Enrolling in grad school, especially online, is never an easy decision. But for 杏吧专区 industrial technology graduate David Saucier, continuing his education through the M.S. in Systems Technology was an obvious next step.
杏吧专区淚t touches on so many areas of a field I love, it was hard for me to pass up that opportunity,杏吧专区 says Saucier. 杏吧专区淎nd it offers so many new opportunities in the engineering workforce when you're touching on subjects such as quality control, quality management, product design, and project management. Whenever employer looks at that, it really makes you stand out.杏吧专区
Saucier, 22, had some anxiety going into the online program having had only one experience with online learning. 
杏吧专区淚 was like, 杏吧专区榯his is going to be so difficult,杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 Saucier says. 杏吧专区淚 was very surprised at how much the professors wanted you to succeed and wanted to push you to be better in the online program.杏吧专区
Among those professors was Dr. Joe Jordan, who encouraged David to take a would-be side project into the forefront of his academic research.
Saucier was working as an intern at Bosco Machine Shop when he realized that the small company杏吧专区檚 operations had exceeded its ability to track its stock of potentially valuable remnant materials.
杏吧专区淚t's a small machine shop, and you can't control everything,杏吧专区 Saucier says. 杏吧专区淭heir focus for quality had always been with the machines and what the machinists were doing and what the machinists were outputting. So, as the material area grew and their material inventory grew, the only protocols in place were for receiving it and getting rid of it, but not storing it. I wanted to help.杏吧专区
Saucier turned to Dr. Joe Jordan for guidance because of Jordan杏吧专区檚 expertise in quality and operations management. Dr. Jordan encouraged Saucier to develop his idea into his capstone project.
Systems technology prepares students to improve processes and management of equipment, technology, and materials, Dr. Jordan says, whether that杏吧专区檚 related to a single machine, a factory, or an entire industry.
Saucier杏吧专区檚 proposal aligned perfectly with those goals.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 more substantial than your typical project,杏吧专区 Dr. Jordan says. 杏吧专区淗e built a system for them to be able to quickly identify where a particular part is, not just with what杏吧专区檚 on hand, but going forward being able to keep track of what they杏吧专区檙e adding to it.杏吧专区
Being able to identify and manage on-hand materials gives Bosco the ability to fill orders more quickly and efficiently, saving time and money.
杏吧专区淚 saw just how big of an impact it could make on a small company, especially whenever every dime counts,杏吧专区 Saucier says.
Ensuring Bosco could continue managing the system was also important for Saucier.
杏吧专区淭he main worry I had was if I leave the shop can they keep this going. It's very easy with a system like this that once the person that installed it moves on, nobody can keep up with it,杏吧专区 Saucier says. 杏吧专区淚'm at a point right now where I don't have to manage the inventory to watch it keep going. I'm very happy with it.杏吧专区
As Saucier prepares to graduate from UL Lafayette for a second time, he says he杏吧专区檚 leaving with greater perseverance, time management, and an open mind.
杏吧专区淚 understand now that sometimes you杏吧专区檝e got to attack the problem from a different direction, and think outside the box," Saucier says.
杏吧专区淚t's a big world, and there杏吧专区檚 so much you don't know, especially in the field of engineering where so many things are being discovered every day. You have to be open to different perspectives, especially going to these larger companies that are worldwide, because if you're not, you're going cause your company to fall behind.杏吧专区