FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Some of the top logistics students in the world traveled to Fayetteville, Ark. to compete in the 9^th Annual FedEx Freight International Graduate Logistics Case Competition February 23-25.

Teams from The Pennsylvania State University, Michigan State University, and Darmstadt University of Technology captured the top three places in the competition, which was sponsored by the Supply Chain Management Research Center in the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business in alliance with FedEx Freight and a host of corporate sponsors. The top three finishers were awarded $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000, respectively.

“We are honored to bring together graduate logistics students from nine major universities across the country and around the world,” said Jim Crowell, director of the Supply Chain Management Research Center. “The case gave them firsthand experience in thinking on their feet and solving a real logistics problem. They had a chance to compete for prizes and prestige as well as network with peers and industry professionals.”

Each team competed as a “business consultant” for a global humanitarian relief organization. They were given just 24 hours to review the logistics case and prepare their recommendations for increasing disaster preparedness, speeding response time to victims, and improving the overall effectiveness of the organizational structure. The teams presented their solutions to a panel of industry judges, and the three finalists competed before a second group of judges in the championship round. The winners were announced at an awards banquet on February 25.

“We were impressed with the analytical and problem-solving skills that each of this year’s teams demonstrated,” said Pat Reed, executive vice president and chief operating officer for FedEx Freight, the competition’s title sponsor. “FedEx Freight is proud to help facilitate this knowledge exchange among the rising stars in the logistics field. The caliber of these students reaffirms our confidence in the future of our industry.”

Students from the winning teams include:

·        Pennsylvania State University (first place): Sachin Arora, Erin Bauer, Andrew Davis, Mani Gokarnesan, Joe Morzinski and Robert Watson.

·        Michigan State University (second place): Rajnesh Arora, Rohan Barua, Lynn Digirolamo, Cathy Franklin, Dan French and Jason Hiebl.

·        Darmstadt University of Technology (third place): Elias Gansel, Enno Nehrbass, Karola Rath, Tobias Talmon l’Armee, and Martin Voss.

The Walton College MBA student team included Stacy Crouch, Jonathan Golden, Jennifer Helm, William Ledbetter, Sandhya Sundaram, and Nabil Kawas.

Other participating universities included Arizona State University, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, and The Ohio State University.

Gold sponsors of the competition were Arkansas Best Freight System Inc.; J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.; E&J Gallo Winery; Harley Davidson; Kimberly-Clark: and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Silver sponsors included Guidant Corporation, Halliburton, and Nestlé. Bronze sponsors were Colgate-Palmolive; Pepsi; Procter & Gamble; Radisson Hotel-Fayetteville; and Wyeth Consumer Healthcare.

The Supply Chain Management Research Center is a direct link between the private sector and the University of Arkansas supply chain resources. It sponsors activities that promote both the academic and general body of knowledge encompassing supply chain management. It also supports student-focused activities centered on recruitment, retention and graduation.