On Thursday, May 5th, the QUEST community got together for the spring semester QUEST conference. It was held at the Riggs Alumni Center and attendees ranged from QUEST’s corporate sponsors to QUEST alumni to current students and parents. This event had everyone in the QUEST community excited and eager to see what Cohort 23 came up with during their capstone projects this semester.
The event started out with QUEST alumni speakers, including Andreia Rauta (Q14), Chad Schneider (Q3), and Kevin Schoonover (Q11). They spoke on topics, ranging from the power of confidence to the hard work of innovation and discovering your inner why. Following these talks, students from Cohort 23 brought out their posters to present to the attendees, all while guests feasted on the delicious hors d’oeuvres outside the main ballroom. The posters were all intriguing and fascinating to read, with clients ranging from Lockheed Martin to Volkswagen. The projects were also very diverse. Fast & Ferryous, one of the international teams in 490H this semester, had the opportunity to work with Arup and optimize the ferry transportation in Brisbane, Australia. Crystal Ball Consulting, a group that worked with Lockheed Martin, optimized an application for use on a mobile platform.
Jay from Team Crystal Ball Consulting presenting his team’s poster to fellow students (including myself!)
Following the poster sessions, the students gave presentations to display what they’ve been working on for the past semester. In total, there were four sessions, with three presentations going on simultaneously in each room. Attendees had the choice to attend one of the three presentations for each session.
As a current 190H student, it was interesting to see these presentations from my perspective. Throughout the semester, 190H students have been required to give a series of presentations, typically to our fellow classmates, mentors that consist of members in the junior cohorts, QUEST alumni, and professors. To be on the other side of this and even see our mentors present was very refreshing. The presentations I was able to sit in, which included Full Circle Consulting and Fast and Ferryous, were very captivating. Despite what seemed like complicated processes and consulting projects these teams were tasked to tackle, they were able to portray what they’ve done to the audience clearly and really show the benefits of process improvement, systems design, and quality management to all industries.
Team Fast & Ferryous presenting at the QUEST Conference
Overall, I had an amazing time at this event. Being my first QUEST conference, I had no idea what to expect or see at this event. To sit through the presentations and hear from fellow QUEST colleagues and friends about their experiences working with clients throughout the semester made it exciting to see what is in store when future students like myself take QUEST’s capstone course.
Click here to see more photos from the QUEST conference!
Cohort 23 at the QUEST Conference