PSCM students at Independent Activities Period ( IAP )

A GROUP of Malaysian students from the Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation (MISI) travelled to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States to take part in the Independent Activities Period (IAP) between Jan 14 and Feb 1.

The 14 Malaysian students are currently studying part-time for their Masters of Science in Supply Chain Management (PSCM) programme at MISI.

They qualified to attend the IAP after meeting three key criteria. These are a high cumulative grade point average (GPA), completion of half of the PSCM programme and substantial progress on their research project.

As a reward for their achievements, MISI paid for their airfare and accommodation to attend the three-week MIT conference, known as the IAP.

At the IAP, the students have met over 200 high achieving students from the MIT Global SCALE network centres in the US, Spain, Columbia, Luxembourg and China.

The IAP is a unique three-week MIT semester, which gives students the freedom to choose from a diversity of programmes that include exercises and simulation games, intensive interaction with industry, presentations by business experts, poster sessions and academic lectures and seminars.

World-class leaders in the field of Supply Chain Management have given academic lectures and seminars to students demonstrating a practical perspective on real-world and leadership issues.

There have also been a number of site visits with industry leading companies in order to view supply chain and logistics systems and processes. The PSCM Programme is offered by MISI. Materials manager Tham Yen Lai said the IAP has been an amazing journey.

“We learnt from the great academicians and global industry speakers, sharing our Supply Chain knowledge and skills with our colleagues and management teams.“Applying optimisation and dynamic concepts to improve efficiency in the workforce,” he said. Tham said the the master’s program with the MIT Global Scale Network is “worth a million dollars”!

Logistic income manager Edmund Chong said his target when he signed up for the programme was to come to MIT as this was the opportunity of a lifetime to be able to study there.“Fast forward two years, I was selected to be part of MISI’s convoy to MIT in January.

“I was excited because I have accomplished my dream of coming to MIT for studies and I can understand why this is such a great place to study,” he said.Control Tower and division head Rajewi Ratha Krishnan said that the programme has opened up plenty of opportunities and enhanced her know how of logistics and procurement.

“I am who I am today because of MISI,” said Rajewi. Senior section manager Ian Kree Ensalie Mambak said the IAP is the icing on the cake.

“I could network with like-minded supply chain professionals from around the world and learn from invited speakers and MIT scientists who are the best in their fields,” he said.