When nearly 5,000 practitioners, educators, students and chapter leaders gather in Las Vegas on October 6-9 for the annual conference of APICS, The Educational Society for Resource Management, Conestoga College representatives will not only be there; they will be stars.
Four current Business Administration - Materials and Operations Management students at Conestoga have received scholarship funds from APICS to attend the event, in recognition for their achievements and their leadership in the Conestoga APICS student chapter, the second largest student chapter in North America.
In addition, a faculty member has been chosen winner of the annual APICS International Student Mentor Award, and a recent graduate has been named winner of the annual APICS International Student Voluntary Service Award.
The Conestoga delegation will depart for Las Vegas on October 4 and return on October 10. The awards presentation event is on Tuesday, October 7 at the Las Vegas Hilton, preceding the keynote address by Lawrence J. Ellison, founder, Chairman and CEO of Oracle Corporation, a world leader in the development and supply of business software and systems.
The four scholarships won by Conestoga students, valued at $350 US each, are among only 40 such scholarships awarded this year. Winners are third-year, co-op students Thee Bounkeuth of Kitchener, Mary Ann Groothuis of Kitchener and Karen Pattison of Guelph, and second-year co-op student Ashley Harrow of Palmerston. All are active in the Conestoga APICS student chapter: Groothuis as President, Pattison as incoming President, Harrow as Vice-President of Programs and Bounkeuth as Co-op Option Representative.
Professor Tracey Lopers, a Waterloo resident who has been on the program faculty for five years, will receive $500 US and a commemorative plaque for being chosen winner of the APICS Student Chapter Mentor Award. The honour recognizes a mentor for outstanding support of a student chapter, leadership and innovation in mentoring activities, student chapter leadership, and contributions to the APICS parent chapter and the educational institution that is chapter site. The Conestoga College chapter is affiliated with the Ontario Grand Valley Chapter of APICS.
Jaymie Berry, Class of 2003, will also receive $500 US and a plaque as winner of the APICS Student Voluntary Service Award. Now with NCR Canada in Waterloo as a buyer, she is a Cambridge resident. While a student, she was an active member of the APICS student chapter executive. Her award recognizes excellent service to the society and the local chapter, effective leadership and involvement, contributions in furthering the professional mandate of the society and community service.
The theme of the Las Vegas conference is Transform Challenges into Opportunities. APICS, The Educational Society for Resource Management, has more than 75,000 individual and corporate members in Canada and the United States, as well as international associates in Europe, Asia, South America, South Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, the society exists to provide and promote professional awareness, development and education for resource managers in business, industry and the public sector.
At Conestoga, the Business Administration - Materials and Operations Management program is a three-year, diploma-level program featuring an optional co-op education component. Students gain the skills and knowledge for careers in the highly specialized and expanding fields of production and inventory control, purchasing, traffic management of goods and supplies, logistics and value analysis. The program emphasizes all five of the basic management functions: planning, organization, staffing, co-ordination and control.
CONTACT: Brian Watson, 519-748-5220, ext. 3747, bwatson@conestogac.on.ca