MHI Solutions Improving Supply Chain Performance
Where Are They Now? Catching up with an MHEFI Scholarship Recipient
MATTHEW WELLS, DESIGN ENGINEER, HYTROL CONVEYOR CO. INC.
MATTHEW WELLS HAS always had a passion for material handling, starting from working on his family’s farm to designing parcel belt conveyors.
“Only now, my material has changed from field crops to just about anything you can think of,” Wells said.
The family farm in Paragould, Arkansas, was started by his paternal grandfather, with rice as the original crop and later, corn and soybeans. As a youngster, Wells, 23, always thought he would remain on the farm, but experiencing Calculus 1 and Advanced Placement Physics in high school sparked his curiosity for more.
“I always knew that I liked math and science—they were my best subjects in school,” he said. “In kindergarten, my grandfather on my mother’s side would have a composition notebook with multiplication problems ready for me after supper. The better I got, the more numbers he threw in there—that was fun.”
Wells took his love of math and science to the University of Arkansas, graduating last spring with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, a minor in mathematics and a concentration in aerospace.
“By diversifying my degrees, I wanted to learn as much as I could to qualify me for as far as I wanted to go into the future,” he said.
For two summers during college, Wells interned at Hytrol Conveyor Co. Inc., a Jonesboro, Arkansas‑based maker of material handling systems.
For the first internship, Wells redesigned the Hytrol carts used to transport parts throughout its manufacturing facility to eliminate duplicate lifting of heavier parts. For his second internship, he designed an adjustable hitch assembly for Amazon.
Wells learned about the Material Handling Education Foundation, Inc. (MHEFI) scholarship program from Christy Valentine, the company’s manager of academic and philanthropic expeditions.
“That scholarship allowed me to spend less time trying to look for jobs and working while I was in school, giving me more freedom to focus on my schoolwork—and to enjoy my life more,” he said.
The MHEFI has awarded more than $2.5 million in scholarships and grants since its inception in 1976. It’s an independent charitable organization dedicated to supporting the study of material handling, logistics and supply chain management, exposing students to the many career opportunities in the industry.
More than 1,500 students and educators have benefited from MHEFI support, and for the 2025‑26 academic year, the organization awarded 71 scholarships totaling a record $278,000.
Wells was approached by Hytrol at the end of his second summer internship to take on a full‑time design engineer role following his graduation. He currently designs parcel belt conveyors for Amazon, UPS and FedEx, but he hopes to venture into both individual conveyor design and conveyor system design.