Georgia Tech’s H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) and the Supply Chain and Logistics Institute (SCL) are proud to announce this year's Amazon Supply Chain Systems Design Track Fellows: Ajinkya Rege, Yesh Shah, Pavitra Tagore, Jamel Thompson, Léo Pham Van, and Benjamin Fan. These students will each receive a $12,000 fellowship; they may also have the opportunity to complete an internship at Amazon, in addition to being strong candidates for full-time employment at the company.

To be awarded one of these fellowships, applicants must apply and be accepted into the Georgia Tech Master of Science in Supply Chain Engineering (MSCCE) program on the Supply Chain Systems Design Track, which prepares students for roles in supply chain facilities’ engineering and design, as well as a broader range of supply chain systems design roles. Amazon recognizes the importance of developing a demographically diverse leadership team, and thus priority for the fellowship is given to underrepresented minorities and female students.

About the Fellowship Recipients

Ajinkya Rege completed his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Vellore Institute of Technology in Vellore, India. He was exposed to the transportation and freight logistics industry while working at Volvo-Eicher Commercial Vehicles. In one of his roles as a business analyst in process and IT, he primarily developed data-driven solutions to optimize vehicle performance and customer productivity, including differentiated service delivery for e-commerce vehicles based on driving patterns.

Working with Volvo Eicher is what initially triggered his interest in supply chain. “With the evolution of e-commerce, the expectations of customers have changed, and reduced delivery timelines have drastically altered the landscape of the quintessential supply chain,” Rege explained. “It has now become imperative for organizations to focus on a higher level of customer orientation.”

When asked about his career goals, Rege said, “My dream job is one where I would be able to work on new technologies, innovate, and explore new solutions to satisfy the changing needs of the end user. I believe the business exposure that I have gained during my work tenure, coupled with the academic knowledge I will gain at Georgia Tech, will help me deliver customer-centric solutions in line with the mission and vision of the industry.”

Yesh Shah also completed his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the Vellore Institute of Technology and has several years of experience in supply chain working at Decathlon.

“Decathlon gave me an opportunity to explore the intricacy and depth of global retail supply chain, all the way from component sourcing to finally getting the product on shelves of the retail stores,” said Shah. “From my experience in production, procurement, supplier management, and demand planning, it was fascinating to understand the interconnectedness of supply chain functions and the far-reaching impact on the entire ecosystem of the company. With a focus to make supply chain systems more resilient and sustainable, every day was an exciting challenge to be solved and an opportunity to learn.”

With supply chain being a key focus for companies, Shah says now is a critical time to be in the field.

“The supply chain engineering program at ISyE provides the right opportunity to partner with distinguished companies and gain real-world experience,” he said. “After graduation, I look forward to being a part of a creative and challenging space where I am able to design and optimize supply chain systems, making them more sustainable and adaptable to the growing needs of the customer.”

Pavitra Tagore earned her undergraduate degree in industrial engineering and management from the RV College of Engineering in Bangalore, India, and she previously worked at Intel as a supply chain solutions analyst.

“I’ve always been fascinated with how large, complex systems function,” she said. “Through my industrial engineering and supply chain management background, I’ve analyzed global supply chain systems and investigated the interactions between their constituent elements. I thoroughly enjoyed discovering how the elements influence each other, and how their interactions could be optimized to produce agile, responsive supply chains.”

Always on the lookout for ways to improve her supply chain knowledge, Tagore has also earned her Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) certification, which she chose to improve her knowledge on essential technology, concepts, and strategies in end-to-end supply chains.

“The CSCP modules ensured I am equipped with the required skills to work on various aspects of today’s supply chains – design, planning, execution, and improvement – all of which came in handy during my work at Intel, where I was involved in improving various aspects of diverse supply chains,” said Tagore. Her future goal is to design, build, and manage global supply chains.

Jamel Thompson, who is finishing up his undergraduate degree at ISyE, decided to enroll in the MSSCE program because he found supply chain classes to be the most fulfilling. “I enjoy the interactive classroom style many of the classes have,” he said. “We have visited warehouses and had many guest speakers, which helps because we get to see what we are being taught in the classroom actually put the practice. Through MSSCE program, I want to broaden my understanding of the field and better understand the global supply chain and ways I can impact it.”

Thompson likes interacting with people and wants to eventually work in the business side of supply chain. In addition to the Amazon fellowship, he is also a recipient of the Matson Scholarship for Leadership Diversity, designed to encourage underrepresented students to consider careers in the transportation, supply chain management, and logistics fields, increasing diversity in leadership positions.

On campus, Thompson is president of the Men’s Club Basketball team, the director of professional development for the Society of Health Systems, and a member of the Sports Business Club. He’s also involved with Mission Possible, an organization that introduces industrial engineering to high school students through summer camps, workshops, and outreach programs.

Léo Pham Van, who hails from France, completed his undergraduate studies in mechanical and industrial engineering at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers in Paris. He also earned a master’s degree in innovation, design, and engineering with a concentration in interaction design. The program was focused on project management methodologies and human-centric design for products, services, and systems.

“During my undergraduate studies in France, I acquired a strong base in science and industrial engineering,” said Pham Van. “I worked on projects covering a wide scope of engineering such as manufacturing, design, supply chain, and programming. These projects allowed me to develop my problem-solving skills. With the MSSCE offered by Georgia Tech, I will also develop further skills and knowledge in supply chain engineering that will help me become a great supply chain engineer.”

Being able to work on real-world cases at Georgia Tech is important to Pham Van, who aims to work at a company in the U.S. that has challenging and innovative projects.

“I would like to work on the optimization of systems for the supply chain to help my company reach their business objectives while becoming more sustainable and efficient,” he said.

Benjamin Fan studied at ISyE as an undergraduate student and knew that he wanted to continue his education at Georgia Tech because of ISyE’s rigorous and practical education in supply chain engineering.

“My passion for supply chain made me choose to further pursue a master’s degree to be able to make the best supply chain decisions backed by mathematical principles,” said Fan.

His past experience in supply chain includes interning at Höganäs Taiwan, where he worked on a demand forecasting project. “I analyzed company sales data and modeled the trendlines in Python,” Fan explained. “On top of that, I also researched and utilized a Python library to automate Python scripts in Excel VBA to make the results presentable for managers. Through the project, I was able to gain analytical and coding experience.”

After graduating from the MSSCE program, he wants to design innovative fulfillment systems with technologies that assist employees by enabling them to be more efficient and enjoy their daily operations.

For more information on ISyE’s MSSCE program, visit https://www.isye.gatech.edu/academics/masters/supply-chain-engineering.

For questions, or if you are interested in applying for an Amazon Supply Chain Systems Design Fellowship, visit https://www.scl.gatech.edu/outreach/amazonfellow.