the Smeal College of Business, and Soundar Kumara, Allen E. Pearce and Allen M. Pearce Professor of Industrial Engineering, will share $30,000 provided by the FFI, Smeal, and the College of Engineering. These funds will be used over the next 12 months to help with:
- The development and demonstration of a commercially viable product or offering based on their research.
- Evaluating the market potential of the proposed offering through a market viability assessment by Smeal’s Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
- Work to identify and protect related intellectual property with assistance from the Penn State Office of Technology Management.
“Smeal’s ‘proof of relevance’ activities have been an integral part of the Penn State Fund for Innovation since the beginning,” said Russell Barton, Smeal senior associate dean for research and faculty and Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems. “The SCOR program begins our support of moving Smeal faculty research to commercial success. It is particularly exciting that our inaugural project is collaborative with the College of Engineering.”
Marines benefit from partnership with Penn State Smeal, World Campus
Two Marine Corps supply officers spent the past 12 months completing two years’ worth of coursework thanks to a partnership between the Marines and Penn State aimed at training military leaders in supply chain management.
“It’s important for professional development and diversification of knowledge in our functional area,” said Maj. Adam Chu, who is now stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. “If the Marine Corps didn’t participate in programs like this, we’d be operating in a vacuum. We’re here to learn from best business practices in industry.”
Chu and Lt. Col. Matt Hakola will graduate on Saturday, Aug. 12, with a master of professional studies in supply chain management after completing their degrees through a special program between the Marine Corps, Penn State World Campus and the Smeal College of Business. The officers will be among more than 900 World Campus students who will graduate during the University’s summer commencement.
Preciado brings lessons learned during fellowship to new role as Penn State Smeal associate dean of undergraduate education
When Felisa Preciado started the 2016-17 academic year as a Penn State Administrative Fellow, she thought she would apply what she learned to her role as a clinical associate professor of supply chain management.
When Preciado finished the 2016-17 academic year, she was transitioning into her new role as associate dean of undergraduate education for the Penn State Smeal College of Business. She said many decisions she has made early in her tenure stem from knowledge she gained during her fellowship.
Burlingame, Calderaro earn top MIT Supply Chain Excellence Awards
Karen Burlingame and Alexandra Calderaro, both graduating seniors in the Penn State Smeal College of Business Supply Chain and Information Systems (SC&IS) major, have earned first place in the Supply Chain Excellence Award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Nick Artman, Lauren Fellin, and Sarah Miller, all graduating seniors from Smeal’s supply chain program, were runners-up.
The MIT Supply Chain Excellence Award is granted to an outstanding graduating senior in supply chain at Penn State as a result of a partnership initiated between the two institutions in 2013. The award grants a tuition scholarship for the student’s use toward the MIT Supply Chain Management Master’s Degree Program.
SC&IS Faculty Receive Sustainability Faculty Awards
Congratulations to Dan Guide, Smeal Chaired Professor of Operations & Supply Chain Management, and Terry Harrison, Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems and Earl P. Strong Executive Education Professor in Business, on receiving Smeal Sustainability Faculty Awards. This award recognizes faculty for extraordinary achievement and service in advancing Smeal’s sustainability goals in teaching, research, and outreach. Guide’s research focuses on closed loop supply chains and reverse logistics. Harrison led the effort in the Smeal Business Building receiving LEED Gold certification, added the first non-profit executive to the advisory board, started faculty sustainability workshops, and maintained the awards program.
SC&IS Faculty Members Earn Promotions
Congratulations to Brent Moritz and Christopher Solo on receiving promotions effective July 1.
Moritz has been promoted to associate professor of supply chain management. He joined the Smeal faculty in 2010. His research interests include supply chain management, behavioral operations, operations strategy and cognitive decision processes. He has a particular focus on inventory and forecasting decisions. Moritz holds a Ph.D. in operations and management science from the University of Minnesota.
Solo has been promoted to clinical assistant professor of management information systems. Prior to joining the Smeal faculty in 2016, he served more than 21 years on active duty in the U.S. Air Force, where he held leadership positions in the intelligence, acquisition program management, and operations research analyst career fields. During that time, Solo served on the faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy. He taught undergraduate courses covering probability and statistics, optimization, decision analysis, queueing theory, and simulation. Solo holds a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and operations research from Penn State.
Russell Barton Named 2017 Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Fellow
Congratulations to Russell Baron, senior associate dean of Smeal College of Business and distinguished professor of supply chain and information systems, on being named a 2017 IISE Fellow. Barton was a member of the Penn State Industrial and Manufacturing faculty for 11 years before moving on to Smeal. He continues to hold a courtesy faculty appointment in the Marcus department. The Fellow Award is the highest classification of membership in IISE and recipients are chosen by the organization’s Fellows Committee. The award recognizes distinguished leaders in the profession that have given significant, nationally-recognized contributions both to mankind and the field of industrial engineering.
Penn State Smeal Names 2017 Sustainability Research Grant Recipients
The Penn State Smeal College of Business recently awarded a combined $10,000 to Jason Acimovic, assistant professor of supply chain management, and Razvan Lungeanu, assistant professor of management and organization, as the 2017 Smeal Sustainability Research Grant recipients.
Acimovic, who received $3,500, will use the money to fund his research titled, “Metrics for disaster relief pre-positioning: Theory-driven tools for non-expert practitioners.”
The project’s goal, according to Acimovic’s grant proposal, is to provide tools and analyses to the global disaster-assistance community in order to help it plan how many emergency items to store, where to store them and how they should be transported.
Penn State Smeal Students Employ Supply Chain Skills to Rise up Against Hunger
More than 100 Penn State Smeal College of Business students banded together recently to use the skills they’ve acquired from the college’s top-ranked Supply Chain and Information Systems program to help fight world hunger.
Smeal welcomed Rise Against Hunger, previously Stop Hunger Now, a non-profit organization with one million volunteers around the world. It is determined to end world hunger in our lifetime. Nearly 800 million people worldwide face hunger and acute malnutrition daily and 21,000 perish from malnutrition each day.
The goal of the Smeal event, which was held in the Business Building Atrium, was to package 20,000 meals. More than 100 students from Smeal’s Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), the Beta Gamma Sigma international business honor society, and the Sapphire Leadership Program participated.
The process of packaging meals exposed students to different elements within a simplified supply chain.
Team of PSU Smeal Students Wins 2017 Supply Chain Entrepreneurship Pitch Contest
The Penn State Smeal College of Business 2017 Supply Chain Entrepreneurship Pitch Contest drew 26 submissions from seven different Penn State campuses: Abington, Altoona, Berks, Harrisburg, Lehigh Valley, Worthington Scranton and University Park.
A team of four Smeal students — Cameron Stevens, senior finance, economics, and international politics triple major; Karen Burlingame, senior supply chain and information systems; Yue Shen, senior supply chain and information systems; and Tasha Burman, sophomore business — calling themselves Team DropLocker, was selected as the winner and awarded $6,500.
The 26 submissions were pared down to eight in a virtual elimination round of two-minute videos judged by Smeal faculty members Shawn Clark, Travis Lesser, Dave Lenze, Robert Novack and Steve Tracey to determine the top four teams to compete in the face-to-face final round.
Penn State Smeal names spring 2017 Senior Award recipients
The Penn State Smeal College of Business recognizes graduating seniors each spring with five named awards. Seniors who are graduating in the spring, summer, or fall of the same year are eligible. Recipients will be recognized at commencement and receive a Nittany Lion statuette as well as a monetary award.
Four SC&IS students were among the recipients of the following awards:
The John M. and Anne B. Stevens Academic Integrity Award: Awarded to a graduating senior or seniors who demonstrate leadership in academic integrity by serving on a college committee, task force or in a leadership role, dedicated to upholding the Smeal Honor Code and to promoting a culture of academic integrity.
- Arissa Green, Supply Chain and Information Systems
- Andrew Murphy, Supply Chain and Information Systems
Ralph H. Wherry Student Service Award: This award honors graduating seniors who excelled in service to the college, have exhibited academic achievement, and manifest the promise of a successful professional career.
- Laura Peterson, Supply Chain and Information Systems
- Zachary Weinhold, Supply Chain and Information Systems
Terry Harrison Participates in Project for National Academy of Science
Terry Harrison has completed a one-year project serving on a committee of the National Academy of Science to author the report entitled Strengthening Data Science Methods for Department of Defense Personnel and Readiness Missions. The work is now published and can be downloaded at https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23670.
SC&IS Hosts SCM Case Competition Sponsored by Dairy Farmers of America
Twenty-four students from six universities competed in a supply chain management case competition sponsored by Dairy Farmers of America and hosted by the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems on March 3rd and 4th, 2017. Participating students represented Penn State-Behrend, Cornell University, Ohio State University, University of Michigan and Truman State University in Missouri in addition to students from Smeal and Agribusiness Management. Teams of four with students from different universities analyzed a case on export logistics for processed milk powder for DFA’s new plant in Garden City, Kansas. The first place team (photo below) included David Spencer (Smeal), Tyler Mondock (PSU-Behrend), Arjun Kottana (Michigan) and Ben Roberts (Ohio State). They shared a $1000 prize provided by DFA. Smeal students Arjun Sinha and Jarrett Ritchey were on teams that finished 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. DFA is a milk marketing cooperative owned by nearly 14,000 dairy farmer members. DFA is also one of the country’s most diversified manufacturers of dairy products, food components and ingredients, and is a leader in formulating and packaging shelf-stable dairy products.
Penn State Smeal Marks 10th Anniversary of Penn State Boeing Case Competition
In 2008, The Boeing Company was seeking a way to engage students from the Penn State Smeal College of Business, informing and recruiting them at the same time. “We wanted to give them an idea of what is the business of a big production company like Boeing,” said Rosemary Potts, senior manager of employee development for the finance organization at Boeing. This week, the company’s creation, the Penn State Boeing Case Competition, celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Three teams of mixed Smeal majors earned the top prizes. The team of Kevin Krieger (supply chain and information systems major), Zach Weinhold (SC&IS), Nicholas Gallo (accounting), and Zaid Darawsheh (management information systems) placed first and won $1,000. The team of Cara Ulizio (SC&IS) Matthew Goddard (SC&IS), Mackenzie Hornibrook (SC&IS), and Jazzy Song (accounting) earned $600 for its second-place finish. The team of Raza Asghar (finance), Stephanie Mock(SC&IS), Christina Li (finance), and Reed Callan (SC&IS) placed third and earned $400.
SC&IS Hosts SCM Case Competition Sponsored by Dairy Farmers of America
Twenty-four students from six universities competed in a supply chain management case competition sponsored by Dairy Farmers of America and hosted by the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems on March 3rd and 4th, 2017. Participating students represented Penn State-Behrend, Cornell University, Ohio State University, University of Michigan and Truman State University in Missouri in addition to students from Smeal and Agribusiness Management. Teams of four with students from different universities analyzed a case on export logistics for processed milk powder for DFA’s new plant in Garden City, Kansas. The first place team (photo below) included David Spencer (Smeal), Tyler Mondock (PSU-Behrend), Arjun Kottana (Michigan) and Ben Roberts (Ohio State). They shared a $1000 prize provided by DFA. Smeal students Arjun Sinha and Jarrett Ritchey were on teams that finished 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. DFA is a milk marketing cooperative owned by nearly 14,000 dairy farmer members. DFA is also one of the country’s most diversified manufacturers of dairy products, food components and ingredients, and is a leader in formulating and packaging shelf-stable dairy products.
Penn State Smeal Marks 10th Anniversary of Penn State Boeing Case Competition
In 2008, The Boeing Company was seeking a way to engage students from the Penn State Smeal College of Business, informing and recruiting them at the same time. “We wanted to give them an idea of what is the business of a big production company like Boeing,” said Rosemary Potts, senior manager of employee development for the finance organization at Boeing. This week, the company’s creation, the Penn State Boeing Case Competition, celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Three teams of mixed Smeal majors earned the top prizes. The team of Kevin Krieger (supply chain and information systems major), Zach Weinhold (SC&IS), Nicholas Gallo (accounting), and Zaid Darawsheh (management information systems) placed first and won $1,000. The team of Cara Ulizio (SC&IS) Matthew Goddard (SC&IS), Mackenzie Hornibrook (SC&IS), and Jazzy Song (accounting) earned $600 for its second-place finish. The team of Raza Asghar (finance), Stephanie Mock(SC&IS), Christina Li (finance), and Reed Callan (SC&IS) placed third and earned $400.
Penn State Smeal’s Russell Barton named Distinguished Professor
Russell Barton, Penn State Smeal College of Business senior associate dean for research and faculty, has been named Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems.
Barton, who holds a joint appointment as professor of industrial engineering in the Penn State College of Engineering, joined the Smeal faculty in 2002 after 11 years in Penn State’s Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. He is beginning his fifth year as senior associate dean at Smeal.
He is responsible for the general academic and research strategies of the college as well as strategies associated with international collaborative relationships. He oversees the Ph.D. program, research funding and budgets, faculty development, all academic departments and research centers, and the office of international business. He chairs the executive committee, which is composed of department heads of all academic units in the college.
Terry Harrison Receives Distinguished Service Award
Congratulations to Terry Harrison on receiving the INFORMS Volunteer Distinguished Service Award. The award was presented at the 2016 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. Harrison has several service roles for INFORMS. He currently serves as Chair of the committee creating INFORMS’ first analytics body of knowledge, is a member of the UPS Prize Committee, and is a member of the Daniel H. Wagner Prize Committee. He is a board member of the INFORMS Section on Practice and serves as a member of the program committee that is organizing the INFORMS first meeting for the Directors of Analytics Program. This meeting will occur in April 2017.
Russell Barton Receives Distinguished Service Award
Congratulations to Russell Barton on receiving the Distinguished Service Award from the Quality, Statistics and Reliability (QSR) section of INFORMS for his outstanding contributions and valued service to the QSR community. The QSR Council will present the award at the 2016 QSR business meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. Beginning in January 2017, Dr. Barton will serve as INFORMS Vice President – Sections/Societies. He is completing his service as Simulation Society representative on the INFORMS Subdivisions Council and as Chair of the Advisory Board for the Quality Statistics and Reliability section.
Penn State Smeal names Alptekinoglu Research Director of Center for Supply Chain Research™
The Penn State Smeal College of Business has named Aydin Alptekinoglu the research director of its Center for Supply Chain Research (CSCR). Alptekinoglu is an associate professor of supply chain management and the Robert G. Schwartz University Endowed Fellow in Business Administration.
"We are quite pleased to have someone of Aydin's caliber on our team,” said Steve Tracey, CSCR executive director. “He's already brought some refreshing ideas and initiatives that we know will add value over the coming years. We fully expect that our internal and external stakeholders will be pleased with the improvements now that he's on board."
Penn State Smeal’s Jordan authors book on robots
“Robots,” a newly released book by John Jordan, Penn State Smeal College of Business Clinical Professor of Supply Chain and Information Systems, explores the many facets of robots, from prehistory, to treatment in popular media, to their place in technology and society.
As Jordan details in his book, robots aren’t just the technical, task-driven machines you see on automobile assembly lines. They come in many forms and touch nearly every segment of society in one way or another.
In “Robots,” Jordan views robots and robotics from multiple perspectives, giving the reader a 360-degree view of the topic.
Jordan joined Smeal in 2005. Prior to that he was a principal in the Office of the CTO at Capgemini and principal in the Center for Business Innovation at EY. He holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and history from Duke, a master’s in ethics from Yale, and a Ph.D. from Michigan.
Penn State Smeal senior wins L.L. Waters Scholarship
Karen Burlingame, a senior Supply Chain and Information Systems major at the Penn State Smeal College of Business, has been named one of seven national recipients of the 2016 L.L. Waters Scholarship. Administered by the trustees of the L.L. Waters Scholarship Fund, the Waters Scholarship is named in honor of Dr. L.L.Waters, University Professor Emeritus of Transportation and Business History at Indiana University. Waters has taught undergraduate and graduate students in transportation and logistics for more than three decades.
Veronica Villena selected as Winner for Chan Han Best Paper
Congratulations to Veronica Villena on the selection of her paper “The Benefits and Downsides of Common Supply Chain Partners” as the winning “Chan Hahn” Best Paper Finalists by the OM Division of the Academy of Management. Veronica presented her paper in a featured session at the Academy of Management Conference.
For more information on this award
Huff named director of online supply chain graduate programs at Penn State Smeal
David Huff, clinical professor of supply chain management at the Penn State Smeal College of Business, has been named director of online graduate programs in supply chain management. The director helps set the strategic direction and vision for the college’s Master of Professional Studies in Supply Chain Management and the Graduate Certificate in Supply Chain Management, programs offered online in partnership with Penn State World Campus.
Huff, who will also work to identify and cultivate relationships with corporate partners in his role as director, joined Smeal in 2004. He holds a Ph.D. in operations management and a master’s in management science methods, both from the University of Rochester. He also earned a master’s in mathematics from Brigham Young University and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Utah State University.