September 21, 2017

University of Maryland Tackles Intermodal Challenge, Comes Up with Win

CALVERTON, MD, September 21, 2017 — An undergraduate team fielded by the University of Maryland won the Intermodal Association of North America's seventh Intermodal EXPO Academic Challenge in Long Beach, Calif. It was their third victory.

The students representing the University were Andrew Keenan, Taylor Judge and Nicholas Giannascoli. Each team responded to a case study challenge focused on mitigating congestion at marine terminals. A panel of judges comprised of IANA Board members evaluated the presentations and selected the winning university.

"The Academic Challenge provides students with an opportunity to address real-world intermodal problems and to advance their solutions before a panel of industry experts," said Dr. Tom Corsi, professor and director of the Supply Chain Fellows Program at the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business. "The chance to attend Intermodal EXPO is equally valuable in terms of exposing students to the industry, providers and working professionals."

The other competing undergraduate schools, all IANA Scholarship Award recipients, included Georgia Southern University, SUNY Maritime College, and the Universities of North Florida, North Texas and Wisconsin-Superior. The competition is an integral part of IANA's Scholarship Award Program which supports the development of academic curriculum designed to meet the need to educate tomorrow's intermodal leaders.

"The six competing teams demonstrated a solid understanding of the supply chain, business decision-making and the application of technology to address industry realities," said Joni Casey, president and CEO of IANA. "I congratulate the University of Maryland, my alma mater, for their win."

Since the Scholarship Program's inception in 2007, IANA has awarded over $1.8 million to support students in university programs focused on freight and intermodal transportation. These grants seek to progress the education of the intermodal freight transportation industry's next generation of leaders and managers.

IANA's roster of more than 1,000 corporate members includes railroads, ocean carriers, ports, intermodal truckers and over the-road highway carriers, intermodal marketing and logistic companies, and suppliers to the industry. This roster gives IANA a unique position within the intermodal community, one which is authoritative, holistic and able to affect change that benefits everyone. For more information, visit www.intermodal.org.