December 12, 2019

Students attend Freight Transportation Symposium, tour Boston Scientific Corporation

UW-Superior and St. Cloud State University students and faculty at Boston Scientific.

Six University of Wisconsin-Superior Transportation and Logistics Management (T&L) and Supply Chain Management students, along with professor Dr. Richard Stewart and assistant professor Dr. Daniel Rust, recently attended the 22nd annual Freight Transportation Symposium in Minneapolis. The symposium is jointly sponsored by the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals. The theme of this year’s half-day session was “Natural Disaster Disruption in the Freight System.”

The keynote presenter, Jeffrey Dorko, assistant administrator for logistics at FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, discussed replacing and restoring capacity in supply chains affected by natural disasters.

Following the keynote, a panel of representatives from public and private sectors shared perspectives on infrastructure resiliency opportunities and challenges. In addition, Bethany Stich from the University of New Orleans Transportation Institute spoke on lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina. Tod Campbell and John McClellan from the Minnesota Department of Transportation offered insights on disaster response, recovery and resiliency, including lessons learned from the Twin Ports flood of 2012.

After the symposium, UW-Superior students joined Sarah Sengupta, St. Cloud State University assistant professor, and a group of students from SCSU’s operations management program for a tour of Boston Scientific’s facilities in Roseville, Minn. Sengupta is a member of UW-Superior’s T&L advisory board, and the two universities’ student clubs engage in joint activities on a regular basis.

Boston Scientific personnel gave a talent acquisition and university relations presentation with Q&A. This was followed by an overview of global supply chain operations at Boston Scientific.

“During a tour of the warehouse and manufacturing facilities, the students were amazed by the extraordinary quality of the people, process and products,” said Stewart. “Boston Scientific is an example of an integrated state-of-the-art supply chain.”

UW-Superior and St. Cloud State University students and faculty at Boston Scientific.