NIU students and freshly-minted graduates John Hall (B.S. OM&IS 2008), Michael Rendak (B.S.B.A. 2008) and Sindre Ronningen (Communications major) won $250 for their video production of the inventory management process at Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa. Eagle Ridge - located in Galena, Illinois - is a 68,000 acre resort with all the amenities, including golf 
courses and five major restaurant locations on the premises. The three NIU students visited Eagle Ridge several times, spoke with employees about the firm's inventory system, and, afterwards, made business recommendations to the company representatives. As for the students' learning experience, they discovered that their team mix greatly enhanced their learning, as did the opportunity to serve as mini-consultants to an existing firm that is dealing with a real business issue. The three students collaborated on creating the video documentary, with Sindre Ronningen leading that effort by spending a total of nearly 30 hours to shape all elements of the video (script, filming, and editing). The three students said it was "eye opening" to learn about each others' disciplines by working together with team members who had such different perspectives and skills. John Hall shared insights about inventory management; Michael Rendak, supply chains, and; Sindre Ronningen, communications and film. The students also were quite energized by having the opportunity to make a positive impact within an existing organization.
The national video contest was sponsored by John Wiley & Sons, and required students to create a 3-5 minute video clip that demonstrated an operations management principle. The video entries were reviewed and judged by an advisory panel comprised of operations management professors throughout the US. Student teams in the NIU College of Business service operations class, taught by OM&IS Professor Kathy McFadden, were encouraged to participate. For the NIU students, the video contest coincided well with their group project in the service operations class, as the project required student teams to describe the implementation of an operations management concept within a specific company. As a communications major, Sindre Ronningen was not enrolled in McFadden's service operations class, but participated in the team presentation at the invitation of Kathy McFadden and Sindre's team members. Sindre's participation came about because of his long-standing friendship with John Hall...a friendship which was first developed four years ago when Hall and Ronningen were both first-semester freshmen at NIU.
Once again competition was fierce at this year's outing at the Buena Vista Golf Course in DeKalb. The tournament was won by Alum, John and his group. Click here to see pictures.
Academic honors and scholarship awards were celebrated at South Point Centre. Over a hundred company representatives, alumni and students along with family and friends enjoyed the program put together by the OM&IS Student Advisory Board. Click here to see pictures.
Click here to see the list of this year's scholarship recipients.
Despite the snow and ice, OM&IS graduates met at Champions in the Marriot O'Hare to catch up, share stories and enjoy the company.
Click here to see the list of the 2007 scholarship recipients.
Alumni of both the undergraduate and graduate program of the department met at Mickey Finn's in Libertyville to catch up with old friends and to meet new ones.
11th Annual AITP National Collegiate Conference - Spring 2006
The Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) held its 11th annual National Collegiate Conference in Dallas, Texas from March 30 - April 1, 2006. This year the Northern Illinois University chapter of AITP sent four students from the Operations Management and Information Systems (OM&IS) department, Phil Morris, Mike Pisciotto, Mark Tarkowski, and Basam Yacoub along with faculty advisor, Dr. Brian Mackie to the event. This was the first time in chapter history that an NIU student team has attended. Students from over 90 AITP chapters across the nation attended The National Collegiate Conference to participate in competitions and attend various IT-related conferences.
The students competed in multiple competitions including Web Design, Systems Analysis and Design, Visual Studio .NET, and Database Design. They also entered a banner, designed by Basam Yacoub, and their student chapter website, designed by their Webmaster, Phil Morris, into competitions. The banner had to be professionally mounted with graphics, logos, and/or pictures, have an Information Systems related theme, incorporate the school mascot, and use the school colors. The NIU team was awarded 1st place for the best technical banner and received a $150 check from the national AITP organization along with a certificate and trophy.
After the website (available at http://omis5.omis.niu.edu/aitp) initially made it to the finals based on the functionality, navigability, usefulness, visual appeal, layout, performance, use of special features, and fulfillment of requirements, the students needed to present their sites to the judges and conference attendees. NIU’s AITP Chapter President, Mark Tarkowski and Webmaster, Phil Morris gave a 20 minute presentation of the site which also included a demonstration of the on-site addition to the website as specified by the judges just the day before. The addition was to create a student survey on the website that recorded responses in a database and displayed various calculated results. The NIU chapter was awarded the highest honorable mention (4th place overall) for their student chapter website out of all of the national schools that participated.
There was also an opportunity for students to take the Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals’ Associate Computing Professional (ACP) certification exam at a discounted rate. Two of the NIU students, Phil Morris and Mike Pisciotto passed the Core and Business Information Systems exams to become ACP certified.
The OM&IS department is very proud of Phil, Mike, Mark, and Basam. The NIU student team would like to thank the NIU OM&IS department, the AITP Windy City chapter, and Tree Towns Reprographics Service, Inc. for all of their help and support.
On Saturday February 11th 2006, Doug Buis, Kyle Glenn, Matt Kuechle, Danielle Mallizzio, and Jeff Orth finished in second place at the 11th Annual APICS Regional Student Case Competition at the Double Tree Conference Center in Downers Grove, Illinois. Doug, Kyle, Matt, Danielle, and Jeff are majoring in Operations and Information Management at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Students from 19 student chapters of APICS (The Association for Operations Management) participated in this competition including Iowa State University, University of Houston, University of Texas – El Paso, Indiana State University, Ball State University, Eastern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, and University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.
The case in the competition involved a Midwestern manufacturing plant of a displays for magazines, candy, and other sundries for retailers such as Wal-Mart, where performance was lagging and the plant was facing bankruptcy. The student teams were to recommend a course of action to save this business from bankruptcy with no capital budget allotted and a time frame of twelve months to implement their proposed solution. The student teams were given the case at 9:00pm on Friday and only had until 11:00am on Saturday to turn in their proposed solution – a three-page report and a five-minute presentation. All 17 student teams presented their solutions to the over 200 people in attendance and were evaluated on their written report and presentation by a team of APICS judges.
The NIU student team was presented with a second place certificate and a check for $700 from Nicholas M. Testa, the international APICS President. The cash prize will be used by the NIU student APICS chapter for educational purposes. As their faculty advisor, I am extremely proud of Doug, Kyle, Matt, Danielle, and Jeff. I would also like to thank the Fox River Chapter of APICS, especially Mike Loughman, Tom Maley, and Len Ollearis for their support of the NIU student APICS chapter.
On Saturday February 5th 2005, Erica Creen, Brandon Dirksen, Parveen Usman, and Heath Wood won the 10th Annual APICS Regional Student Case Competition at the Double Tree Conference Center in Downers Grove, Illinois. Erica, Brandon, Parveen, and Heath are majoring in Operations and Information Management at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Students from 13 student chapters of APICS (The Association for Operations Management) participated in this competition including University of Illinois, University of Houston, Ball State University, Eastern Michigan University, Western Michigan University, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, and University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.
The case in the competition involved a Midwestern manufacturing plant of a large automotive parts supplier where performance was lagging and the plant was facing possible closure. The student teams were to recommend a course of action to save this plant from closure with a limited capital budget of $100, 000 and a time frame of six months to implement their proposed solution. The student teams were given the case at 9:00pm on Friday and only had until noon on Saturday to turn in their proposed solution – a three-page report and a five-minute presentation. All 13 student teams presented their solutions to the over 200 people in attendance and were evaluated on their written report and presentation by a team of APICS judges.
The NIU student team was presented with a first place certificate and a check for almost $1,000 from Tom Krupka, the national APICS President. The cash prize will be used by the NIU student APICS chapter for educational purposes. The Department is proud to recognize this outstanding achievement of Erica, Brandon, Parveen, and Heath, and the contribution of their faculty advisor, Charles Petersen, Associate Professor in the OM&IS Department. We would also like to thank the Fox River Chapter of APICS, especially Mike Loughman, Tom Maley, and Dave Otto for their support of the NIU student APICS chapter.
