March 17, 2026
His study combines AI and operations management methods to translate large volumes of online customer reviews into operational insights that support better decision making.
At Mizzou Engineering, we empower our students to be our best. The results speak volumes.
Recently, doctoral student Caden Davis, BS IE ’25, finished third in a competitive field at the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Regional Paper Competition.
Davis’ study combines AI and operations management methods to analyze large volumes of online customer reviews from a behavioral health services organization and translate that data into operational insights that support better decision making.
Davis conducted the project with Associate Professor Suchi Rajendran, building on foundations from ISE 4610: Quality Engineering and Analytics, and fully developed the research last summer in Rajendran’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site in Research on Prescriptive Analytics for AI-enabled Operations Engineering.
“Mizzou students have placed in the top three of the IISE regional paper competition for seven consecutive years,” said Associate Professor Sharan Srinivas, MU IISE faculty advisor and director of graduate studies for the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE). “This reflects the emphasis we place on connecting coursework, research and real-world data-driven problem solving.”
Students from 16 universities were eligible to submit research papers and deliver oral presentations to a panel of industry and academic judges at the IISE South Central Regional Conference Feb. 19-21 at Texas A&M University.
Seven Mizzou ISE students attended the conference, which included plant tours, keynote speakers and student leadership activities in addition to the research competition.
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