The college selection process was a slam dunk for Zach Ellis, EMgt’16. He knew he wanted a place where he could grow academically and personally while continuing to play basketball, a sport he has loved since his youth.

“During the recruiting process, Coach Jim Glash sold me on attending Missouri S&T when we discussed how graduates of Missouri S&T graduate with multiple job offers and have great success in their respective fields,” he says. “During a campus visit, Dr. Stephen Raper (EMgt’85, MS EMgt’87, PhD EMgt’89) helped me realize that engineering management would be a perfect fit, challenging me academically while helping me showcase my strengths.”

Before graduating from Missouri S&T, Ellis completed internships as a project manager at The Boeing Co. in Seattle and Express Scripts in St. Louis. He also earned his Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. “Six Sigma” refers to the statistical analysis used when measuring process variation; “lean” methodology focuses on waste reduction and efficient work processes.

Now a consultant at Microsoft in Dallas, Ellis is part of a cross-functional team that provides continuous service improvements for everything from service strategies to operations.

“The curriculum for engineering management was a perfect fit for these opportunities,” he says. “Missouri S&T put me in the perfect position to graduate and succeed!”