Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Category: Student Organizations

Impact Magazine Highlights College of Business Students, Faculty, and Alumni

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The Michigan Tech Alumni Gateway Arch is lit on a cold winter night with a snowy campus in the background.
Michigan Tech’s College of Business celebrates student accomplishments, entrepreneurial spirit, and STEM-infused degree program innovations in the latest issue of Impact Magazine. 

Online and on kitchen tables, the new issue of Impact Magazine is ready to read wherever you are. Get the latest news from Michigan Tech’s College of Business (COB), including student accomplishments, research that helps communities steer toward a brighter economic future, and real-life advice from dynamic entrepreneurs and alumni.

Dean Johnson, dean of the College, said Impact’s theme this year highlights the Michigan Tech difference. “College of Business students study more than business,” he said. “Science, technology, engineering, and math are infused into COB courses and programs. Classes connect disciplines. Degree programs cross borders.”

Read all about it in the online version of the 2024 Impact Magazine. Your comments on the current issue and suggestions for stories in future issues are welcome. Email them to Cyndi Perkins, managing editor, at cmperkin@mtu.edu.

About the College of Business

The Michigan Tech College of Business prepares tomorrow’s business professionals through STEM-infused, AACSB-accredited degree programs and minors. The college offers nine bachelor of science programs in accounting, business analytics, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing; and four master of science programs in accounting and analytics, applied natural resource economics, engineering management, and the TechMBA®.

Questions? Contact us at business@mtu.edu. Follow the College of Business on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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Business Students Present Investment Strategies to APMP Advisory Board

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Front row (Left to right): Connor Cook, Noah Jukuri, Josh Ackerman
Back row (left to right): Katerina Khardina, Sam Eisenman, Elijah Joseph, Nate Abel
(L to R) Marguerite Goldman, Joseph Petersen, Daniel Zweng, Hunter Oswald, Sam Newman, Josh Terrian

Two teams of College of Business students met with the College of Business Applied Portfolio Management Program (APMP) advisory board on September 23, 2024.

The APMP program gives students the opportunity to manage and invest approximately $2.5 million dollars of real money in the U.S. stock market.

At the board meeting, each team gave a presentation about their investment philosophy and the plan for implementing that philosophy into a strategy. Following each presentation, questions were taken from the board.

The board members challenged the teams on their philosophy and implementation strategy, which prompted further discussion following the meeting.

Preparation for the board meeting began many days before the actual event. The student teams were responsible for ordering food, reserving a room, providing parking passes, preparing presentation materials, and more.

COB student Marguerite Goldman says that through the preparation process the teams gained a deeper understanding of what is required to host events like this one in industry.

“There was much anticipation leading up to the meeting, but both teams were well-prepared for the event,” says COB student Elijah Joseph.

“Among many other things, we learned how to prepare and give a professional presentation, how to organize a professional meeting, and how to greet our guests and ensure they had a quality experience,” says Goldman. “We also learned how to improve our investment philosophy and presentation skills through feedback and questions from the board members.”

“My personal experience has been fantastic,” says Marguerite “It is incredible to be able to apply classroom knowledge to the management of a real portfolio and engage in intellectual conversation with other bright business students.”

The teams have been involved in the APMP class since May of 2024.

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Houghton-based startup wins ‘Most Investable Company’ at Demo Days in Detroit

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The start up company Integrated Molecular Innovations (imi) has been awarded the People’s Choice Award and judged the Most Investable Company at a Demo Days competition in Detroit this month.

Owned by Michigan Tech biomedical engineering major Rourke Sylvain, imi is a biosensing venture that empowers individuals to take control of their health through innovative, non-invasive, and continuous monitoring technology.

Sylvain is active in the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO), a student organization supported by the MTU College of Business. In recent CEO-affiliated pitch competitions, including the Rice Business Plan Competition and Central Michigan University’s New Venture Challenge, imi was awarded thousands of dollars.

Sylvain’s awards were the subject of a recent A TV6 News story, which appears below.

Houghton-based startup wins ‘Most Investable Company’ at Demo Days in Detroit

From TV6 News; by Audrey Stetson; published: Aug. 29, 2024
Read the original story.

UPPER MICHIGAN (WLUC) – A Houghton-based startup has big plans to revolutionize health care.

Integrated Molecular Innovations just won two awards. IMI is designing a bio-wearable device that could predict health problems before they happen.

IMI Founder Rourke Sylvain says the quality of peoples’ lives could be drastically impacted by this new technology.

“This health care system that we’re in right now is these reactive diagnostics,” Sylvain said. “We wait to get sick and then we go figure out why we get sick. It’s really critical that we have these technologies that can provide us this information before we even get sick.”

He compares it to the Apple Watch but with better technology for providing users with more precise insights to their health. The device continuously monitors molecular information in sweat.

“Now, our early products will be glucose and lactate sensors,” Sylvain said. “We’ll be targeting endurance athletes that need to monitor their energy levels and their exercise intensity. As the technology advances, we’ll disseminate the product to the masses.”

The MTEC SmartZone hosted its first ever 16-week Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Program Accelerator over the summer. Five groups, including IMI, learned about the early stages of business.

It culminated in a Demo Days competition in Detroit. There, the audience voted for IMI to win the People’s Choice Award and a panel judged the startup as Most Investable Company, based on a variety of factors.

“What does the growth look like for this?” AMMP Accelerator Co-Director Katie Kirsch asked. “How big is the market size? Does the team actually have a very logical and coherent plan in order to meet those milestones with whatever money they would receive?”

IMI will reinvest the $5,000 it won into product development. Kirsch says it was exciting to showcase what innovative technologies can come out of the Keweenaw Peninsula.

This innovation may someday improve our health.

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Laura Sieders Named Edward and Betty Robinson Endowed Faculty Fellow in Accounting

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The Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs has announced that College of Business faculty member Laura Sieders (COB) has been named the Edward ’66 and Betty Robinson Endowed Faculty Fellow in Accounting, which was created to attract, reward and retain highly talented faculty who focus on growing the College of Business’ accounting program.

Sieders serves as director of the MS in Accounting program and co-teaches the Applied Portfolio Management Program. Her teaching philosophy contains elements that provide experiential education, mutual respect and progressive expectations. To assure that her students are prepared for success in their courses and in their careers, Sieders serves on the external engagement committee and is the advisor to the Kappa Sigma Iota (KSI) Accounting Club, which aligns very well with her student-centric philosophy. Outside of campus, she serves as the accounting advisor for two local nonprofits.

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Huskies Place First, Second in THEProject Competition

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by Roger Woods, College of Business

Students in OSM4350 Advanced Project Management, led by Roger Woods (COB), participated in the 12th annual Western Michigan Project Management Institute (WMPMI) collegiate project management competition — known as THEProject — where they took home first and second place.

The teams gave their final presentations Monday (April 8) in Hudsonville, Michigan.

The Project, Team Name: Anchor Management
Photo credit: THEProject
Team Name: Anchor Management
Photo Left to Right: Travis Puesel, WMPMI THEProject Director with MTU Students: Easton Armstrong, Meredith Raaslo, Jacob Maurer, Blake Lewis, William Zinser, Alexander Bos

Students on the winning teams include:

  • First-Place Team — Anchor Management:
    Jacob Maurer (team lead), Blake Lewis, Easton Armstrong, Alex Bos, Will Zinser and Meredith Raasio
  • Second-Place Team — Lake Superior Salute:
    Gregory Lapetina (team lead), Connor Zavislak, Ethan Kennedy, Maggie Gallup, Ashley Haen and Simon Karnoe
THEProject Team Lake Superior Salute
Photo credit: THEProject
Team: Lake Superior Salute
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