Norcross (Metro Atlanta), Georgia. Evren Ozkaya, Ph.D. candidate in the Georgia
Institute of Technology, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering has been
awarded the John L. Imhoff Scholarship for his excellence in academic and professional
achievement and dedication to the industrial engineering profession by the
Institute of Industrial Engineers. Ozkaya is the first recipient of this distinguished
scholarship.

Evren stands out among the crowd of research and professorial assistants in
that he can see the global application of process improvement. His research
and contributions span Asia, the United States and Europe. He has worked on
cost reduction, supply chain management, logistics and RFID (Radio Frequency
ID) programs in all three countries, excelling in each area. Evren combines
community work with organizations such as UNICEF, practical research inside
major corporations with teaching. He organized international seminars, a case
study tournament, and a career project for the "European Students of Industrial
Engineering and Management" association comprised of 66 universities in 22
countries as a means of promoting the profession.

He is currently a Teaching Assistant of "Supply Chain Modeling:
Manufacturing and Warehousing" class at Georgia Tech. His references for this
award pointed out Evren's dedication, motivation and initiative, stating his "leadership
and organizational skills are remarkably fine tuned." He was referred to as
an "ambassador for expanding the impact of industrial engineers worldwide".

Evren holds his undergraduate degree from Bilkent University in Turkey where
he placed 54th among 1.5 million students. He completed his Masters at Georgia
Tech and is in process of completing his Ph.D.
program at Georgia Tech. IIE is proud that Evren was nominated and selected
for this award because he exemplifies the qualities that the late John L. Imhoff
desired to honor with this scholarship.

IIE is the world's largest professional society dedicated solely to the support
of the industrial engineering profession and other individuals involved with
improving quality, processes and productivity in all industry segments. Founded
in 1948, IIE is an international, non-profit association that provides leadership
for the application, education, training, research, and development of industrial
engineering processes and tools. www.iienet.org.
IIE also has a student chapter at Georgia Tech.