Twenty-one Cal Poly engineering students presented their research at the annual Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers conference in Atlanta, Georgia — the most Cal Poly students to attend the event to date.
They were accompanied by three College of Engineering faculty members and were guided by four advisers throughout the research process — Puneet Agarwal, Mohamed Awwad, Jill Speece and Zhiyuan Wei.
Awwad was also honored with the IISE 2025 Outstanding Regional Faculty Advisor Award for his role with Cal Poly’s IISE club.
The regional award recognizes advisers who have demonstrated substantial contributions to their university’s IISE chapter by supporting student activities through excellence as a teacher, adviser and mentor.
Awwad was recognized at the 2025 conference along with Cal Poly’s IISE student chapter for the club’s leadership efforts throughout the 2024-25 academic year.
In addition to all 21 students presenting their project and research, each of them volunteered at the conference, helping to organize the event, run attendee registration and manage the help desk.
“This is the Cal Poly engineering students’ way of giving back to the professional community,” Awwad said.
This year, Cal Poly had the largest cohort to date, made possible by a wide range of supporters. Some of the groups that contributed to Cal Poly’s participation in the 2025 conference include the College of Engineering, the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Industrial Advisory Board, the National Science Foundation and the Cal Poly Office of Graduate Education, as well as individual support from friends of the College of Engineering, staff and faculty members.
“We are thankful for the widescale support we received that contributed to making this the largest delegation of Cal Poly IME students at any conference and, arguably, one of the largest delegations at the event among all university students in attendance,” Awwad said. “Dr. Jill Speece and I have been co-leading the organization of Cal Poly IME participation and travel to the annual IISE conference since the 2023 event in New Orleans, Louisiana, representing the IME department as a whole.”
The cohort is getting a head start by preparing for the 2026 IISE conference in Arlington, Texas, where they plan to connect with other industrial and manufacturing engineers and share their latest research.
The following students represented Cal Poly at the 2025 IISE annual conference:
- Darla Doell
- Tillman Erb
- Michael Grandi
- Blake Hassler
- Kristen Ho
- Ryan Hofmann
- Jake Howard
- Ryan Keany
- Justin Koida
- Zack Kramer
- Madhavan Krishnan
- Chandler Kuhn
- Owen Lassa
- Beau Lefferdink
- Steven Lin
- Lauren McGrath
- Madison Pierce
- Nicholas Quattrocchi
- Luke Ramos
- Ally Reichel
- Brady Schroth
By Taylor Villanueva
