The Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams (QUEST) Program held its 9th Annual QUEST Practicum Presentations on Friday, December 5, at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Inside Van Munching Hall, clusters of purple and white balloons with a silver star on top decorated the lobby, while outside, the Washington, D.C. area enjoyed its first snowfall of the season.
The snow did not deter David Mitchell and Mike Gager of LogicTree nor Gene MacFarlane of Global eXchange Services from attending the gala. They represent two of QUEST's seven corporate sponsors, which also include Honeywell, SAS Institute, Baltimore Gas & Electric, Systems Flow, and PHH Arval.
Dean Howard Frank was also in attendance. In his opening remarks, he lauded QUEST as "the finest program of its kind anywhere."
Undergraduates from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the A. James Clark School of Engineering, and the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences apply to QUEST in the second semester of their freshman or sophomore year.
The multidisciplinary curriculum, which includes Total Quality Management and Six Sigma, is the only one of its kind in the country. The program culminates with The Total Quality Practicum, a course that gives QUEST students real-life consulting experience working with corporate clients.
This year's projects include:
- Implementing quality assurance surveillance plans for compliance with performance-based contracts at Systems Flow, Inc.
- Standardizing software testing for LogicTree.
- Gathering and interpreting the business requirements for a new sales force automation system for Global eXchange Services.
- Evaluating the information needs of schools in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to improve product development for SAS.
- Migrating business processes from paper to digital imaging to improve productivity at PHH Arval.
- Developing a spreadsheet model to estimate the future costs of international operations for Systems Flow, Inc.
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.