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LAI to Award First Annual Student Prize to Embry-Riddle Student at Plenary

Worldwide, Cambridge, Mass., April 14, 2006

The concepts and benefits of Lean Enterprise Value can cut across many different industries and enterprises and the first recipient of the Lean Aerospace Initiative’s student prize is a shining example of the potential for lean thinking applications.

LAI will award its first annual Lean Enterprise Value Student Publication Prize at the consortium’s plenary conference in San Antonio to Christopher Hemerly, a graduate student from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Hemerly was named winner of the national competition for his submission of a paper that applies lean concepts to engineering. Hemerly was chosen as the LAI prize recipient earlier this month; he will receive the $500 prize and an engraved memento at the LAI Plenary Conference luncheon on April 20.

“His paper deals with the design of jet engine compressors. He blended lean thinking and technical engineering analysis to come up with cost-effective compressor designs,” said Earll Murman, President of the Lean Enterprise Value Foundation Inc.

“The goals of the prize are to encourage Christopher’s work.” Hemerly obtained his undergraduate degree in Aerospace engineering in 2004 from Embry-Riddle and then began his graduate work. He first learned about the concept of lean thinking though two classes with Dr. Magdy Attia at Embry-Riddle.

“[My paper] Modular Multi-Stage Axial Compressor Design: A Lean Approach is the introduction to my research with Dr. Attia in the Gas Turbine Research Laboratory at Embry-Riddle. It is just the tip of the iceberg with much more research and results to come from through flow analysis and compressor mapping,” said Hemerly.

According to Attia, his students learn about lean concepts derived mainly from LAI’s Lean Academy modules. In the classes, he focuses on the meaning of lean and provides practical examples such as value stream mapping. Currently Attia, who is a Lean Academy instructor, is developing a graduate course on Lean using LAI’s book Lean Enterprise Value as the basis.

“Theoretically, the future of lean is solid as a rock. The results speak for themselves,” said Attia, who added that today’s prevailing business attitude about stock prices and immediate profit may clash with what it takes to employ lean thinking.

“Successful lean implementation requires much discipline and patience,” Attia said.

The goal of the student prize is to advance understanding of how to accomplish a lean transformation.

The authors of Lean Enterprise Value created the national competition as a way to further the purposes of the book, which was written by LAI researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The book’s royalties go to the Lean Enterprise Value Foundation, not to the individual authors.

According to Murman, the authors are the members of the foundation. The judging panel consisted of one representative from LAI, another from the consortium’s EdNet – the educational network for LAI -- and a member of the LAI Executive Board.

The announcement about the national competition was made through national and international channels through EdNet, Murman said.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is a member of the EdNet collaborative.

Eligible submissions for the national competition included both published or unpublished papers, parts of a book or larger paper dealing with lean and value at the enterprise level. This year’s competition theme was Lean Enterprise Transformation. 

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 40 baccalaureate, master's and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and through the Worldwide Campus with more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.