University of Arkansas Hosts Successful IISE South Central Regional Conference

Blake Sooter, president of the U of A IISE Chapter welcomes students to Fayetteville.

Get to Know You Night at Bell Engineering Center.

Oklahoma State attendees.

University of Missouri attendees.

UofA Master of Science in Operations Management, at the mini career fair.

Ray Wood (University of Missouri) 1st place in the student paper competition.

Ethan O’Connor (Oklahoma State University) wins 2nd place in student paper competition.

Christopher Arienza (University of Houston) 3rd place in student paper competition.

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U of A IISE Student Chapter Officers and organizers of the IISE Conference, from left: Laren Jones, Karleigh Eoff, Blake Sooter, Caleb Mallet, Adam Maxwell and Stella Chaney. Not pictured: Rachel Thomas.

The University of Arkansas recently hosted the annual Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering (IISE) South-Central Regional Conference, Feb. 29 to March 2. The conference was attended by 68 students from the University of Arkansas, Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, University of Houston, University of Missouri, Kansas State University, Texas Tech University, and Wichita State University.

Organized by the University of Arkansas student chapter of IISE, the conference kicked off with a meet and greet at the College of Engineering. Attendees enjoyed pizza and games while making connections with their peers. The main events of the conference took place on Friday, March 1, with an early breakfast at the Tyson Center on the University of Arkansas campus. Jennifer Cross, senior vice president of North American operations at IISE and associate professor at Texas Tech University and Kim Needy, Dean of the College of Engineering, welcomed students to Fayetteville.

Students participated in facility tours at Marshalltown and Sealed Air. For those not attending the tours, Kyle Kimpel of Walmart provided a talk on the latest developments in distribution center automation. At lunch, Vance Clement, CEO and member of the Board of Directors at Lineus Medical, provided his insights on the medical device industry and life as a startup CEO.

Student research and projects were showcased through paper and poster competitions. Ray Wood of the University of Missouri (1st), Ethan O'Connor of Oklahoma State (2nd), and Christopher Arienza of the University of Houston (3rd), placed in the paper competition and will compete at IISE Annual in Montreal, Canada. Poster session winners were Saurabh Singh of Wichita State and Jacob Holmes, Alyssa Ball and Carter Baldwin, all from the University of Arkansas.

Representatives from J.B. Hunt, ArcBest and the Master of Science in Operations Management program at the University of Arkansas participated in speed mentoring sessions, a mini career fair and the conference banquet. The banquet-style dinner featured keynote speaker Russ Meller, principal scientist at FORTNA and National Academy of Engineering Member.

The final day of the conference, March 2, featured a diverse range of events, including breakfast and comments from Tyler Beneke, a graduate of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. Tyler, now a product manager for Android at Google, shared insights gained from her experiences in consulting at Accenture and her five-year tenure at Google. A young alumni panel was available for Q&A, followed by closing remarks.

The IISE South Central Regional Conference is an annual highlight for student members, and this year’s conference was a resounding success. The hard work and dedication of the IISE Chapter officers at the University of Arkansas were evident throughout the event, showcasing their commitment to excellence in the field of industrial and systems engineering. Next year’s events will be hosted at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas.