Let’s start off by giving a HUGE round of applause to Cohort 34 for a wonderful conference last week! All of the posters and presentations were beautiful, and you could really see the hard work and dedication in every single one of them. For those of you who could not be in attendance, the bi-annual QUEST Conference was held in person, for the first time in over two years, at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center on December 9th. The Deans from the Smith School of Business and the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences were in attendance. Dean Amitabh Varshney even said a few inspiring words to all of the students. Darryll Pines, the President of the University, sent a heartfelt note to the cohort, wishing them “great success…in future opportunities” and expressed confidence “that [their] experiences in the QUEST Program will serve [them] well.”
Cohort 34 at the QUEST Conference
This event was formatted in such a way so that attendees could see as much as possible in the three hours allotted. There was a poster display, followed by presentation breakout sessions, and then closing remarks (and dessert!), which included the Most Outstanding Capstone presentation and announcement for best poster. The companies Cohort 34 had the chance to consult for included BAE Systems, Children’s National Hospital, CNH Industrial, D&H Distributing, Gill Grilling, Leidos, Oceaneering, Thales, and Tronox!
Most Outstanding Capstone was awarded to Team Qualibration, who worked with Thales Defense and Security Inc. to establish and implement a test equipment evaluation process. Team Qualibration consisted of Griffin Holt (Mechanical Engineering), Adam Jacques (Mechanical Engineering), Nikita Kumar (Information Systems and Operations Management & Business Analytics), and Astrid Widjaja (Microbiology & Psychology). The main problems for their client were that there was no formal process for evaluating unused equipment, there were no current partnerships to sell equipment, and unused equipment was sitting in storage. After conducting stakeholder interviews, defining qualitative and quantitative metrics to build a Python script to flag equipment, and researching potential buyers for partnerships, the team settled on four recommendations: evaluate equipment on a quarterly basis, run the Python script to flag equipment, host a guided discussion to assist in the evaluation of the script output, and establish relationships with one of three selected companies. According to their analysis, Team Qualibration’s initial estimated return on equipment was around $477k, with an average return rate of acquisition value when equipment is sold at 4.7%. Their presentation was thoroughly researched and nicely conducted, handling all questions thrown their way. Congrats to the team!
Team Qualibration – Most Outstanding Capstone winners – with their project champions from Thales, Steve Kutchi (Cohort 1) and Ian Anderson
The Best Poster was awarded to D&H QUESTributing for the use of electronics and creativity. Members of D&H QUESTributing included Vivek Banerjee (Computer Science and Math), Hailey Brennan (Mechanical Engineering), Samantha Engler (Math and Economics), Joseph Houghton (Management and Supply Chain Management), and Michelle Lui (Information Systems and Operations Management & Business Analytics). This team worked with D&H Distributing, an electronics wholesale distributor, to “optimize the inventory reservation process to prevent losses from aged inventory due to open-reservations.” They provided their client with three recommendations – short-term, medium-term, and long-term options. With these recommendations, the team estimated a $10 – $30 million reduction in aged inventory, along with an improved run rate and turnover rate. Awesome job D&H QUESTributing!
D&H QUESTributing – Best Poster winners
Let’s give a huge thanks to the Quality Guild for making this conference happen. Particularly Rachel DiDonna, who put in months of planning to ensure the conference ran smoothly and Jess Roffe’s hard work securing the clients for this semester. Of course, recognition is due to the 490H instructors: Dr. Hassan Ibrahim and David Ashley and TA Mausum Patel. We can’t forget Dr. Pamela Armstrong (190H professor) and Dr. Joe Bailey (438A and 390H professor) whose expertise got Cohort 34 where they are today.
Congrats again to Cohort 34 for their completion of 490H and the value they were able to provide to their clients! The QUEST community is looking forward to seeing even more amazing work next semester as Cohort 35 begins their capstone projects.