As the old adage goes, “the best way to learn is by doing,” and it is. Internships and cooperative learning (co-ops) are effective and proven types of experiential learning. In addition to these field education opportunities, the Center for Supply Chain Research®️ (CSCR®️) provides another source of hands-on learning to prepare students for professional settings after graduation: student research projects.
Students who participate in research engagement projects have the chance to work directly with the center’s corporate sponsors to tackle real-world challenges and conduct relevant research. This experiential learning model benefits both students and sponsors. CSCR’s corporate partners can submit research proposals each semester that are specific to their business needs and students are tasked with addressing those challenges and engaging in adaptive learning.
“One of the center’s missions is to bridge higher learning with industry and a second one is to provide world-class knowledge. Our student research portfolio perfectly fits in to these two goals,” said Steve Tracey, Executive Director of CSCR. “Besides the experience itself, the other thing we bring to the table is incredible scale. We facilitate more student-industry research projects in SC&IS than anywhere else in the college, year after year. We can only do that because we have an amazingly robust and engaged sponsor base – who recognize the value in engaging with students through research.”
The integration of academic teachings and practical application helps prepare students to solve industry problems they will encounter once out of the classroom. Student research engagement builds a bridge between theoretical academic analysis and real business cases that don’t have a standard solution. While industry competencies and desired skills may change over time, it is academic preparedness that flexes to meet these ever-changing needs.
Fortunately, students like Caden Hazensta are afforded the opportunity to apply their classroom learning in a tangible way.
Hazensta, a third-year supply chain and information systems major, recently engaged in a research project with the Logistics Management Institute (LMI). Hazensta’s project involved supply chain benchmarking, specifically determining where companies can find concrete data to use in the benchmarking process. The project resulted in Hazensta’s creation of a collaborative Supply Chain Benchmarking Database where LMI employees can identify and log relevant benchmarking sources, ultimately applying knowledge management principles to achieve cross-functional synergies.
“This project provided me with an excellent opportunity to contribute at the intersection of industry and academia – utilizing classroom skills within real industry applications,” said Hazensta. “CSCR offered continual assistance and encouragement throughout every step of the process to ensure successful project completion.”
Lois Jung, an industrial engineering major, also participated in a CSCR experiential learning project this year. Jung worked with Odyssey Logistics and Technology on a 3PL study to identify the best indicator for external factors when developing a freight rate forecasting model. For Jung, an engineering student, there was great benefit in learning the ropes of business, supply chain, and gaining industry experience for his professional future.
“Working on the data-heavy project gave me an idea of what it would be like to work with real industry data, which has a lot of errors and unexpected results that are very different from school projects,” Jung explained.
During these collaborative projects, students learn to get comfortable being uncomfortable – not every industry problem has a simple or easily accessed answer. Students learn to move beyond standards of specific supply chain principles to familiarize themselves with a sponsor’s underlying business structure. Once identified, students can use applied problem solving to address the sponsor’s unique needs and propose a solution based on multiple sources of research, data, and analysis.
“Participation in this project provided me the opportunity to apply classroom concepts within a real-world, industry context. Solving the research problem required project management skills; including the preparation of meeting schedules, forming goals, and agreeing on deadlines. Being able to navigate an official project while being supported by CSCR allowed me to develop these critical skills for success in the professional setting,” said Hazensta.
While this process provides excellent learning opportunities for students, it also enables corporate sponsors access to top supply chain talent and a tailor-made research analysis. These collaborative research projects not only allow for companies to have their business questions addressed, but also provide recruitment and networking opportunities. Sponsors who engage in projects support a vested interest in the professional maturation of students and may benefit from their resulting development.
“These projects are mutually beneficial between our students and our corporate sponsors. The students get hands-on experience that allows them to connect what they learn in the classroom to real-world situations,” said Lauren Bechtel, CSCR Program Director and advisor of student projects.
“It also exposes them to the skills, qualities and attributes that are required of them when they enter the workforce. Our sponsors get fresh new perspectives, more bandwidth, and the opportunity to build their company brand with potential future employees.”
Corporate sponsors are offered the opportunity to partner on several different student engagement research projects. The categories include:
- Schreyer’s Thesis
- Honors Option
- APEX
- SCM 496
- Learning Factory
- High School Project
- D. Student Projects
CSCR’s novel engagement model moves beyond passive learning styles to better prepare students for employment, provide corporate sponsors with high-quality deliverables, and increase prepared talent pools for the industry at large. For more information about specific research project categories and how to participate in a student project, please visit the Student Research Engagement webpage.