FALL 2024 NEWS IN BRIEF
Jabil Baja Plant 3 Awarded Shingo Silver Medallion for Operational Excellence
The Shingo Institute, a program in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, proudly announces that Jabil Baja Plant 3, a leading manufacturing facility based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, has been honored with the internationally renowned Shingo Silver Medallion for its commitment to operational excellence. The Shingo Institute recognizes Jabil Baja Plant 3’s dedication to continuous improvement and exemplary operational practices.
“Receipts of the Shingo Silver Medallion signifies not only an organization’s mastery of tools and techniques but also that it has developed mature systems for improving its operations,” says Ken Snyder, executive director at the Shingo Institute.
As part of the globally recognized Jabil corporation, Jabil Baja Plant 3 is emblematic of the company’s vision to become the world’s most technologically advanced and trusted manufacturing solutions provider. With over 140,000 employees across more than 100 facilities in 25+ countries, Jabil leverages nearly 60 years of experience to offer customers access to cutting-edge design and engineering expertise, state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities, and sophisticated supply chain solutions.
USU Names David Jones as Dean for College of Engineering
After a national search, Utah State University has selected David Jones to lead the College of Engineering as dean. Jones will assume the position on October 1, 2024.
“As a trained engineer myself, I can say unequivocally that the fields of engineering are vital for both our state and national economy,” says USU President Elizabeth R. Cantwell. “By bringing in Dr. Jones — a respected expert in the field — we are strategically positioning our College of Engineering for the future. Dr. Jones’s leadership will empower our students to create that future.”
Jones joins USU after serving as a professor in the Biological Systems Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His specializations include mathematical modeling, food engineering, and risk assessment. He has made many contributions in the areas of processing alternative crops, thermochemical conversions, circular bioeconomy systems, and developing models for risk-based decision making.
Jones has held several positions of leadership at his previous institution. Most recently, he served as the department head of the UNL Biological Systems Engineering Department from 2017-2023.
Soda Swap: Utah State’s Logan Campus Switching from Pepsi to Coke
A contract to offer Coca-Cola products at Utah State University’s Logan campus is expected to take effect July 1, following the completion of a 10-year contract with Pepsi.
Contracts like this are a common way for universities to support their missions, according to USU Associate Vice President for Finance and Administrative Services Dwight Davis.
“Partnerships with companies such as Coca-Cola allow USU to increase support for institutional programs which form the basis for providing an exceptional university experience,” Davis says.
USU’s new contract with Coke will include carve-outs that allow the university to enter a contract with Red Bull as well as preserve the ability to sell both Coke and Pepsi products at the QuickStop convenience store in the Taggart Student Center.
The Red Bull contract will include advertising at athletic events as well as retail space on campus. Revenue from both the Coke and Red Bull contracts will support Utah State Athletics.
USU Undergrad Scholars Explore Quantum Dots
USU students Khiara Kinsel and Baahozhooni Little are among 18 Aggie scholars learning about quantum dots and the university’s other research endeavors, as guests in faculty mentor Tuan Trinh’s physical chemistry lab during the 2024 Native American Summer Mentorship Program.
In its ninth year, the program brings early undergrads from the Utah State University Blanding campus to the university’s main Logan campus for a monthlong visit. Participants learn about USU’s broad range of four-year bachelor’s degree programs and experience, firsthand, undergraduate research in varied disciplines. Additionally, the students learn how these programs and experiences are building blocks to graduate and professional school opportunities.
“Quantum dots are semiconductor nanocrystals that are 2-10 nanometers in diameter — about one ten-thousandth the diameter of a human hair,” Trinh says. “They absorb and emit light, and the color they emit is determined by how you manufacture their size and composition.”
In Trinh’s lab, small QD samples glow bright green, yellow, and blue.
USU Breaks Ground for Veterinary Medical Education Building
Utah State University officially broke ground on May 31 for the new Veterinary Medical Education Building on the university’s main campus in Logan.
For some, the building at the northwest corner of 1400 North and 1200 East will be their academic home. For others, including veterinarian and former state legislator Dr. John Mathis and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, it will be the fulfillment of long-held goals.
Mathis sponsored legislation in 2011 that established USU’s School of Veterinary Medicine and participation in the Washington-Idaho-Montana-Utah Regional Program in Veterinary Medicine, but he was driven by more than professional interests: it was about a promise he made to himself decades earlier when he learned that his father had once abandoned his dreams of becoming a veterinarian.
Cox and others echoed the message that large animal veterinary medicine is a critical need in many of Utah’s rural areas and vital to the agricultural industry that contributes $1.82 billion to the state’s economy. Animal agriculture — including beef cattle, dairy cows, poultry, sheep, goats, llamas and other animals — comprises $1.28 billion of that total.
USU President Elizabeth Cantwell noted that the college is built on the “One Health” approach that recognizes that human, animal and environmental health are interconnected.
Chari Hawkins Finishes 21st in Olympics Heptathlon
Former Aggie Chari Hawkins finished 21st with 5,255 points in the heptathlon at the Paris Olympics in the Stade de France on Aug. 8-9. She was unable to clear the bar in the high jump, receiving no points in her second event, but she persevered to finish the remaining five events.
Hawkins started off the competition with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.16. In the high jump, Hawkins received no mark after passing on the opening five heights and failing to clear the bar at 1.71 meters in three attempts. Hawkins placed 17th in the shot put with a mark of 13.64 meters and 15th in the 200 meters with a time of 24.49 to wrap up the first day.
On Friday, Hawkins took 14th in the long jump with a mark of 5.90 meters and 15th in the javelin with a throw of 44.30 meters. Hawkins concluded the heptathlon with a time of 2:15.76 for a finish of 17th in the 800 meters.
Hawkins is the first Utah State alum to compete in the Olympics since James Parker did at the 2004 Athens Games. USU has a rich history of Aggies in the Olympics with L. Jay Silvester being a member of four U.S. Olympic Teams between 1964-1976 and winning the silver medal in the discus at the 1972 Munich Games.
USU Alum, Local Artist Completes Downtown Logan Mural
After watching a video of a girl painting on a wall, Liesl Cannon decided — at 8 years old — to pick up her mom’s acrylic paints and do just the same. But her mom wasn’t home at the time, so the unveiling of her first mural, of sorts, was to come.
“Oh, that looks, nice,” Cannon recounts of her mom’s reaction upon returning home.
Now, all these years later, Cannon had another opportunity to craft a mural — only this time for the public. She recently completed a 7-by-56-foot mural in Downtown Logan that depicts some iconic places in Cache Valley, including her alma mater, Utah State University.
