Article by Jeff Lue (Q16)

Maybe this is what Dr. Bailey feels every year, a sense of satisfaction and pride when the QUEST cycle comes full circle. I know that’s how I felt this year. From first saying hello to new sophomores on a crowded bus on our way to Camp Horizons 2 years ago, to seeing them present on the QUEST Big Stage: the 490 Conference.

This year’s conference highlighted Cohort 18, the group of students I had the privilege of TA-ing two years ago in 190. Twelve teams working with nine different clients, this year’s conference provided a variety of problems spanned across several different industries. Starting with a storyboard presentation giving a brief synopsis of the projects, the night moved onto each team presenting to friends, family, and the QUEST community the projects they have been working on all semester.

The night concluded with thanks from and for the Quality Guild, and the Project of the Year. This year’s project was Tulkoff’s Speedy Spices.  Team Speedy Spices was tasked with the challenge of increasing the efficiency one of Tulkoff’s production lines. After a long semester, the team was able to develop an algorithm increasing efficiency by 12%. (This writer may be a bit biased, being on the first Tulkoff team 2 years ago).

But make no mistake, while only one project is named Project of the Year, every team should be extremely proud of their project.  And it has been a pleasure seeing how far each one of you has come over the past 2 years.

As a recent alum of the program, it’s always great to come back. We get to enjoy the conference without any stress of presenting, eat food, chat with friends and other alums, and of course, say hi to the Quality Guild. It’s also refreshing to step away from the workplace and back to our alma mater, watching our favorite honors program continue to produce Quality students and soon to be professionals. I look forward to coming back and seeing future cohorts strut their stuff.

Team Speedy Spices with project champions Phil Tulkoff and Brent Guyton & faculty advisor Dr. Jeffrey Herrmann.