By Gene Carmichael, SCMA VP of IT & Finance, MBA Class of 2013
The Supply Chain Management Association held our first official event of the 2012/2013 academic year on 9/11/12: the Annual Intro to Supply Chain Luncheon. With approximately 35 first and second year students gathered together to learn more about what supply chain is and about potential career paths that exist in supply chain, as well as how the Smeal curriculum will prepare students for those careers. Professors Terry Harrison, Doug Thomas and David Huff each spoke about their respective courses and what to expect from the program in general. We had great discussions regarding differences in the MBA courses compared to the undergrad courses as well as the Six Sigma offerings. Additionally, our president – Chris Riling – discussed at length the exciting events the association will be hosting throughout the year, which drew considerable interest from the first-year members.
Shortly after our first meeting, we held a second, experience-sharing luncheon on 9/24/12, aimed at sharing with the first-year members some of the internship experiences the second years had. Tim Pace, Neha Kala, and Shridhar Kumar gave thorough overviews of their own summer internship experiences. Tim talked extensively about his transportation project with Cummins and gave insights into how he got his internship as well as some successes and difficulties he had over his 11-week program. Neha shared her experience with Chevron in Houston, Texas by reviewing what she learned about sourcing and working on cross-functional projects. Shridhar provided advice on getting his internship and gave some tips on how to prepare for interviews, especially for cases. All three second-year students answered questions from the students which allowed for some additional discussions regarding future careers in Supply Chain.
Overall, the first two SCMA luncheons of the year were huge successes! The officers are excited to work with the new membership over the coming year. We have many more events planned in the coming months and we look forward to enhancing our members’ Supply Chain experience at Smeal.