Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) IIP-1266013; Clemson University; William Ferrell IIP-1265999; Virginia Tech; Kimberly Ellis
This is a proposal to renew the participation of Clemson University and Virginia Tech in the Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) for another five years (Phase II). The lead institution is the University of Arkansas (Phase III), and at present also includes the Oklahoma State University, the University of Missouri, Arizona State and the University of California, Berkeley.
The Center for Excellence in Logistics and Distribution (CELDi) is an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) that works with its member organizations to address complex research problems in logistics and distribution. The mission of CELDi is to enable member organizations to achieve logistics and distribution excellence by developing meaningful, innovative, and implementable solutions that provide a significant return on investment. CELDi delivers on the I/UCRC promise of high-yield results by exploiting leveraging and synergy in multiple funding sources like individual member organizations, a pool of member organization fees, and competitive funding from the NSF to conduct both specific and generalized, basic research. In addition, CELDi provides the foundation and structure for educating the next generation of engineers in logistics and distribution systems.
There are two important broader impacts of CELDi. The first is that the Center has developed a model for applied research conducted within member facilities and focused on operational issues that produce academically relevant scholarship and successfully transfer results to assist the members in achieving logistics and distribution excellence. The second is the impact on students. The Center has created a number of mechanisms to develop student researcher skills including one-on-one mentoring sessions, group mentoring sessions, a best-poster contest judged by the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB), and ensuring more informal interactions occur between students and the IAB by pairing for lunch and roundtable discussions. The Center also intends to continue its efforts to increase the pool of talented students from under-represented groups by actively recruiting and engaging such students.
