Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Category: Events

Tech Business Teams Take 2nd and 3rd in THE Project

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Business and Economics students from Michigan Tech had another successful showing at THE Project, taking 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

Two Michigan Tech teams competed in the second West Michigan Project Management Institute THE Project 2013 competition. There were seven collegiate teams competing for $10,000 prizes, and both Michigan Tech teams made it to the Final Four.

Michigan Tech Team B placed 2nd overall and received $3,000, and Michigan Tech Team A placed 3rd overall and received $2,000. Team B consists of Danielle Boettger (Economics), Evan Beckner (Operations and Systems Management), August Skultety (Operations and Systems Management). Team A consists of Kira Eck (Marketing), Mitch Fedie (Management), Amanda Halonen (Operations and Systems Management), and Mandi Severn (Management). All students were enrolled in BUS4950 Advanced Project Management this semester.

Details about the competition are located at: http://www.wmpmi.org.

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Students Tackle Silicon Valley over Spring Break

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The School of Business and Economics led a student group to Silicon Valley for an Alternative Spring Break trip.

Alternative Spring Break trips are all the rage at Michigan Tech!  These trips enable students an affordable way to get away from Houghton and have some fun over Spring Break.  The School of Business and Economics offers a students the opportunity to tour the high tech companies of California’s Silicon Valley.

“Going on the Silicon Valley trip was a great way to spend break because I got to meet a lot of cool and inspirational people, while touring top-notch technology companies,” says scientific and technical communications major Armando Flores. The School of Business and Economics organized this trip to give students a backstage pass to tech giants like Google, Autodesk, Cisco and Brocade Communications. The visits came with plentiful opportunities to network, learn about business strategies and explore a whole new world of career options.

Aside from connecting with industry leaders, the students got to experience a culture that differs from what they are accustomed to. “I caught a glimpse of what life is like in California. It really is a melting pot of people, culture and innovation,” Flores says.

The trip wasn’t strictly business, however. The students also had time for fun, creating memories that will last a lifetime. “The most memorable experiences for me were visiting The Gallery at Autodesk, riding a G-Bike at Google and then visiting the Hacker Dojo,” says Flores. “Swimming in the ocean was pretty cool too.”

These thrilling experiences may have made returning to classes a challenge, but they also gave Flores something to strive for. “The trip put everything into perspective and motivated me to keep working hard. One way or another, I will go back,” he says firmly.

Click here to read the full Tech Today article that describes other Alternative Spring Break opportunities Michigan Tech students engaged in this year.

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Visiting Women and Minority Scholar Series Welcomes Alice Stuhlmacher

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Alice Stuhlmacher will be presenting on, 'Gender in Negotiation: Lessons for Men and Women' on Wednesday, April 3rd

As part of Michigan Technological University’s Visiting Women and Minority Lecturer/Scholar Series, the School of Business and Economics will welcome Alice Stuhlmacher to campus April 1st – 3rd, 2013. During the visit, Stuhlmacher will visit classes in the School of Business and Economics as well as the department of Cognitive Learning Sciences. Faculty and student groups will participate in presentations and round table discussions throughout the visit.

The campus community is invited to attend an open presentation titled, “Gender in Negotiation: Lessons for Men and Women.” The event will take place on Wednesday, April 3, 2012 at 1pm in the Alumni Room of the Memorial Union Building.

Alice F. Stuhlmacher is a Professor of Psychology at DePaul University in Chicago.  Her research interests include negotiation and conflict in organizations, particularly relating to gender,  labor mediators, and virtual communication. She has been active in applying meta-analyses to summarize existing research and has also published research relating to personality, workplace safety, and decision making. Her Ph.D. is from Purdue University in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. She has served as program director of the Ph.D. program in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and as affiliated faculty in the M.S. in Human Resources at DePaul’s Graduate School of Business. In addition to conference presentations and publishing, she has been an invited speaker to various groups such as Women in Science, Women in Business, Georgetown University’s Gender in the Workplace Research Initiative, and Harvard University’s Gender in Negotiation Research Seminar, and is excited to join us to discuss gender issues in the workplace.

Stuhlmacher’s visit is part of the Visiting Women and Minority Lecturer/Scholar Series. This event is funded by the Michigan Tech President’s Office and a grant to the Office for Institutional Diversity for the State of Michigan’s King-Chavez-Parks Initiative.

For more information about Alice Stuhlmacher, see her profile on the DePaul University website.

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Business and Economics students compete in Global CFA Institute Research Challenge

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In 2013, Michigan Tech students qualified and competed in the CFA Institute Research Challenge for the first time.

Students in the Applied Portfolio Management Program are expanding their resumes by competing in another investment competition and gaining valuable real world experience.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge was introduced to a global audience in 2006 and is considered, “the investment Olympics” for university students.  The event which hosted more than 3,000 students from over 650 universities, 89 businesses, and 106 societies in 55 countries and territories.  This challenge is an annual global competition which provides hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics.  Despite 2013 being the first year they competed in this challenge, our finance and economics students were able to advance to the global final of the event.

By compiling the highest combined report and presentation score and winning the regional competition, Michigan Tech qualified for global final.  “As a team we set aside many hours of our time to research, compile, analyze, prepare, rehearse, and finally present our findings to a panel of judges. The true amount of work this project entailed is staggering, however we are thankful for the opportunity afforded to us,” said senior Finance major, Justin Wilson.   Joining Justin to represent Michigan Tech was fellow Finance major Jessica Zaiki as well as economics majors Eli Karttunen and Anna Paul.

Each student was tested on their analytic, valuation, report writing and presentation skills and gained real-world experience as they assumed the role of a research analyst.   Upon the team’s return, Jessica Zaiki noted that having the exposure to the CFA institute, investment professionals, and the high caliber of competition at the Americas competition expanded her knowledge of stock analysis and furthered my interest in pursuing a CFA in the future.

The experience was valuable for our students and it is a competition we look forward to having continued participation and success at in the future.  Financial support for the student participation was provided via the James and Dolores Trethewey APMP Professorship.

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Tech Students win $20,500 at New Venture Competition

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Last weekend Michigan Tech and Central Michigan University students competed for a total of $45,000 in this year's New Venture Competition.

Two teams of Michigan Tech students won more than $20,000 in the annual New Venture Competition held at Central Michigan University recently.

Northern Aquaponics won $10,000 in the Best Technology category, and Upland Nanotech won $10,000 for Highest Growth Potential and $500 for second-place pitch.

“We had five strong teams competing in a field of 2Y,” said School of Business and Economics Dean Gene Klippel. “All the teams benefited greatly from the experience of presenting their ideas and receiving valuable feedback from the outstanding panel of judges who participated.”

First place and $30,000 went to Solar Cycle Lights LLC, a student team from Central Michigan.

Upland Nanotech was founded by Thomas Daunais, an electrical engineering major, whose company developed a rapid-sensing technology used for food pathogen detection and drug-level concentration that has the ability to yield results within 20 minutes.

“The first thing we’re going to do is going to take the winnings and leverage another $55,000 out of it,” he said. “We’ll use the $65,000 we’ll have to make an E. coli sensor prototype.”

He said the competition, attended by many business and industry professionals, helped his group network and convince others to believe in their idea.

“We got feedback from the judges that we have an interesting concept, a solid business plan and an overall very intriguing technology,” Daunais said.

Northern Aquaponics, specializing in growing plants and raising fish in indoor environments, won the $10,000 award for Best Technology.

“I think we have done a lot of work to pinpoint our target market and refine our business model to make it more viable,” said Josh Krugh, an economics major and the company’s cofounder. He also thought the judges at Central gave good feedback, not just to his team, but to all of the teams.

“There were so many people there willing and able to help all of us,” Krugh said. “I can’t tell you how many people stopped me throughout the day to give us suggestions and talk about our business. It was definitely a rare opportunity to be in a room full of so many successful businessmen and women.”

He said Northern Aquaponics will use their prize money to build partnerships and company business models.

Twenty-seven teams from Central Michigan and Michigan Tech competed in the daylong event for awards ranging from $500 to $30,000. Panels of 60 judges representing business leaders and entrepreneurs from throughout Michigan and the region evaluated the team presentations based on several factors, including the quality of the idea, strength of the management team and the business plan.

Upland Nanotech and Northern Aquaponics also won second and third place, respectively, at the Fourth Annual Bob Mark Memorial Elevator Pitch Competition on the Michigan Tech campus in November 2012.

This story was originally written by by Dennis Walikainen, University Marketing Communications senior editor, and published in Tech Today.

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