Representatives from Utah-based memory-chip manufacturer IM Flash dropped by the David Eccles School of Business to donate scholarship funds for Operations Management students–just the latest example of the burgeoning partnership between the business school and the joint venture between Intel and Micron located in Lehi, Utah.

The $6 billion-valued IM Flash’s chips are used in all modern networking devices, and the company is responsible for 25 percent of all Utah exports in terms of dollar value.

In the past few years, IM Flash and the David Eccles School of Business have developed a strategic relationship beneficial to both entities, said Operations Management and Information Systems Professor Tariq Mughal.

“IM Flash has hired several of our OM graduates, and offered internships during the summer months,” Mughal noted. “They have donated funds to the school scholarship fund, which are used to recruit high-quality students at the David Eccles School of Business to major in Operations Management. They are also coordinating with the Operations and Information Systems department, and facilitating a captstone class for OM majors.”

Mughal added that the IM Flash representatives have come to appreciate graduates from the David Eccles School of Business as “crucial members of their process-improvement teams,” which are dedicated to producing faster and better products.