Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes, November 24, 2025.— Industrial engineering students at the Universidad Panamericana Aguascalientes campuswon first place in the 16th edition of the Latin American Logistics Simulation Competition, organized by Factible and FlexSim, international leaders in the field of operations simulation.
Innovation and talent to solve real-world industry challenges
The Latin American Logistics Simulation Competition invites teams from universities in Mexico, Central America, and South America to participate. It is held remotely and recognizes solutions based on simulation models created with FlexSim that address real-world supply chain challenges.
The competitive challenge involved developing a simulation model to solve a real-world problem in distribution center management. The teams were required to propose quantifiable improvements in operational capacity, processing times, and logistics costs by applying advanced data-driven analysis and decision-making methodologies.
The winning team consists of industrial engineering students Hannia Cornejo Marmolejo, Luis Alejandro Valadez Hernández, José Eduardo De los Santos Villalobos, and Mercedes Urzúa González, M.A., a professor, coach, and dean of the School of Engineering.
More than 100 teams from across Latin America participated in this edition, with universities from Colombia and Peru taking second and third place, respectively.
UP's Historic Participation in the Contest
Since 2011, the Aguascalientes campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico ( Universidad Panamericana ) has consistently performed exceptionally well in this competition, reaching the podium in nearly every edition and establishing itself as the most successful university in the contest.
Mercedes Urzúa, M.A., has also served as a coach since 2011, supporting the team in ten editions and contributing to nine of the awards they have won. Reflecting on this experience, she shares:
“Serving as a coach for the Latin American Logistics Simulation Competition has been a deeply meaningful experience. Over the course of ten editions, I have had the privilege of mentoring teams made up of students who have taken my Discrete Event Simulation course,” says Ms. Urzúa.
He also adds: “Witnessing the professional and personal growth of each of the participating students is, without a doubt, the true reward of this project.”
He also pointed out that preparation begins in the classroom, where sixth-semester students develop the conceptual and methodological foundations needed to tackle a real-world simulation challenge. Subsequently, they receive specialized technical training and interdisciplinary support that includes statistical analysis, financial evaluations, and methodologies specific to industrial engineering.
“Establishing ourselves as the most successful university in this competition not only reflects the students’ talent, but also the strength of an educational approach that combines technical rigor, critical thinking, and teamwork,”, he explains.
He also adds: “Every competition is a learning laboratory, where simulation becomes a tool for understanding the complexity of the supply chain and making data-driven strategic decisions.”
Testimonials That Inspire Leadership
Luis Alejandro Valadez Hernández, a student majoring in Data Science, emphasized the importance of teamwork as a key factor in achieving this accomplishment.
“Beyond the technical skills we gained in both data analysis and model simulation, what we really learned was how to work as a team and find ways to solve problems that don’t have an immediate answer,” he says.
For Hannia Cornejo Marmolejo, a student majoring in Operations Management, “projects like this help give us an idea of what’s expected of us as graduates in the future. We realize that everything we’ve learned in our degree program really does apply. It’s a synthesis of everything we’ve learned, already put into practice, and that’s incredibly valuable.”
On the other hand, José Eduardo De los Santos Villalobos, a student majoring in Operations Management, emphasized that this experience adds value to his training as an industrial engineer in the professional world.
““What we’re experiencing here helps us gain a very different perspective on what we’ll apply in the real world of work. Since you learn to work with the software and how to apply it, you also become familiar with a new process more quickly by knowing this tool,” he says.
An achievement that strengthens UP's educational mission
Participation in and success at high-level international competitions reinforce the Universidad Panamericana ’s commitment to academic excellence and the well-rounded education of its students.
These types of experiences allow future engineers to tackle real-world industry challenges, apply their knowledge strategically, and develop the professional skills essential for a highly competitive global environment.
