Awards And Certifications From Oct. 17
Wayne State Alum Wins Dissertation Prize: A 2012 Wayne State University College of Engineering alumnus, Farshid Azadian, was presented with the 2013 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Transportation Science and Logistics Society's Best Dissertation Prize for the Aviation Applications Section at the INFORMS annual meeting, held recently in Minneapolis. Azadian's winning dissertation is titled "An Integrated Framework for Freight Forwarders: Exploitation of Dynamic Information for Multimodal Transportation." He was co-advised by WSU industrial and systems engineering professors Alper Murat and Ratna Babu Chinnam. According to the chair of the Dissertation Prize Committee, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Amedeo Odoni, Azadian's work has the potential to significantly impact multimodal transportation on scheduled time-dependent stochastic networks. Azadian, who now serves as a tenure-track faculty member at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University College of Business in Florida, joins an elite group of recent top-winners from institutions such as the University of Michigan, MIT, Georgia Tech and Northwestern University. Throughout October, the Wayne State College of Engineering celebrates its 80th anniversary. For more information on anniversary events and activities, visit https://engineering.wayne.edu/news.php?id=12520.
Michigan Tech wins diversity award: For the second year, Michigan Technological University has been recognized nationally for its efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive campus. Michigan Tech received the 2013 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, one of only 55 universities honored. Michigan Tech will be featured with other award recipients in the magazine's November issue. Michigan Tech received the HEED award because of a number of initiatives. For example, Michigan Tech is actively working to increase the number of highly qualified women students who enroll. Historically, women have been underrepresented, but dramatic strides have been made especially in the College of Engineering, which reflected an all-time high of 906 women this semester. Fall 2013 overall enrollment numbers indicate that females now represent 26 percent of the entire student body. The University's goal is to increase the number of women students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics to 35 percent by 2020. Michigan Tech is committed to continuing to improve the environment on campus through a number of educational initiatives for faculty, staff and students. A bias literacy class is mandatory for faculty who participate on a hiring search committee. Cultural competency training for student leaders (Orientation team leaders, residence assistants, etc.) makes students aware of their own attitude and behavior and encourages them to address their own biases in order to influence others. Topics include diversity, intercultural communication, power and privilege, and conflict management. More at www.mtu.edu.
Ann Arbor Spark Awarded IEDC Excellence Award for New Media Marketing: Ann Arbor Spark said Thursday it had been honored for its new media marketing efforts with a Gold Excellence in Economic Development Award from the International Economic Development Council. Details on Ann Arbor Spark's new media marketing strategy are offered in a new video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwemMhzhulw. Spark's integrated marketing plan is designed to deliver consistent messaging across a range of new media: Social media, online newsletters, website, videos and podcasts. As part of a new, strategic approach to marketing, Ann Arbor Spark integrated new media with traditional marketing platforms, including print collateral materials, press releases, email campaigns, direct communication with stakeholders and clients, and information boards at its incubators.
