DENTON (UNT), Texas — University of North Texas students are marking a year-long winning streak with another first-place win at a major logistics contest. Four students took the top award from the 35th Annual Operation Stimulus Case Competition, hosted by the Denver Transportation Club Feb. 4 – 6. Competitors were challenged to step in as the hypothetical managing team for an underperforming warehouse facing multiple issues, such as budgeting, managing inventory, safety and improving operations.

"There is no room for error in this competition," said Ila Manuj, assistant professor of logistics and faculty advisor for the Logistics Student Association at UNT. "This is a major competition with quite a few big-name schools and esteemed professors. The students that compete come from all over the U.S. and Canada."

The UNT team – Jacob Koren of Lewisville, Texas; Mary Catherine Schoals of Flower Mound, Texas; Dylan Smith of Round Rock, Texas; and Laura Catalina Quinones Rios of Medellin, Colombia – defeated 15 teams from major logistics schools, including the two-time defending champions from Dalhousie University in Canada.

The win is a first for UNT, and it is also the first time UNT students have won three of the major case competitions for logistics and supply chain undergraduates during a calendar year. UNT students clinched the top prize at the Intermodal Association of North America – University of North Florida Case Competition last May. Additionally, this September, UNT students won the Intermodal EXPO Academic Challenge for the third consecutive year.