Industrial Engineering Senior Earns National Manufacturing Scholarship

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Wesley Nimmo

An industrial engineering senior has earned a nationally-competitive scholarship to continue his studies into promoting efficiency in the business sector.

Wesley Nimmo is the recipient of the 2019-2020 Myrtle & Earl Walker Scholarship from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation.

Nimmo returned to school after five years of work in the oil and gas industry. He said he chose industrial engineering after witnessing  inefficiencies in industry firsthand.

"I wanted to be able to take some knowledge back to the industry to improve the work environment for others," he said.

He is completing an internship with J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. His team is converting reporting into Power BI, a data visualization application, which will centralize and automate data reporting. Wesley said he has found many of his classes have real applications in the work he is doing and he enjoys using what he has learned in the classroom to create real-world solutions.

"This summer I will be working on a project incorporating technologies into trucks which will apply the principles of cognitive ergonomics and interface design," Nimmo said. "Many, if not all, of these principles require a strong understanding of the underlying statistics learned in our statistics courses as well as programming techniques from programming foundations. From my perspective, the industrial engineering degree will prepare me well for my endeavors ahead."

Wesley and his wife have two children; both were born after he returned to school. They have a busy summer planned spending time with their two little ones while he works full time for J.B. Hunt, a job he hopes to continue after graduation. His plans also include completing his Master of Science in Operations Management online.

Harry Pierson, assistant professor of industrial engineering and a 21-year SME member, promotes the SME scholarship program within the department.

"SME scholarships are prestigious, nationally competitive awards, and I'm very proud that our students are consistently competitive," he said. 

Ed Pohl, head of the Industrial Engineering Department, said he was pleased to see continued national success.

 "I am very proud that our students compete so well at the national level in the manufacturing area," he said. "Dr. Pierson does an excellent job promoting the program to our students and assisting them with their applications so they can compete in the SME Education Foundation program."  Industrial engineering students have earned SME Foundation awards for four consecutive years:

• 2016: Arturo Nunez
• 2017: Allison Morast
• 2018: Erin Mullin
• 2019: Wesley Nimmo

About the SME Education Foundation: SME Education Foundation programs have encouraged more than 60,000 students to study STEM, with a focus on technology. The foundation's scholarships offer students a powerful reason to choose a manufacturing-focused education. To apply for scholarships, students must first register with the SME Education Foundation. The application process is open from November to February. Registered students are notified via e-mail when application opens in November. More information about the SME Education Foundation can be found here.