Supply Chain and Analytics Students Help Business Tackle AI and Operations Challenges

When Chas Sullivan ’11 decided to leave the tech industry in California behind to return home to New Hampshire to start an electric vehicle business with his father, proximity to UNH was one factor in his decision.  

“I completed my undergraduate degree at UNH and knew there was a ton of talent and creative ideas there that could have a positive impact on my business,” Sullivan says. “I also saw an opportunity in Portsmouth, where short-range transportation is a big hurdle, and New Hampshire, where electronic transportation hadn’t really caught on yet.”  

Sullivan opened Portsmouth-based Radmoto in 2022 and quickly tapped into the UNH connection, first through consulting with the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center and later through student internships and capstone projects.  

Radmoto, which sells and services electric motorcycles, mopeds, scooters, and bicycles, is working to leverage new technology to improve sales and efficiency — a challenge recently addressed by supply chain management, and information systems and business analytics students.  

Divided into teams, one group is helping scale the company’s national e-commerce presence through answer engine optimization (AEO), while another is developing systems to improve inventory management and parts sourcing.  

Michelle Stoudt ’26, an accounting & information systems and business analytics student, says AEO helps businesses appear in AI-generated search results, such as Google’s AI overviews, rather than only relying on traditional search engine optimization (SEO).  

“We’ve been analyzing Radmoto’s website and comparing it to competitors to identify gaps,” Stoudt says. “We’re also working on a data-scrubbing tool that looks at conversations on platforms like YouTube and Reddit to identify trending conversations about e-bikes and scooters. That information can help Radmoto better understand which products are gaining popularity and which ones they may not need to keep in stock.”  

The students are also developing new Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) sections, content pages, and product information that could improve how the site appears in AI-powered search results.  

The inventory management component of the project involves students developing an automated system to track product inventory and alert the company when parts need to be reordered.  

Benjamin Smith ’26, a finance and supply chain management major, says the students are connecting the automatic system to Radmoto’s Shopify sales platform to automatically notify the company when stock runs low and generate a list of parts that need to be reordered and where to source them.  

“The goal is to make sure the team knows when inventory is running low and which parts need to be reordered,” Smith says. “It helps save time and reduces the manual work of tracking down parts.”  

Sullivan says these projects come at an important time for the business.  

While Radmoto has built a strong reputation through word-of-mouth, the company is now working to strengthen its digital presence as search engines increasingly rely on artificial intelligence and to explore how automation can improve its operations.  

“We really want to adopt and harness these tools to be on the leading edge, as opposed to some of our competitors, who are just trying to play catch-up,” Sullivan says. “UNH is keeping us on the leading edge of new technology, and the students are constantly bringing ideas to me that I'm like, ‘oh my gosh, I haven't thought of that before.’”  

This is the first year that supply chain management, which is in its second year as an option, has offered students hands-on capstone projects.

Smith says the project has challenged the students to move beyond classroom theory and build solutions that work in a real business environment.  

“In class, we usually learn the concepts at an introductory level, but through this project, we’ve been able to dig deeper and research the tools and apps that actually help execute those ideas,” Smith says. “We learn what we should do in class, and this project helps us figure out how to actually do it in a real business setting.”  

Supply chain management student Bobby Foltz ’26 says it’s great to have an experience where students can make decisions that have an immediate impact.  

“It’s kind of like being on a sports team where you only practice and never get to play,” Foltz says. “This is the opportunity to actually get in the game and apply everything we’ve learned.”  

Sullivan credits Russ Miles, principal lecturer and supply chain management option coordinator, for connecting the students with Radmoto.

“He has been monumental in creating industry connections for all projects,” Sullivan says. “He also stepped in when the team needed direction and gave them autonomy when the project was flowing.”

Sullivan adds that, as a small business owner, it’s important to manage resources, and collaborating with UNH allows him to do so, while also allowing him to play a role in their academic journey.

“We're both learning in this journey. We're learning new tools, new ways of working. It's bringing a lot of creative spark and good energy into the business,” Sullivan says. “This is a chance for me to give back and share what working in a startup is really like. As students prepare to graduate, it helps them understand what environments they enjoy and what path might be right for them.”