Supply chain major receives recognition in two competitions | News

On Oct. 7, WVU was named one of five divisional winners at the General Motors/Wayne State University Supply Chain Case Competition in Detroit. A total of 24 teams from the U.S., Taiwan, Brazil, Mexico and China were challenged to solve problems from a complex case study. This was the first WVU team to ever become finalists in the GM competition.

The team was made up of supply chain management seniors Rena Kobelak, Kadin Burris, Ryan Stewart and Amy Toscano.

Kobelak said she’s happy this introduced more people to WVU’s supply chain program.

“We were really excited to represent the University and to get the word out there that we have a supply chain program,” she said. “We are still growing, and we’re competitive with other distinguished schools, like Michigan State and Penn State, that are known for having good supply chain programs.”

Two weeks prior to the GM competition, WVU achieved their fourth consecutive win at the Race to the Case Supply Chain Management Competition on Sept. 22 at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Mountaineers competed against teams from Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Robert Morris University and Carnegie Mellon University. This year’s team included global supply chain management students Michala Luck and Clif Teter, and industrial engineering students Christian Hores and Brandon Slicklein.

“We received a packet of problems and information needed to solve the problems, had an hour to do so, and literally ran to the next location to receive the next packet for round two,” Teter, a senior double major in finance and global supply chain management, said. “After we finished round two, the top three teams were selected and advanced to round three. In round three, we were given a final packet of tasks and were required to prepare a PowerPoint presentation in only 30 minutes.”

Teter also said this experience helped prepare him for the future.

“The experience taught me how to adapt to an unfamiliar work environment,” he said. “That, coupled with real-world problems, is a background you can’t get anywhere else. Coming out of the competition, I have a great resume builder and knowledge applicable to post-education situations.”

The University of Pittsburgh placed second in the competition, and Penn State placed third.

These competitions were a team effort based on all the courses the students take in the supply chain program. Ednilson Bernardes, a professor of global supply chain management and program coordinator, said these competitions were valuable experiences for his students.

“These competitions afford the students the opportunity to apply what the knowledge, tools and skills they are learning in class to solve complex and realistic supply chain problems,” he said. “They also have the opportunity to interact with peers from other top programs in the country, and, in this case, the world, and with senior supply chain professionals.”