This internship, sponsored by the Tauber Institute for Global Operations in partnership with General Mills, was a cross-functional effort in supply chain data and analytics. The initial scope of the project was to utilize machine learning to identify like-products to be used in new product forecasting. The final scope of the project was expanded to improve the forecasting process for new product launches. As a result of the project, the Tauber team delivered a pilot study on machine learning models to improve the new product forecasting process. The pilot study showed an error reduction of up to 80% in one product category. Additionally, the Tauber team developed an implementation plan for the improved forecasting process across all US new product launches. Anticipated annual savings from this implementation are between 10% and 18% of annual new product margin. Finally, this project garnered buy-in from a cross-functional team planning to implement the improved forecasting process within the next year.

My responsibilities as the IOE peer advisor include communication with the department advisor on student issues, familiarity with the IOE undergraduate curriculum and graduation requirements, and fielding e-mails from students regarding any issues they may have. As a part-time job, I hold weekly walk-in hours where students can come to get advice on course planning, IOE as a major, career opportunities in IOE, and many other topics.

As a Global Supply Chain Intern, I worked in the Inventory Department. My primary responsibility was to develop recommendations for the improvement of demand forecast accuracy. I was able to do this by analyzing one year of historical demand and forecast data, leveraging SPSS, SQL, and VBA to develop a dashboard to track and monitor forecast accuracy on a monthly basis. During the development of the dashboard, my analysis revealed an average of $3M+ in excess inventory and I developed recommendations that, if implemented, could reduce the average excess inventory by $800k.

As a Global Supply Chain Management Intern, my primary responsibility was to support the Indirect Materials purchasing group in efficiently managing and developing a network of suppliers servicing more than 20 locations throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Major projects included assisting with the transition to a new integrated supplier with realized annual savings of $400k+, developing a database of contracts to track productivity savings potentially worth $4M+ annually, and performing freight cost data analysis for a project with $819k annual freight reductions.

The K-12 Program Assistant is responsible for assisting the K-12 Academic Program Officer in developing, coordinating, and administering all K-12 outreach initiatives including, but not limited to, the Summer Engineering Academy (SEA). Key duties include supporting SEA staff during program activities, collaborating with the SEA Management Team in the oversight of all Academy activities, and assisting with general office duties, especially those related to technology, within the SEA team.

As Tennis Director for the Monroe Recreation Department, I was responsible for coordinating and teaching tennis lessons to elementary-aged students. In addition to teaching the lessons, I was responsible for general program details such as determining program dates, reserving courts, making weather-related cancellation decisions, etc. I was also responsible for communicating program details to parents as well as the Recreation Department Manager. During my time as Tennis Director, the program doubled in size from about 10 students to 20 students. This was primarily due to increased advertising as well as the addition of another session time.