Co-op Q&A: Scott Stewart, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes in Beloit

Radioisotopes play a crucial role in health care, enabling accurate 3D imaging diagnostics to help detect and treat cancer, heart disease, thyroid issues and other diseases. With more than 50 million nuclear medicine procedures performed annually worldwide, according to the World Nuclear Association, the need for the rapid production and time-sensitive delivery of radioisotopes is high.

NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes is a radiopharmaceutical company in Beloit that develops and distributes these lifesaving products. Recently, UW-Stout supply chain management major Scott Stewart completed a cooperative experience at NorthStar as a supply chain analyst intern.

Stewart, who has a second major in business administration, was interested in working with NorthStar Medical "because of its innovation in health care and its role in producing radiopharmaceuticals that improve patient outcomes, along with the opportunity to work in a complex, highly regulated industry," he said.

Stewart, of Twin Lakes, was one of 24 UW-Stout students who received the university's 2026 Outstanding Cooperative Education and Internship Program Student of the Year Award. He will graduate in May 2027.

How do you hope to make an impact in your field?

What interests me most about supply chain is how it connects everything - how materials, information, and people all work together to keep operations running efficiently and the impact those decisions have on overall performance.

I hope to improve efficiency and communication within supply chain organizations by identifying gaps and implementing better systems and processes.

What were your main roles at NorthStar Medical?

As a supply chain analyst intern, my main roles included supporting procurement and planning, creating purchase orders in Sage X3, assisting with inventory forecasting, and contributing to process improvement projects.

One major project I helped with involved mapping material process flows across the company to improve visibility and reduce confusion in operations. Another project involved researching and evaluating production scheduling software, where I recommended a new system to improve efficiency and planning. The new system is currently being implemented.

What do you enjoy most about your internship?

I enjoyed the hands-on experience and working cross-functionally with different departments and seeing how my work directly supported operations.

What was challenging about your internship, and how did you face those challenges?

A key challenge was the learning curve in a highly technical industry. I overcame this by asking questions, collaborating with teams and taking time to fully understand processes before making decisions.

How will your courses and experiences at Stout help you make an impact in your career?

Courses like Principles of Logistics and Procurement, Sourcing and Supply Chain Management have been especially helpful in building my understanding of how supply chains operate and how decisions impact efficiency.

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Co-op Q&A: Scott Stewart, NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes in Beloit