Ambarish Acharya is the winner of the INFORMS Judith Leibman Award for his efforts on behalf of the Mississippi State Student Chapter. He was presented the award during the INFORMS Annual Conference in November 2010 in Austin, Texas. The Judith Liebman Award recognizes outstanding student volunteers who have been “moving spirits” in their universities, their student chapters, and the Institute.
Industrial and Systems Engineering student Missie Smith was honored with the Bagley College of Engineering Outstanding ISE Senior Award. Other ISE students honored as top seniors were: Brittany Kolb, Glenda Young, Ginny Sewall, Colleen Hughes, Justin Criddle, Anna Campbell, and Paige Draper.
By Bonnie Coblentz
MSU Ag Communications
MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi State University engineering students helped analyze work flow and equipment performance to document the need for new animal cage washing facilities, which were paid for by a federal grant of nearly $300,000.
Lucy Senter, director of Laboratory Animal Resources and the university veterinarian for MSU, was awarded the National Institutes of Health grant to purchase a new cage washer and to renovate the existing cage washing facilities. The new equipment and facilities will support veterinary research and clinical patients in MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
“The cage washer is usually a very large piece of equipment found in most research facilities. Mechanically, it functions like a very large dishwasher to clean and sanitize large quantities of caging,” Senter said. “Typically, animal racks, rodent cages and anything else you need to wash in the cage washer can be effectively sanitized using this automated equipment.”
Along with buying the new cage washer, the NIH grant is paying to remodel the room housing the washer and rooms housing the clean cages. This will create a better traffic pattern and work flow. The university received the grant after proving the need to NIH.
“The students in industrial engineering analyzed how much our old cage washer was used, how frequently it broke down, and how feasible it would be to use an alternate cage washer across campus while our old washer was being replaced,” Senter said. “We submitted the information they gathered as part of our justification to NIH of why we needed a new one and why we should remodel our cage washing facility.”
Sandra Eksioglu, an assistant professor in industrial and systems engineering, was responsible for the students who analyzed the cage washing system. She said the students used the data they gathered and four years of data logs to build a computer simulation model of the processes involved with washing cages.
“The students were able to evaluate the performance of the old cage washing systems by using results from the simulation model, as well as using results from the statistical analyses of the data collected,” Eksioglu said. “Using the simulation model, the students demonstrated the benefits of having a new cage washer in the building and produced results that supported the request for funding to replace the old cage washer.”
Two student teams evaluated the process as part of Eksioglu’s class on systems simulation.
“The students provided results from a thorough statistical analysis of the data collected, and results from the simulation model demonstrated the time and money that would be saved if the old cage washer was replaced,” Eksioglu said.
Senter said the cage washer is a critical part of an effective animal husbandry program because it ensures that animals can be maintained in clean, uncontaminated caging.
The cage washer reaches a final rinse temperature of 180 degrees, hot enough to kill most pathogens that could contaminate the cages and the animals housed in them.
MSU has three cage washers; two are located in the veterinary college and one across campus in another laboratory. The main cage washer in the research wing of the veterinary college had gotten old and broke down frequently. Additionally, it had only one door, so dirty cages went in the machine and left sanitized through the same door.
Traffic flow into the cage washing facilities was awkward and did not completely separate the dirty side of the cage wash from the clean side.
“It’s better if you have a cage washer where the dirty items go in one door and the clean items come out another,” Senter said.
The new cage washer has been purchased and is being installed, with renovation work expected to be finished by the end of October.
Released: Sept. 9, 2010
Contact: Dr. Lucy Senter, (662) 325-0632
ISE’s Dr. Lesley Strawderman and Laura Ruff received the 2010 Best Paper Award from the Industrial Engineering Division of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). The title of their paper is “Improving Industrial Engineering Career Efficacy through Introductory Course Design.” The award was presented at the ASEE annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
Carl Morris and Harun Pirim both won second place in their divisions of the poster competition at the 2010 INFORMS Regional Conference. The title of Carl’s award winning research is “A Semi-Markov Decision Process for Transshipment of Critical, slow-moving Medical Goods.” The title of Harun’s award winning research is “A Novel Integer Programming Model for Clustering Biological Data.”
Congratulations to both these students!
Pictured left to right: Jim Gafford, Lucas Simmons, Sheryl Kinard, Ardra Morgan, Ambarish Acharya
Congratulations are in order for Ambarish Acharya, Sheryl Kinard and Lucas Simmons. They received the following awards at the BCoE Annual Picnic:
– Lucas Simmons, a field engineer for CAVS-Extention and a graduate student in industrial and systems engineering, received the Service Award.
– Sheryl Kinard, accountant for Raspet Flight Laboratory, the department of aerospace engineering, and the department of industrial and systems engineering, received the Professional Staff Award.
– Ambarish Acharya, graduate student in industrial and systems engineering, received the Graduate Student Research Award.
Others receiving 2010 Achievement Awards were: James C. Newman, James “Jim” Gafford, Wilburn Ray Whittington, Ardra Morgan, and Susan Bridges.
Industrial and Systems Engineering students, Abby Lammons and McNeill Williford, competed nationally in 2010 to win Alpha Pi Mu Industrial Engineering Honor Society National Awards. McNeill was honored with The John L. Imhoff Scholarship Award, which the society awards to a single student. Abby was one of eight students nationally to win the society’s Award of Excellence. Both awards recognize academic achievement, leadership and well-rounded interests.
Congratulations to both these students!
Out of 22 students from across the university to be recognized with the 2010 Spirit of State Award, Swati Desai, a senior in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is said to have “played a major role in promoting diversity at MSU.”
As a freshman, she founded Nach, an Indian dance group that has helped introduce MSU students to Indian culture. Through Nach, she has participated in numerous campus celebrations, including the International Fiesta, and helped create a multi-national entertainment program in collaboration with MSU’s Lab Rats comedy group.
She currently serves as president of the Indian Student Association, MSU’s largest international student group. She has helped the organization raise more than $25,000, with $5,000 coming from organizing campus game day parking. Desai also exhibits her MSU spirit by welcoming new students to campus. She organizes necessary transportation for international students, including rides from the airport to campus. She helps these students find affordable off-campus housing and make arrangements to establish a residence in the United States.
David A. Palmer was named the ISE Distinguished Alumni Fellow in 2010. He received a Master of Science in industrial engineering from Mississippi State University in 1996.
For the past 13 years, Palmer has served as chief executive officer of Synergetics Diversified Computer Services Inc., a Starkville-based systems integration consulting firm. Palmer is responsible for strategic planning and providing the leadership required for stable and sustainable growth, while ensuring a culture grounded in customer service. Under his direction, Synergetics has grown from a start-up to a recognized leader in information technology in the state of Mississippi. Synergetics has been honored by the Mississippi Business Journal as one of the Top 100 Private Companies in Mississippi for the past eight years. In 2009, Inc. magazine named Synergetics one of the Top 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the U.S.
Prior to joining Synergetics, Palmer served as a project engineer for Sovitec S.A. in Fleurus, Belgium. In this position, he was a member of the engineering team responsible for the construction of a glass bead plant in Thailand. Prior to joining Sovitec, Palmer spent 10 years in various capacities, including process manager – glass bead production, at Cataphote Inc. in Flowood, Miss. Palmer is a member of the Mississippi State University Alumni Association and a contributor to the MSU Foundation, Larry Brown Scholarship Fund. He is a past president of the Starkville Optimist Club.
John Usher, Professor in Industrial and Systems Engineering, was elected to serve on the IIE Computer and Information Systems Division Board of Directors. The Board brings together members concerned with the cost-effective utilization of computer technology throughout organizations.