Industrial Engineering Annual Student Awards Banquet

Photo by Rick Green

The annual Industrial Engineering Annual Student Awards Banquet held on April 19 at the Fayetteville Town Center was well attended by students, faculty, staff, donors and corporate sponsors. Thirty-eight students received scholarships at the banquet.

The Arkansas Academy of Industrial Engineering (AAIE) provided scholarship funding in the amount $55,000. Also, $20,000 was awarded from endowments provided by individual AAIE members, for a combined total of $75,000 in AAIE and AAIE-related scholarships. The department offered an additional $16,500 in scholarships, bringing the scholarship total for the evening to $91,500, with additional scholarship commitments pending.

Corporate sponsor Hytrol Conveyors presented the annual Hytrol Challenge Award. This award is awarded each year to the best team in a competition in Tish Pohl's Facility Logistics course.  Todd McClung from Hytrol was on hand to present the award to the team made up of Blake McMillon, Michael Herm, Teylor Hill and Alison McElhenney.

Sponsored by the ArcBest Corporation, formerly known as ABF Freight Systems, the Outstanding Freshman Award is presented annually to one freshman engineering student that has declared industrial engineering as a major. The recipient of this award is selected by the faculty and staff of the Freshman Engineering Program. Brad Owens from ArcBest was in attendance to present the award to Emily Matlock.

The banquet features many awards from both the department and the students. Student-sponsored awards, are voted on by the students. Recipients include:

• Sophomore Scholar Award — Anna Hudgeons
• John L. Imhoff Distinguished Service Award — Alexa Koenigseder
• Outstanding TA Award — Emre Kirac
• Backbreaker Award — Harry Pierson, Assistant Professor
• Best Teacher Award — Sarah Root, Clinical Assistant Professor
• Resident Raconteur Award — John White, Professor
• Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award — Ashlea Milburn, Assistant Professor

Department-sponsored awards include

• Undergraduate Research Award — Keegan Henderson
• Graduate Research Award — Thomas Talafuse
• Outstanding Graduate Student — Emre Kirac

Daniel Fritsche

Daniel Fritsche received the Outstanding Senior award from the department. Fritsche, son of Ken and Debbie Fritsche of Greenwood, Arkansas is also pursuing an M.B.A. from the Walton College and completing his honors thesis on the topic of developing a system to identify risks in supply chains and offer mitigation advice. His adviser is Shengfan Zhang, assistant professor of industrial engineering.

Fritsche had the opportunity to study abroad at the University of Newcastle in Australia in 2015, for which he received an Imhoff Global Studies Endowment. His industry experience is extensive, having interned twice with JB Hunt in Lowell and twice with ArcBest Corporation in Fort Smith.

His service on campus includes leadership roles with his fraternity, his church, an RSO on campus, and a leadership development program called Kaleo. Additionally, he has served as an Honors College Ambassador, advising prospective Honors College Fellowship recipients for the University and he has balanced all of this while maintaining a perfect GPA.

Fritsche was also announced by the Arkansas Alumni Association as one of the 2016 Class of Razorback Classics. These students were selected as the top 11 male and female graduating students at the University of Arkansas. This is the pinnacle of the Arkansas Alumni Association awards program that started with over 500 nominations in the fall. The students are judged on academic excellence, leadership and campus or community involvement.

Read the full 2016 Razorback Classics story in Newswire here.