How has your multicultural experience shaped you?

My multicultural experience makes me eager to explore other cultures. I've traveled to about ten different countries in Asia, North America, the Middle East, and Europe, but I'm nowhere near satisfied! 

The best part about visiting new cities and countries is the food. I absolutely love trying the local cuisine! In fact, the food trucks that come to Tech are exciting because you can try different ethnic food. They may not be truly authentic, but it's definitely a nice break from fast food and anything I can cook. 

Most importantly, however, I think my multicultural experience helps me to connect with people of all cultural backgrounds. I am eager to learn from other people's customs and beliefs. 

Why did you choose to enroll and participate in the Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering’s IE undergraduate program? What is your concentration?

As I was researching different universities and exploring various areas of study in my junior year of high school, I initially thought that I wanted to study business. My dad and others advised me to get an engineering degree and then pursue an MBA, so I began looking into getting a bachelor's degree in engineering. It was then that I found out about industrial engineering, and it seemed to be a perfect fit for me!

After deciding to major in IE, choosing to come to Tech was an easy choice. After all, what better place to study industrial engineering than the school with the best industrial engineering program in the nation? 

I couldn't be happier to have chosen to study IE at the Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering. I absolutely love what I study, and this school has challenged me in amazing ways!

My concentration is in supply chain engineering, but I'm still interested in exploring the other concentrations offered here.

What aspects of the program do you find to be the most beneficial? 

Thanks to ISyE, I think studying queues are exciting and solving problems using linear and integer programs extremely rewarding! 

One thing that I really appreciate about the ISyE program is that the undergraduate curriculum is laid out really well. The sequence of classes flows in a way so that you're always equipped with the tools and skills to take the subsequent class. I also like how we take more computer science classes than other engineering majors -- programming is such a useful skill! The curriculum also offered me the flexibility to minor in Japanese without taking any extra classes.

You are a scholar and an activist.  Why is public service in general important to you?

That's a great question. I could talk for hours on this subject, but I'll try to explain my views in a couple of minutes.

The surface level answer is that, as Edmund Burke said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." As educated people, I believe we have the responsibility to use our education not only to benefit ourselves but also to "triumph over evil."

The underlying principles that drives this philosophy is that I believe that God created all of us in His image to love Him and love others. We can love others by respecting them, and injustice occurs when we do not do this. This causes people to believe lies about themselves, others, and God instead of living out who they were truly created to be and reaching their potential. 

The good news is that we can partner with God to heal the brokenness in the world, and that's why I think public service is important!

Tell us a little about your involvement in One Voice Atlanta.  What inspired you to devote your time to this particular project?  What are your projects?

At my high school, Christian Academy in Japan, the focus of our senior year was completing the Senior Comprehensives project. Each student had to research the causes, effects, and possible solutions to a global issue that they were passionate about. I chose to study women's rights in the Middle East, and through that journey, I learned about countless atrocities that women and children are subject to around the world. The book Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn was a crucial part of this journey. 

I knew that I wanted to continue being a part of empowering women at college, and while researching student organizations at Georgia Tech the summer before my first semester here, I found One Voice Atlanta. Since then, I have become extremely passionate about freeing women and children trapped in the sex industry. 

Since my sophomore year here, I have been serving as the Vice President of External Affairs. My role is to serve as a liaison between Georgia Tech students and our non-profit partner organizations working on the front lines of this issue. Last year I realized that there was a gap between students who were passionate about ending sex trafficking but didn't know where to begin or wanted to go beyond college fundraisers and awareness events, and non-profit organizations that rely on volunteers for their day-to-day operations. To fill this gap I decided to establish a volunteer program with Wellspring Living. The program was successful last year, and my committee and I have been working hard to expand this program this semester.

You have said that after graduating you want to work to end sex trafficking. What do you see yourself doing?

I know that I want to apply my industrial engineering skills to help end sex trafficking, but I'm still not sure how that will play out. However, I do have two examples I like to give people to help them understand how this is possible.

Freeset is a fair trade business based in Kolkata, India that employees women who are able to leave the sex industry. Freeset produces bags and shirts, and these women are a part of all aspects of the manufacturing process. It's interesting because the organization chooses not to be efficient in some areas so that they can employ more women. It's almost like reverse industrial engineering, but I love the idea of using business to free women from sexual slavery!

Another example I like to give is of Palantir Technologies. Palantir specializes in discovering and analyzing data through powerful software which their Philanthropic Engineering Team uses “to address the problem [of human trafficking] in two ways: to respond to victims’ needs in real time, and to analyze the aggregated incident data to understand the reach of trafficking networks.”
 

How has Georgia Tech helped support you in your public service endeavor?

Georgia Tech has opened my eyes to non-traditional ways of fighting for social justice; it has shown me how technology and engineering can be used for social good. 

Tell us more about yourself and especially something few people know about you.

I love to read. In fact, I'm really looking forward to winter break so that I can curl up with a couple of good books. 

CQ: What inspires your philanthropy generally, but also to Georgia Tech in particular?

BG: Back in 1994, Penny and I established the George Family Foundation as a way of giving back the money we were fortunate enough to earn through our work, particularly the time I was at Medtronic, when the stock price went up some 40 times. We were the beneficiaries of that, and we feel an obligation to give back. Our two sons have already received outstanding educations and are off on their own successful careers. We feel that the money we’ve earned should go back, to go toward making this world a better place. My wife Penny has had a particular interest in integrative medicine and integrative health, and I’ve had an interest in building better leaders for business and nonprofits. Our foundation has focused on those areas. We see Georgia Tech as an opportunity to advance both of those interests, through our work in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), in health systems, and also bioengineering and bioscience. We’ve tried to contribute to building all of those, because they are such vital parts of educating engineers and scientists for the future. I am proud of Penny, who has served as president of the foundation since 1998. Her leadership has been vital, and we make all of our philanthropic decisions together.

CQ: How did Georgia Tech shape your life?

BG: I came to Georgia Tech from Michigan. I had just turned 18. And, it’s where I grew up. Georgia Tech is the place where I matured, as a person. Its values shaped me. Relationships shaped me. I think I learned more about working with and leading people at Georgia Tech than I have at any time in my life before or since. And that really opened the door for me to improve myself as a human being and a leader. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to be involved in a number of Georgia Tech student organizations, from the student council to ODK to the Technique staff, and particularly my fraternity, Sigma Chi. That helped contribute to my development, and I want to give back, and see those opportunities be available to other young men and women who are coming through Georgia Tech these days, and in the future — not only to become good scientists and engineers, but also to become great leaders who can lead great enterprises. I think the school is doing that, and has done it historically, because unlike a lot of technical schools, it does turn out tremendous numbers of leaders. We want to support that any way we can.

CQ: What is your vision for Georgia Tech’s future?

BG: I see Georgia Tech emerging as one of the great engineering and scientific educational institutions in the world. It is developing people from all over the United States and all over the world who go there to receive an education, to collaborate and work together to create breakthroughs in science and engineering, and to make this world a better place. They are focused on really critical areas like energy and the environment, health care, transportation, logistics, and information technology — all the things that Georgia Tech can do so well. As a global institution, it’s necessary that Georgia Tech have relationships with other great global institutions, and the ability to collaborate. One of the unique things about Georgia Tech, in my experience, is the capacity of the faculty in multiple disciplines to work together. Many academic institutions are very segmented. Today’s really tough problems require a multidisciplinary approach and a systems approach, and that’s why I think ISyE is so important as a place to bring together those multidisciplinary approaches from across Georgia Tech.

CQ: Is there anything you would like to add?

BG: When I first became aware that Georgia Tech had one of the highest percentages of alumni giving, I thought that was remarkable, especially for a public school. I think that participation rate is really critical. So I want to encourage every alumnus and alumna to give back to the Institute on a regular basis. You can’t take it with you. And where else can you make a better contribution to helping those who come along after you? Also, this year I have the privilege of chairing the Georgia Tech Advisory Board. It’s a great opportunity for many of us who have been involved with the school to come together twice a year and meet with the president, the vice presidents, and key members of the staff to look at all the ways that we can build Georgia Tech for the future.

This interview first appeared in the the summer 2014 Georgia Tech Campaign Quarterly.

How did you become a patent attorney after earning your bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Tech?

Just by chance. I had no idea about patents when I was at Tech.  I interviewed with General Motors at the job placement center during my senior year, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office also happened to have an opening for an interview that day. I interviewed, was given a job offer and accepted because I thought the Washington, D.C., area would be a nice place to live. While working for the government during the day, I went to law school at night and got my law degree. Working as an examiner was some of the best training I could have received prior to becoming a patent attorney.

What do you do as a patent attorney and principal at your law firm?

As a major part of my job, I draft and obtain utility and design patents, as well as trademarks, for my clients. I also have to advise them on how to maximize their protection and to avoid infringing on the rights of others. Not only do I get to use my technical and writing skills from Tech when handling applications, but I also use sales and marketing techniques to obtain clients, and management skills in the daily operation of my firm. While my firm was founded only eight years ago, we are one of the top five firms in the country for design patents and have become the 31st-ranked firm in the country for obtaining utility patents, according to Intellectual Property Today. I work with clients throughout the world.

What exactly is patent prosecution and how is it different than patent litigation?

Patent prosecution obtains patents for clients while patent litigation involves the enforcement of their patent rights. While I have been exposed to both sides of the business, I like the patent prosecution area. Every day you have a new puzzle to solve. Whether is it how to distinguish your client’s invention from the prior art or some other problem, there is something new every day. This keeps the job interesting.

How important is it for designers to protect their work legally?

Obtaining protection is critical because designers put so much time and expense into their work. Otherwise, competitors can be free to copy their endeavors. People sometimes do not recognize the scope of protection available. I have filed design patents for type fonts, fabric patterns, computer icons and LED designs. A design does not have to be beautiful or a work of art in order to qualify for protection. It simply needs to be a new, original and ornamental design embodied in or applied to an article of manufacture.

What do designers need to do to protect their work?

At first, designers should keep their designs confidential until a patent application has been filed. The right to file in countries outside the U.S. can be lost if an invention is released to the public before some initial filing. Moreover, the U.S. has certain bars that will arise over time, preventing a designer from obtaining patent protection after the first public disclosure, use, sale, offer for sale or other public release of the invention. A knowledgeable patent attorney can help guide the inventor through the rather complex patenting process. While it is possible for an individual to obtain a patent, an inexperienced person could be overwhelmed or make unnecessary mistakes during the patenting process.

What types of designs can be protected?

Design patents can protect a wide variety of items. For example, I have filed for a “Christmas tree” built from whiskey barrels, a vending machine with a wave-front and even macaroni. However, objects that are hidden in use or whose shape is dictated solely by their function may not be patentable. Such instances rarely occur. Furthermore, if an article is a copy of an already existing, known product, it would not be patentable.

Are there any common misconceptions or myths about design patents?

The biggest myth is that design patents are not worth the effort. However, after the Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. initial verdict of more than $1 billion, there has been a marked increase in design patent awareness. This verdict was based, in part, on infringement of some of Apple’s design patents.

This article first appeared in the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Volume 90, No. 3, 2014.

While Rockwell describes his World Cup experience as the trip of a lifetime, he also couldn’t have anticipated some of the situations he found himself in. On the day of the USA-Germany match, for instance, heavy flooding had washed out all the roads leading to the stadium, and taxis refused to drive them. To make it to the match, Rockwell and his friends had to take two trains and a bus, then they had to walk in a downpour for about two hours.

Yes, he’s that passionate about soccer.

Growing up, Rockwell played soccer constantly and followed its professional ranks as closely as he could living in the U.S. As a Tech freshman in 1992, he joined the Institute’s club soccer team. But soon, Rockwell realized he “needed to start paying for college” and also focus more on his engineering coursework.

That’s when he turned to refereeing.

While still in college, Rockwell began officiating at the collegiate level, eventually working his way up to refereeing ACC tournaments. By the time he earned his degree in 1998, Rockwell had officiated the NCAA men’s soccer Sweet 16 and began to see refereeing as more than a source of income.

“It was a way to still participate in soccer, and a way to do it more fully than I ever imagined,” Rockwell says.

Eventually, Rockwell began looking around for more officiating opportunities. As he neared the completion of his degree, Rockwell started transitioning from the college circuit to the USA Soccer FIFA system.

The switch was far from glamorous: traveling long hours to referee small tournaments in neighboring states, often for very little pay. And the work was year-round, while college soccer is structured in a less-demanding, three-month system. Even so, Rockwell loved the experience.

Meanwhile, he landed a full-time job as an industrial engineer with the Clorox Company in Atlanta. The opportunities opening up in his career might have offered some incentive to focus on engineering alone, but Rockwell continued to chase his passion.

It wasn’t until 2004—six years after graduating Tech—that Rockwell caught what he calls his “big break.” He was working a soccer tournament in Minnesota when someone within the professional refereeing system approached him with some good news.

“I was told I had a chance to do Major League Soccer,” Rockwell says. “That’s when I started really concentrating, trying to make it to the next level.”

Rockwell stuck to a strict workout regimen, and he continued burning his vacation days with Clorox to work various tournaments and matches across the country. The commitment paid off: In 2005, Rockwell qualified to be a MLS referee and he’s been officiating at that level ever since.

As his soccer refereeing dreams took flight, Rockwell’s career at Clorox bloomed. He received a series of promotions that elevated him from engineering to management.

Even as his day job responsibilities have increased, Rockwell maintains a busy schedule with MLS. He typically works MLS matches on three weekends out of every month during the season, with some Wednesday night matches mixed in. The engineer said the logistics can be tough, but he’s found a way to make it work.

“I’m always honest about my schedule,” Rockwell says. “I can’t call in sick and show up on ESPN that night.”

The physical demands of officiating have also increased as he’s moved up. According to Rockwell, all USA Soccer FIFA officials have to wear Polar brand sport watches that record their heart rate data and workout regimens. This data has to be downloaded and sent to FIFA on a regular basis to ensure officials remain in top shape. If officials fail to meet certain minimum standards, they are ineligible to officiate the matches.

Rockwell doesn’t just meet the standards set by FIFA—he excels. In 2011, he was named the top assistant referee in Major League Soccer. His resume is strong enough that Rockwell could pursue eligibility to referee at a future World Cup, but the engineer says he’s unlikely to take that step.

Just to be considered to officiate at a World Cup, referees must first endure intensive training and testing, as well as work various tournaments around the globe. Rockwell said he knows of one World Cup ref who had to go to Nigeria for five weeks to work at under-20 tournaments, and afterward had to complete a fitness test in Trinidad.

“I don’t think my job would let me take off five weeks several times a year,” he says. “And in fairness, it isn’t something I’ve asked for, either.”

While the World Cup is not on his radar, Rockwell still hopes to take part in the next World Cup qualifying process, which wouldn’t require the same training or time commitment as a full tournament.

Regardless, Rockwell believes he’s in the perfect work environment to continue living his dream as a soccer official. Germany-based Henkel acquired Rockwell’s division from Clorox in 2003, and Rockwell currently works as the Regional Head of Corporate Audit for North and Latin America. Over the summer, everyone in Henkel’s U.S. offices was carefully watching each Germany match leading up to the team’s World Cup victory.

“Luckily, a lot of the people I report to are soccer fans,” Rockwell says. “They encouraged us to watch the games when Germany was playing, even though many of us were rooting for Team USA.”

This article first appeared in the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Volume 90, No. 3 2014.

Advani and some of his colleagues, however, noticed that the exercise clothing they’d change into afterhours was far more comfortable. It was made from higher tech materials that were designed to react to temperature and moisture. “We all had similar stories,” Advani says. “How can you take that comfort and bring it into the other 23 hours of the day?”

They decided there was no reason their business clothes couldn’t perform as well as their athletic gear. Advani joined Kit Hicken and Gihan Amarairaiwardena to found Ministry of Supply in 2011. The following year the company launched the finished products in its clothing line, which Ministry of Supply dubs “Performance Professional” apparel.

Advani says their clothes are designed for fast-paced people who love what they do and keep a fuzzy line between work and life—and want to look good doing it.

“We get up at 7 a.m., get on a train, car, airplane.”Advani says. “It’s hot outside, cold outside; we meet a friend for dinner; get a drink with a client. Everything is wrinklefree and moisture wicking. People don’t have time to go to the dry cleaner. They don’t want to have to go home and change.”

Advani says Ministry of Supply designs its clothing by blending high-tech fabrics and manufacturing techniques with traditional fashion design. For example, one of the company’s dress shirts is made using phase-change materials, which NASA uses in space suits to regulate body temperature. It stores heat when you’re hot and releases it back to you when you’re cold, Advani says.

The company’s designers also develop their own materials when there aren’t existing products on the market that do what they’d like. “In a lot of ways we think of ourselves more of a product design company then a fashion company,” Advani says.

Advani says another strategy they’ve taken is working with manufacturers who don’t typically produce dress clothes. “One of the challenges we didn’t really anticipate is that most of these techniques exist—they’ve just never existed in this world,” he says.

One of these techniques is called thermal lamination, which Ministry of Supply uses to create a crisp, smooth collar on a dress shirt. Thermal lamination is more commonly used to make things like the bill on the hood of a high-end rain jacket.

“Half the battle is invention and half the battle is application,” Advani says. “One of the major challenges is you’re either training someone who knows these techniques to make a great dress shirt, or teaching an Italian dress shirt manufacturer that’s been around for 200 years to update its technology.

How do you get a dress shirt maker to buy a laser cutter? That’s just not going to happen.”Aesthetics are also very important for the company. Early on, fashion designers were brought in to create a sharp, tailored look. “That’s really the point of all this technology. To make a better garment that’s more suited for your day and makes you feel better when you’re wearing it,” Advani says.

This article first appeared in the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine Volume 90, No.3, 2014.

Deutschler began his career at Siemens, first in their Operations Leadership Development Program, then as an internal consultant focused on operational challenges in manufacturing, supply chain and project management. Then he went on to launch his first of several entrepreneurial projects, Georgia Biodiesel Corporation.  He has since worked on several other startups, and currently works at Deloitte Consulting where he focuses on clients in the energy sector.  Phillip also serves on the board of directors of GUHDO USA Inc. (guhdo.com), an industrial tooling company, where he holds an advisory role.

What was Georgia Biodiesel and what happened?
For those unfamiliar with biodiesel, it is a renewable fuel that is produced from plant oils or animal fats that has valuable applications as an additive in traditional petroleum diesel fuel. It reduces the admissions profile of the fuel while improving the lubricity and other characteristics.

I identified an opportunity to use lower cost raw materials, that weren’t compatible with existing technologies, to produce biodiesel that exceeded international quality standards. Having the raw materials, but no known way to use it was the crux of our initial challenge. So I thought like an IE, rolled up my sleeves and engineered a brand new production technology. The process went against much of the traditional wisdom in the industry, but it worked and it gave us a competitive advantage.

Having successfully piloted and vetted the strategy we continued on and achieved several other noteworthy milestones, including participating in the U.S. Bioenergy Delegation to Germany and even having the groundbreaking of our production plant in Blakely, GA. The project came to a peak at exactly the wrong time. Volatility in the energy market and tight lending practices made it difficult to drum up the necessary financing and I eventually made the tough decision to shut down the project. It taught me a valuable lesson though, sometimes knowing when to walk away from a project is just as important as knowing when to go after one.

What are some of the other entrepreneurial projects you’ve undertaken?
Some of the more noteworthy included a project trying to address the growing education loan market in the U.S., another which worked to identify unconventional applications for mature green-tech solutions and a software company, Everbase (everbase.net), addressing the international data security concerns created by the NSA’s data collection practices. I also did start-up consulting in Germany for several months with a firm called Four Quarters EXIST.

What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those earlier in their careers?
First of all, I think “entrepreneurship” has become a buzzword that is overplayed. In my view, the same skills that make a good entrepreneur – such as identifying and solving problems, being able to execute a project, taking ownership in your work and understanding business from a holistic context – are the same skills that let you excel in corporate environments. That said, there are a few lessons I wish I’d learned earlier.

Don’t treat your age or experience as a liability, make it an asset and own it. The minute you act as though it might be a disadvantage is the same moment others will recognize it as one. Instead, frame it as a strength and leverage it as an asset. Ultimately any idea needs to stand or fall on its own merits and your newness can give you more energy to seek out solutions and increased flexibility to think beyond conventional wisdom. Don’t underestimate the value of disruptive thought.

Also, don’t be greedy. By that, I mean don’t feel the need to own everything and do everything yourself. Seek out and find partners that complement your skill set and treat them fairly. Their personal investment in the project will help ensure their interests align with yours. In the end, a smaller share of a stronger project is more valuable than hundreds or thousands of hours invested in a failed endeavor.

Consulting is a popular career for IEs. Why do you think that is?
I think IEs gravitating towards consulting is purely a function of the core skills the program equips you with. Consultants typically address their clients’ most pressing challenges to help them maneuver an uncertain path. At a most basic level, it comes back to my point earlier about making decisions with a degree of certainty in an uncertain world. There is also a systematic problem solving approach and quantitative perspective that are both extremely valuable. Businesses are relying more and more on data driven analytics to deliver impact. This is something that IE, as a field, does particularly well.

What would you share with students aspiring to join the consulting field?

And for any aspiring consultants, I can share with them a few characteristics that I’ve seen are pretty common across most individuals who excel in the field. First, nail the basics. Having a strong baseline toolbox of quantitative and qualitative skills, such as being able to perform analytics and tell a compelling story, are table stakes to get your foot in the door. Next, be comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty. It is fairly common that you will be engaged to address a challenge that either isn’t fully understood or that actually stems from some seemingly unrelated root cause. Finally, make sure you can be effective in a team-based environment. Most, if not all, work in this field is team based and an essential key to delivering results is the ability to craft solutions that are a composite of multiple perspectives from individuals with diverse personal experiences and skills.

What are two facts about you that would surprise most people?
I’m a passionate equestrian, spending a lot of my weekends tearing through the woods on horseback.

Going into my last year at Georgia Tech I had spent more semesters enrolled abroad than on our Atlanta campus. Most people would probably be surprised to know that was even possible, but between Georgia Tech Lorraine, Language Business and Technology, exchange programs and internships, it somehow happened.

By Lee Burrell, MS SCE 2012

“There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them.” – André Gide, French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1947)

I’m confident that at the essence of every student’s experience at Georgia Tech is the fact that our prestigious institution pushed the boundaries of our comfort zones beyond what we previously thought possible.

My experience of how Tech’s College of Engineering stretched, pulled, yanked, and drove me to be better – personally, professionally, and academically – began on my very first day.

That day started in a packed and ice-cold conference room in the ISyE building, across from the CRC.

As I sheepishly strolled into the room, it finally hit me that I was at the No. 1 industrial engineering program in the entire country (for 23 years in a row, I was keenly aware). I was as tense as someone deathly afraid of heights naively stepping out onto the ledge of the Chicago Skydeck.

My palms felt like a soaked yellow Georgia Tech basketball jersey. My mind raced around in circles like Jeff Gordon’s car at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with questions exploding like those little popper fireworks being thrown on the ground.

What happened if I failed out? How did I even get in? Maybe I should have just gone to the University (sic) of Georgia.

So what does one instinctively reach for when faced with uncertainty and crippling fear? Familiarity, of course! I quickly hashed out a plan to seek someone, anyone, who was feeling as I was – I surely could find someone feeling these same uncomfortable emotions, right? – and we would together wallow in our certainly ill-fated decision. A genius plan, I thought, under the circumstances.

Although I was admittedly a little rusty in my advanced math skills, I was able to calculate after a quick scan of the 42 fresh-faced strangers in the room that I was, in fact, the only one visibly panic-stricken – that or my new friends were all professional poker players. My genius plan was crashing faster than the stock market in 2008.

There I sat, just a country boy from the South with a slight drawl in a room full of sagacious and worldly people, certain I had gotten myself into something that was clearly over my head.

Oh well, I thought – I’m not going down without a fight, fear be damned.

One by one I mustered the courage to introduce myself to these strangers, getting to know each of them.

Like magnets being drawn together, it was these same strangers who quickly became my closest comrades as we toiled over countless sleepless nights on the treacherous front lines of global logistics problems. Our time spent together both in and out of the classroom allowed me to gain a better understanding of vastly different countries and cultures, loves and languages, histories and hopes, and interestingly enough, myself.

Beyond the classroom, I mustered the wherewithal to join numerous campus groups, make new friends through weight training and intramurals (and win the graduate basketball championship, it must be noted), suspend myself on the on-campus ropes courses, and apply my startup to Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center startup incubator (and get accepted). And ironically enough, I wasn’t too shabby in the classroom either. That failure that I feared so much never came to pass; I was able to pass every class, making my mother proud by graduating with a respectable 3.45 GPA.

Since graduating in 2012, I’ve worked on global logistics projects for some of the world’s top companies in a multitude of industries. From Singapore to San Francisco, China to the Czech Republic, India to Indiana, I’ve used the skills I learned at the College of Engineering to positively influence the 3Ps (People, Profits, and Planet).

I’ve also been able to call amazing cities like Chicago, Detroit, and now Calgary home. Each time I’ve relocated for a new role, I’ve moved into cities where I knew no one and had no idea how things might turn out, similar to my first experience at Georgia Tech. Yet each time I’ve met amazing people, gained lifelong friends, had amazing experiences, and grew as a human being.

Over the course of all my new and sometimes scary adventures since that fateful first day at Tech, I’ve come to realize that the unknown is not a cause for fear, but a potentially incredible opportunity to be embraced.

We all experience doubts at times, but what might we miss if we concede control to the monster called fear that lives within each of us? I certainly would have missed out on one of the most enjoyable and enriching experiences of my life – becoming a helluva engineer.

This article first appeared in the Summer/Fall 2014 issue of the Georgia Tech Engineers Magazine. 

The Ellis R. Ott Scholarship is given based on demonstrated ability, academic achievement, industrial and teaching experience in the realm of applied statistics.

The ARCS Scholars Award recognizes outstanding doctoral students who have a record of achievement and who show exceptional promise of making a significant contribution to the worldwide advancement of science and technology. This is the second consecutive year Plumlee has received this award.

Plumlee’s research interests focus on analytics for product and process improvement.  During his time as a student in ISyE, where he also received an M.S. in Statistics,  Plumlee was awarded both the Morris Fellowship as well as the Tennenbaum Fellowship.  Portions of his dissertation work are forthcoming in the Journal of the American Statistical Association and Technometrics.  He is also the recipient of the 2012 INFORMS Quality, Reliability and Statistics Best Paper Award.

Plumlee has been invited to present his work at several conferences including the INFORMS Annual Meeting, the IMS/ASA Spring Research Conference, the Joint Statistical Meetings, the Design and Analysis of Experiments Conference, the NSF CMMI Engineering Research and Innovation Conference.

Prior to coming to Georgia Tech in 2010, he received a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Purdue University where he received the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and the College of Engineering Dean's Choice Award for best poster.

In a recent interview Chow gave us the inside scoop on his summer research and how he is putting his IE skills to the test.

Tell us about the project you are researching?
I am working in cancer genomics, which is an area of biology that looks at how cancer spreads and evolves on a genetic level, primarily through DNA analysis. I'm developing a new algorithm that will analyze cancer gene expression profiles. The practical application of the project is that given a set of biopsy samples from a tumor that a pathologist isn't positive is cancer, we want to use DNA sequencing and an algorithm to determine if the tumor is benign or malignant.

Do you think that your industrial engineering perspective will benefit you in this biology focused field?

I think the industrial engineering perspective is a huge strength in the field. I think that the way we are taught to approach problems with a framework built on analytic tools like statistics, optimization, and simulation are useful because they can applied to most situations. For instance, even though I've learned optimization mostly in terms of classic problems like facility locationing or the diet problem, I'm trying to use the same optimization theory to detect patterns of mutation caused by prostate cancer. Even though I don't have the biology background that most of the others have, the analytical tools that I've learned are flexible enough to be adapted to problems in biology.

Describe an average day in your life as a research intern.
Usually I wake up around 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and head to breakfast. The lab provides food and housing, so we stay on campus and have pretty limited meal times. Usually I try to be in to lab around 9:00 a.m. or earlier, but I don't have strict times. I'll work until lunch at 12:00 noon, take a lunch break with the other students, and then head back to work until dinner around 6:00 p.m. After dinner usually I'll workout (rock climbing with the other URP's if I can) and sometime head back to lab for a few minutes to check on code that is running or do a little bit of work. Usually by that time it's around 11:00 p.m. so I'll head back to the cabin for a little relaxing with the other students before going to sleep around midnight.

What motivated you to apply for this position?
My dad is an engineer who designs medical devices so growing up I've always been exposed to different aspects of the healthcare industry. When I was deciding on a choice of college I wanted a field that could combine biology/medicine and math (but no physics or chemistry!).
After coming to Georgia Tech, I started in the spring of my freshman year doing ecological metagenomics research in Dr. Frank Stewart's Biology Lab to get some experience with wet lab procedures and modern genome work. That summer, I took an internship with Kroger's Operations Research group and got to hear about one of their projects that helped reduce out-of-stock prescription drugs by 1.6 million per year so I was exposed to the role that ISyE could play in the pharmaceutical industry while part of a huge company. The following year and since then, I have joined Dr. Turgay Ayer's research group at ISyE, where I've had various projects studying coronary heart disease using a variety of modelling and simulation techniques. Finally, as the student chapter of Institute of Industrial officer my sophomore year I hosted a bioinformatics event where Dr. Eva Lee came and talked about her work in healthcare and all the super interesting projects she has worked on. All this has given me a ton of exposure and introduced me to the breadth of different opportunities in healthcare. In short, I think it's a combination of the amazing work my dad has done in healthcare, and my opportunities at Georgia Tech and Kroger that have really led me to become passionate about this field.

What are you doing for fun while you are there?
It's amazing! Cold Spring Harbor is about an hour from the city, so in addition to the amazing activities in the city, we are still surrounded by tons of nature. The lab is on a hillside of a decent sized harbor and has hiking trails, a beach, and kayaks so there is the best of the city and essentially a nature preserve. The weather is great and seeing the sun set over the harbor never gets old. For fun we have tons of outdoor recreation options both at the lab and on Long Island, and visiting the city is fun on the weekends. Usually a group of the other student researchers goes into the city to explore, shop, or visit museums every weekend.

You have a lot of outside interests, how do you stay so well rounded?
Growing up my parents and school really instilled in me the importance of being well rounded. My school had activities and programs devoted to improving us physically, socially, academically, artistically, and spiritually. Coming to college and maintaining this 'well-roundedness' was really important for me. I really believe that being well-rounded doesn't mean just doing one or two extra-curricular activities all focused around the same thing so it really comes down to scheduling your time really well. I try to diversify my interests to make myself a better person every day and to that end I've sought out experiences at Georgia Tech that will challenge me in different ways. One of the things that drew me to Georgia Tech was the plethora of opportunities available for students that I didn't see at other schools.

You just graduated in May, what lies ahead?

I will work on wrapping up my research project at school. After being admitted to multiple top Ph.D. programs, I have decided to start the Ph.D. program at University of Chicago Booth School of Business in the fall of 2014.

Tell us a little about your background.  What motivated you to come to Georgia Tech to get your undergrad degree at ISyE?

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Chengdu. It is the largest city located in the south west of China.  Later in my life, I spent six years at Chengdu Foreign Languages School for my junior high school and senior high school. I was amazed by some of the early high school students who directly got into United States for their undergrad degrees, so I also tried to follow their path and applied for to American institutions. I didn't know much about Georgia Tech back then, but I U.S. News and World Reports provided a very good reference. Luckily I got in!

You would like to eventually go to graduate school and become a professor.  When did you decide you wanted to be a professor and why?

I am interested in the research aspect where you have a chance to break through what people haven't solved in the world. It's a different flavor compared with working in the industry.

You have a very intense schedule and have accomplished a lot in the last five years.  It sounds like you are taking advantage of all that Georgia Tech has to offer. How have you juggled two majors, three Ph.D. classes and two research projects and still make outstanding grades?

There are brilliant teachers who teach well. I also have really smart friends at all levels who’ve helped me a lot. In the end, hard work also pays off more or less.

With all your academic activities, do you have free time outside of classwork? If so, what do you do enjoy doing?

Actually quite a lot.  I'm a big fan of our football team. I watched all of the Georgia Tech football games in the past five years either on TV or at Bobby Dodd Stadium. For the home games, I went to the majority of them.  A random but cool thing I did was be one of the bananas in the 2011 Homecoming game against Clemson. Like most of the Tech fans, I hate UGA and always remember the score 45-42 from 2008 game. Early in my college when I have more free time, I enjoyed doing community service project within an on-campus club called Georgia Tech Circle K. I made a lot of nice and cool friends in the club.  During my Co-op and Intern semesters, I like inviting friends to my apartment and cooking food together during the weekends.   I also jog every single weekend and like to travel when I don't have a lot of work on hand.

You mention you were one of the bananas in the 2011 homecoming game against Clemson. What is the banana and do you have a photo of you in the suit?

Well, my previous roommate decided that he wanted to bring a group of friends in banana suits together and go to the homecoming game. It might seem random and stupid to some people, but the experience turned out to be one of the best parts for my college life.

Where is your favorite place on campus?

The best memory at college goes to Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Tell us a little about each of your internships. What did you enjoy most about each of them?

I spent three semesters working as a Software Engineer Co-op at Ventyx ABB. I learnt a lot of technical stuff in programming and modelling. I also learnt to behave professionally in a company. Meeting experienced industry people within the company has helped me a lot in many different aspects. Talking to Georgia tech alumni from previous generations and listening to their story is the best part!

I also spent one summer semester working at Hewlett-Packard. It was the semester when I developed a much better understanding of self-motivation and proactive work attitudes. The experience is simply invaluable.

Tell us about one of the research projects you worked on.

The most recent research project I'm working on is about applying Robust Optimization in Demand Response Scheduling. Advised by Dr. Andy Sun, I had a chance to work on the modeling and simulation aspects of the problems.

What do you consider your biggest achievement? What is the best piece of advice you ever received?

By talking to friends and teachers and listening to their stories, I start to understand what self-motivation is and how it can be applied in work. To me, self-motivation is something that comes from inside. It's about interest, inspiration and proactive attitudes that you have in work.

My view about co-ops has been completely changed by one of my ISyE friends at school. I was actually a very passive worker in my own co-op, someone who stayed in a cycle of getting assignment from manager, finishing them on time and then getting another one. I have never thought about any change because I felt it just went fine. Then I met this cool, smart friend who was working as a co-op at Delta. His daily work at company was generating reports, but somehow he decided and managed to go beyond his assignment, explore something of great potential value, define the problem and consistently work on the problem.  I mean it was just so amazing as how much impact an undergraduate student can have in such a big corporate. I learned from this and applied it in my internship at Hewlett-Packard. The feeling was great. It was like a new world you opened for yourself - full of passions, inspiration, challenges and opportunities.

Finish the sentence: Few people know that…

 1. It takes me 3 years to realize that WR in football means "wide receiver" not "white receiver".

 2. I'm currently a San Francisco 49er fan although I'm in the city of Atlanta.

Alex Berry, second-year IE major and Chinese minor, is the sophomore class president for Student Government Association (SGA). An incredibly active student on Tech’s campus, he is involved in multiple SGA committees and campus events, including this week’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities. When he’s not busy with homework and SGA proposals, Berry can be found on the soccer field, with his many friends or sometimes even napping.

Technique: What do you hope to do with your major in the future?

Berry: I hope to delve into Global Supply Chain and Logistics, eventually transitioning into international business and corporate management.

Technique: What is your favorite aspect of Tech life?

Berry: I love the how easy it was to make friends and to find a ‘family’ here. Coming from a small high school in southwest Georgia, I was a scared of the vastly bigger environment.

Technique: You are currently the sophomore class president. Why did you join SGA your Freshman year?

Berry: When I came to Tech, I knew very little about the school, its history and, most importantly, the amazing people that go here. I wanted to structure my involvements around activities where servant leadership was abound, while simultaneously having the opportunity to get to know my class better. In addition, I wanted to try something completely different from high school—an extracurricular that really helped me come out of my “study bubble.”

Technique: What SGA “cause” is most special to you?

Berry: SGA works on a variety of initiatives and causes for the student body. Hands down, my favorite cause is supporting student organizations! It’s not just about allocating money, but also helping them to connect on the student, club and administrative level. It’s rare that a Student Government has the potential to have so much impact on individual students, as well as such a voice in general campus affairs.

Technique: You are very involved in the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day events. What portion of the events are you most looking forward to?

Berry: So many months of planning has gone into each event, so it’s hard to pick just one. If pressed, I would say that the annual Martin Luther King Day of Service truly embodies many of the values that the late Rev. King Jr. believed in. Every year, the Day of Service connects students and staff in a truly meaningful way.

Technique: What has been the most challenging part of organizing the Martin Luther King Jr. events?

Berry: To be honest, the Martin Luther King Jr. events are my first real attempt at event planning. Logistics, funding, marketing, etc. where all things my planning committee had to help me learn firsthand. Also, there was a major stretch where the committee had to do communication on an international scale, from South America to India to the U.S. That was definitely a new experience.

Technique: What does Martin Luther King Jr. Day mean to you?

Berry: Martin Luther King Jr. Day is much more than a mere day of remembrance. The holiday encompasses a call to action on local and an international scale. That call really resonates with the Georgia Tech Motto of “Progress and Service.”

Technique: Are there any other upcoming events at Tech you are looking forward to?

Berry: First, Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service: Jan. 20. Second, Martin Luther King Sunday Supper: Jan. 23. Third, First Spring Connect with Tech session for our newly accepted Yellow Jackets.

Technique: What is your favorite thing to do at Tech when you’re not in class, studying or working?

Berry: With no hesitation, the answer is fútbol—soccer. I cannot wait to play on the new turf fields (thanks SGA)! I’ll be very blessed to play with the [Tech] Challenge Football Club for this year’s fútbol intramural season.

Technique: How do you balance being a full-time Tech student and being involved at Tech?

Berry: My friends are crucial to helping me maintain the balance between my involvements and academics. Besides always encouraging me to stay involved and make a difference, they also hold me accountable in my classes. Also, I’ve mastered the ability of the “powernap.”

Technique: If you could change anything about Tech, what would it be?

Berry: I think the way that we look at student organization transitions can really be improved. Every year, the vast majority of organizations have to start at ground zero, with new E-board, new projects and lacking experience. A great way to aid in this would be transition workshops for new and established organizations, as well as giving more real leadership and learning opportunities to underclassmen.

Technique: Any advice to students wanting to become more involved around campus?

Berry: When looking to get involved on campus (or off campus), take your time and find something that you are really passionate about, something that wakes you up in the morning and puts a smile on your face. In addition, get outside your comfort zone. Your involvements from high school were important, but they don’t have to completely dictate and limit your activities now.