Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Category: Events

Experience Silicon Valley over Spring Break!

Published
By
Sign-up by December 5th for the 2014 Silicon Valley Experience!

The Experience of a Lifetime

Each spring 15 students travel from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, to the world hub of start-ups and entrepreneurs- Silicon Valley. This eye-opening experience focuses on immersing students in real companies, with real players, and the current challenges they face.

This year, you can to go Silicon Valley during Spring Break (March 8-14). Visits with entrepreneurs, inventors, managers and companies including Brocade, Cisco, and Google will provide you with a first-hand understanding of technology built enterprises that are revolutionizing global business.

Take Advantage of This Opportunity

Brocade is once again sponsoring the trip bringing the cost to $300 per person including airfare, hotel accommodations with breakfast each morning and transportation throughout the duration of the trip.

This trip is open to all Michigan Tech students. Please pass the information along. Student participation is based on a two minute interview on “Why you want to work and live on Silicon Valley.” If you are interested in participating, please email Karen Foltz at ksfoltz@mtu.edu. You will be assigned interview time starting at 4:00 pm on December 5, 2013.

Click here to view the PDF Brochure:  SiliconValley2014

Continue Reading →

Winning Pitch Cleans up at Competition

Published
By
Entrepreneurship Club hosts another successful Elevator Pitch Competition.

Today’s university students are reminded to be careful about what they put up on their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Sometimes they forget, and that’s a job for Clean It Up, the winning entry in the fifth annual Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition held Thursday night on the campus of Michigan Technological University.

The late business professor Bob Mark created the competition so students could polish their 90-second, new business pitches, emulating the length of an elevator ride.

The brainchild of accounting major Nikoli Wiens, assisted by chemical engineering major Zach Eckert, Clean It Up promises to clean up content and profiles on the Internet, even beyond the cleansing that Facebook and Twitter claim to do upon request.

“Companies will still dig deeper and get the info,” said Wiens. “We know it’s important to remove certain content, and we would do it cheaper than other services.” The team claimed there was more than $1 million in revenue possible with their $25 fee; such is the need for their service.

Their motto? “Don’t let one crazy weekend ruin your life forever.” They won $1,000 for their efforts.

Second place and $500 went to a device to which university students could also relate. FairShare promised a simple plug-in to calculate individual electric power usage, an important consideration for students sharing living spaces and expenses.

FairShare was created by an elevator-pitch veteran, Abhilash Kantamneni, who won last year’s competition with an Indian dating service.

“This can help college students save money,” Kantamneni said. “It would only cost $25, so most can afford it.” Kantamneni is a PhD student in computer science.

The bronze medal and Audience Favorite Award went to the ingenious Flashion, an app for your cellphone that can take a photo of a pair of shoes, for example, and instantly find their source, price, and more.

This mobile app would be free, according to creators Armando Flores, majoring in communication, culture, and media, and Allison Strome, a management major. They credited teammate and finance major Natalia Lebedeva for their inspiration, with whom they will share $250.

“She had the idea and we just built on it,” Flores said. “We might try to get funding on Kickstarter [the online funding site] to form an LLC.

Safety Straw targeted chemicals added surreptitiously to people’s drinks. Green Receipts sought to eliminate paper receipts at businesses. And more student-friendly businesses included Experience University, to help choose the right courses and teachers; and Food Now, to get groceries and fast food delivered to their rooms when they are in mid-cram for that final exam.

Michigan Tech entrepreneurs can also set their sights on the New Venture Competition, held at Central Michigan University in March and providing $65,000 in prize money.

Continue Reading →

Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition

Published
By

All Majors invited to Elevator Pitch Competition!

What is an Elevator Pitch?

An elevator pitch is a short speech that outlines a business idea.

Come Pitch your idea for a chance to win $1000 in 90 seconds!

When: Thursday, November 7th at 6:00 pm

Where: Fisher Hall, Room 135

Why: $1000 First Place Prize…$500 Second Place Prize…$250 Third Place Prize…$200 Audience Favorite

Even if you’re not interested in competing, please join us for what is sure to be a fun and entertaining event! We look forward to see you in the audience!

Please contact Nikoli Wiens with any questions at nrwiens@mtu.edu

www.mtuentrepreneurs.com

Continue Reading →

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Meets with Students

Published
By
President Kocherlakota spoke to APMP students about monetary policy and it's ability to influence and prices in the US economy.

Narayana Kocherlakota, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, spoke to students in Michigan Tech’s School of Business and Economics about monetary policy and its ability to influence employment and prices in the US economy.

Kocherlakota’s district is the second largest geographically and least populated, he said, stretching from Montana to the Upper Peninsula. As one of twelve districts, he is part of regular meetings of the Federal Reserve open market committee where Ben Bernanke, chair of the committee and Federal Reserve Board, presides.

The representatives of each Federal Reserve District Bank share information about their districts and eventually produce policy. “It’s pretty structured,” he said “And that’s good; it’s not a debate.”

The Federal Reserve is focused on two main macroeconomic variables in their policy deliberations according to Kocherlakota. Price stability–keeping inflation at 2 percent or lower–and reducing unemployment to at least 6.5 percent. They use the federal funds interest rate as the control variable to achieve these two goals.

The unemployment rate is currently at 7.3 percent, and the federal funds interest rate is targeted at 0.25 percent. He does not see that interest rate changing soon.

Questions from the students and others focused on current strategies, and the recession of 2008 seemed to be part of nearly every answer. Kocherlakota stressed that he was answering for himself, and it was not to be taken as official Federal Reserve Bank responses.

When asked about following commodities like oil and gold, Kocherlakota said the Federal Reserve does follow commodity prices.

“Oil can be seen as putting pressure on inflation,” he said. “And it’s hard to predict oil prices. In 2008, oil prices went sky high the first part of the year, but when they collapsed, as they usually do, inflation came down, too.”

The price of gold went up in 2008, due to people’s fear of what to do with their money, he said.

“The Dow Jones was down to 6,000 then,” he said. “When gold dropped in price recently, it meant people were more confident, less fearful than in 2008.”

Kocherlakota also said that the fed can control the federal funds interest rate, but other rates are based on the demands for goods today versus goods in the future. US Treasury securities are still in demand because of their low risk.

How does the global market inflation affect your decision-making, he was asked.

“It’s another factor for us to think about, that could influence our performance, but we are not like New Zealand where it’s all they think about. The US is a relatively closed economy.”

And does he think about the fiscal health of his own district over that of the US?

“We all provide information about our districts, but we make policy for the country,” he said. “Officially, Kansas City, San Francisco and Minneapolis get one vote to represent all three. We vote on national matters.”

As for his district’s economy?

“It’s doing well, but I don’t think the fed can take credit,” Kocherlakota said. “The Upper Peninsula faces challenges that are historical in nature. Montana and Minnesota have unemployment around 5 percent. North Dakota has the oil boom and is around 3 percent. They can’t find people to work in McDonalds! South Dakota is below 4 percent and a bit of a mystery. The labor market could actually be stronger, the economy could be stronger. There are still some 2008 effects.”

This story was oringally posted in Tech Today by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor, for Michigan Technological University’s University Marketing and Communication.

Continue Reading →

THE Project 2014

Published
By

Sign up by October 1st to join a team for this year's competition!

If you enjoyed the project management course, you will really enjoy THE Project 2014 competition.  Each year student teams compete by developing a project plan for a specific case study. The competition is sponsored by the West Michigan Chapter of the Project Management Institute (WMPMI).  This is the third year of the competition and the number of schools participating as well as teams is expected to increase.  There is an opportunity to win a part of the $10,000 prize money too.  First place team receives $5,000, second place receives $3,000, and third receives $2,000.  In last year’s competition, Michigan Tech’s two teams placed 2nd and 3rd place!  We hope to field more winning teams this year.

If you have completed a project management course and are interested in participating, you will need to contact Dr. Dana Johnson dana@mtu.edu before October 1, 2013.  You will then be given approval to enroll in OSM4200 Advanced Project Management for Spring 2014. The course meets by arrangement.  There is a maximum of three teams with up to six members each so sign up early.  More information about the competition can be found here.

If you would like to talk to past team members, there are a few here at Michigan Tech. These students can share with you their experiences of working with PMI certified mentors, opportunities with companies for internships and/or career options, and the great hands on experience.  It looks good on your resume too.

This year’s case is based on mergers and acquisitions of health care organizations and was written by Dr. Johnson the faculty advisor.  Interested in learning more??? Please contact Dr. Johnson at dana@mtu.edu .

THE Project 2014

The Western Michigan Chapter of the Project Management Institute (WMPMI) is currently in the preparation stages of their 3rd Annual Collegiate Project Management Competition… “THE Project 2014.”

Purpose

To develop young business leaders by partnering college students, community leaders, and Project Management Professionals to competitively tackle a commonly shared business challenge.

Opportunity

Teams will develop a proposal, strategy, approach and plan that could be used to develop a product, service or result. Teams will be judged on their use of proper project management techniques.  Team members will enjoy the benefits of working on a real life business challenge with a Project Management Professional Mentor. Teams will compete for a financial reward and recognition.

Fun facts

  • Each collegiate team will consist of 4 – 6 students
  • Each collegiate team will consist of no more than 50% graduate level students
  • Each collegiate team will need to have the names of their team members delivered to the PMI Education Council by no later than November 1st, 2013
  • Each collegiate team will have a “Mentor” assigned by the PMI Education Council.  A Mentor is a Project Management Professional (PMP) certified in the many disciplines of Project Management and they’ll meet with the team and Team Champion on a regular basis to mentor them through the competition deliverables
  • Each collegiate team will have at least 1, no more than 2 “Team Champion(s).”  A Team Champion is a school official (usually faculty member or department head) that meets with the team on a semi-regular basis to help motivate and support the work of the team and the Mentor
  • Knowledge in or pursuit of a program of study in Business, Engineering or Project Management is not a requirement but will be helpful in completing various competition deliverables as well as having students studying varying backgrounds like Finance, Human Resources,  Business, Sociology, etc.
  • Each educational institution will be allowed to enter a maximum of 2 teams into the competition
  • There is no cost to any students or the educational institution to participate (other than coordinating travel to Grand Rapids on the final event day in April 2014)
  • The winning team in the competition receives $5,000 to split between its members however all top 4 finishing teams will receive some form of monetary reward for their success
  • The winning team will also have an opportunity to present their project plans at a West Michigan Chapter of PMI dinner meeting

All competitors will participate in a day-long final event where:

  • a Reverse Career-Fair will take place involving all the sponsor and partner companies (over half of our competitors in previous years have ended up with an internship or job offer)
  • each team will present their final presentations to a panel of leading project management professionals for the first round of judging and the top four teams will then present to a panel of prominent business leaders for final judging

Students will. . .

  • Receive an intern like opportunity in Project Management
  • Experience a great opportunity to work on real business problems and create a real project plan for the business
  • Enjoy a networking opportunity to interact with local business leaders
  • Gain real world opportunity to showcase leadership and interpersonal skills
  • Represent their school in a collegiate competition
  • Develop career focused skills which will translate to career opportunities
  • Participate in “hands-on” learning in a team environment

Below are three videos from the PMI website that are great:

Governor Snyder’s Greeting (his personal address to participants in last year’s competition)

West Michigan Week Video – Aired April 2013 (on WGVU News)

THE Project Vision Video (THE Project from an internal perspective)

*The West Michigan Chapter of the Project Management Institute (WMPMI) started planning a collegiate Project Management competition in 2011 for students in various business, engineering and project management content areas.  The students competed for a cash prize and in some cases received college credit (this is dependent entirely on the awarding institution… i.e. policies regarding Prior Learning Assessment Credit or ability to implement content material into curriculum).  The biggest benefit for the students was the networking they were able to do and the exposure they received to various local businesses and leaders so they might secure internships and jobs once they graduate.  This event has grown in size and popularity and is now an annual event that WMPMI looks forward to every year.

Continue Reading →