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Students in the Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Collin College are turning up the heat this summer! Noah Noronha, David Kadari, and Ibrahim Amin – students entering their sophomore year – won third place in the Lean Six Sigma Competition at the 10th North American Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) held in Orlando, Florida, last month.

“We are immensely proud of our academy students and delighted to see their hard work and dedication pay off,” said Dr. Neil Matkin, Collin College district president. “The academy has demonstrated consistent success since its inception in 2024, and the students’ participation in the conference is a testament to the academy’s academic rigor and the faculty’s mentorship and commitment to student development.”

Noronha, Kadari, and Amin participated virtually in the Lean Six Sigma Competition, which recognizes outstanding Lean and Six Sigma case studies. The students’ “Lean Six Sigma in Radiology" paper was judged based on technical content and presentation. The competition rubrics included overall content, data analysis and results, presentation skills, knowledge of the topic, and question responses.

“What these students have been able to accomplish as rising sophomores in the Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Collin College is nothing short of remarkable,” said LaTasha Starr, professor of practice at the Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Dallas College. “As their undergraduate research advisor, I am honored to help them establish a legacy of engineering discovery, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed publications they will be able to leverage throughout their academic and professional journey for years to come.”

According to the IEOM Society, the conference’s mission is to provide a forum for academics, researchers, and practitioners to exchange ideas and recent developments in the field of industrial engineering and operational management. It aims to foster networking, collaboration, and joint effort among participants to advance the field’s theory and practice.

Brian Zornig, another professor of practice at the Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Collin College, shared his excitement about the academy students’ participation at the conference.

“Their willingness and ability to successfully compete in a national ‘real-life applications’ competition while balancing the rigors of a top-notch, first-year engineering program is nothing short of amazing,” Zornig said. “These students have very bright engineering futures.”

The research paper will be available in the IEOM Conference Proceedings and accessible through academic databases and indexing services. The proceedings will be submitted for evaluation in the Web of Science Conference Proceedings Citation Index.

To learn more about the Texas A&M Academy at Collin College, visit www.collin.edu/tamuengineering.

Collin College serves more than 60,000 credit and continuing education students annually and offers more than 200 degrees and certificates, including a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), a Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Cybersecurity, a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Construction Management, a Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Clinical Operations Management, and a new Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) in Software Development. The only public college based in Collin County, Collin College is a partner to business, government, and industry, providing customized training and workforce development. For more information, visitwww.collin.edu.

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Photo caption:

Texas A&M Engineering Academy at Collin College, third-place winners of the Lean Six Sigma Competition from left to right: Noah Noronha, David Kadari, and Ibrahim Amin.

Photo courtesy of Collin College, photographer Nick Young

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