Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Category: Student Spotlight

Economics Graduate Accepted into top 100 Law School

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Coleman Segal to attend McGeorge School of Law.

The School of Business and Economics wants to congratulate Coleman Segal for his acceptance into the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. We’re so proud!

Despite being accepted to UC Berkeley out of high school, Segal chose to pursue his undergraduate degree at Michigan Tech.  After visiting his Aunt and Uncle in the Houghton as a child, he has always loved the area. The wild, beautiful surroundings, the opportunity to participate in the vibrant folk music scene, and the impressive academic reputation were all factors in his decision to come to Tech.

After researching universities, he learned of the Economics program at Michigan Tech.  Economics interested Segal in high school because it can be applied to so many different aspects of life.  Segal said, “The study of economics is in large part an effort to understand the mechanics of a functioning society, and so it relates to many different fields. It also provides a good background for law school, which I have planned to attend since high school.” 

Segal is a California native and will soon return to his home state to pursue his law degree from one of the top 100 Law Schools in the nation.   Applying and being accepted to five law schools –Marquette University in Milwaukee, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, and Albany Law School– Segal selected the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and will begin classes next fall. In addition to their impressive reputation, Segal said he chose McGeorge School of Law based on their location in Sacramento, California.  He finds the area interesting as a center of government, with multiple courthouses at different levels in the immediate area. 

Crediting his experiences with extracurricular activities such as the iOMe Challenge and the Pavlis Institute for advancing his goals of attending law school, Segal noted that Michigan Tech prepared him well for continuing his education.  Mastering skills such as writing and researching papers, in many different subjects, have been instrumental for the pursuit of his law degree.

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Students Take Bloomberg Aptitude Test

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While most students had already left Houghton in the rearview following five days of finals, 22 School of Business and Economics students gathered for yet one more exam. The Bloomberg Aptitude Test (BAT) was developed in collaboration with financial professionals, recruiters, and academics to uncover knowledge and skills relevant for a financial career.

“Bloomberg already provided students with Bloomberg Certification in the use of the Bloomberg terminal.  Now Bloomberg has strengthed its commitment to students achievement through the BAT,” said James and Dolores Trethewey APMP Professor Dean Johnson. “The BAT allows Bloomberg to bring prospective employers together with skilled investment students.”

Over thirty five thousand people around the world have completed this proctored exam, specifically designed for people who are interested in working with investments. The 165-question exam covers topics ranging from financial statement analysis to portfolio management, ethics, and logic in a three-hour period.

Brent Halonen, a 2011-2012 member of the Applied Portfolio Management Program achieved a notable accomplishment by placing among the top 525 (1.5%) test takers. “The BAT is was a good opportunity to show the world what we learned in school in a unbiased environment,” said Brent. “I think my results reflect the strength of APMP and the educational opportunity that it represents.”

Congratulations to Brent and the rest of the test takers.

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iOme Money Smart Week Video Contest ’12

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Last semester, some of Dr. Emanuel Oliveira’s students of EC3003 Macroeconomic Theory and EC4400 Banking & Financial Institutions courses participated in the 2011 iOme national competition (previous story), which tasked students with an essay and video about ways to foster personal savings in the US.

One team won Honorable Mention (and $2500) last February for the essay+video challenge—congrats again to Katie O’Connell, (economics), Adam Stigers (economics), Tianlu Shen (environmental engineering), Teddy Broe (economics), and Walker Derby (finance)—and now it is time for the video competition which is a spillover of the main competition.

All four Michigan Tech teams that participated in the 2011 iOme Challenge were selected to be in the top 10 iOme Money Smart Week Video Contest ’12, but only one can win. Please check them out and cast your vote!

Vote now for the iOme Money Smart Week Video Contest

Voting ends on Monday, April 30th!

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Tech students report on ‘market leakage’

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Market leakage is a growing issue for Copper Country retailers, particularly online.

That was one of the takeaways at a presentation by Michigan Technological University students at the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance meeting Wednesday. This is the second year School of Business and Economics Assistant Professor of Marketing Jun Min’s students have done the study, for which they received 71 responses.

In 13 product categories, this year’s study showed increasing market leakage in nine of them, including a 33 percent jump in electronics and office materials and 14 percent in cars. The four areas with stable and decreasing trends were household essentials, personal care products, groceries and medicine and drug.

Different areas benefitted the most from various areas of leakage. Online led for areas such as toys, clothing and telecommunications devices, while Marquette led in areas such as home improvement and outdoor living. The only area in which Green Bay absorbed the greatest market share was in automobiles, with 18.2 percent of respondents saying they had purchased a car in Green Bay.

It was a different story in services, where only four categories went up – rentals, real estate, household improvement and health/medical/dental. The largest decrease in leakage was 12 percent in airline and vacation services.

The bulk of the leakage was online, particularly in airline and vacation services, rental cars and education. Marquette’s strongest categories were restaurants and health/medical/dental. Green Bay again led in only one category: entertainment, museum and shows.

The local market trended downward in the Business Market Wellness index, which measures market attractiveness, satisfaction and recommendation.

The local market scored 3.35 out of 5, where 3 is neutral – behind online, as was the case last year, and also now behind Marquette and Green Bay. The weakest score was in market satisfaction, where the local market scored 3.06.

“That means people are attracted to our market, they like it, but they’re not satisfied,” said Tech student Cory Rokes. “This is something we want to rectify.”

Projections of future spending shows most to stay about the same, but with an edge toward online; 24 percent said they planned to spend more online in the next six months, more than twice the next highest total.

The group also conducted a separate leakage study for the Houghton County Memorial Airport. Of those surveyed, only four in 10 had used in the airport in the past year.

“The problem isn’t the market leakage, it’s promoting the airport,” said Tech student Sarah Ochs.

By GARRETT NEESE – DMG writer (gneese@mininggazette.com) , The Daily Mining Gazette

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Business Intelligence Students Partner with Revenue Management Solutions

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Students in Michigan Tech’s Business Intelligence class (MIS3400) spent less time hitting the books this semester and more time focused on an innovative, real-world project that was the result of an industry partnership with Revenue Management Solutions (RMS) headquartered in Tampa, Florida. In this upper-level class, the skills learned in previous courses were put to the test as five teams of students were provided access to a warehouse of test data from a simulated Michigan client. The assignment was to create meaningful business information from the mountain of data, and to formulate strategic recommendations for the coming fiscal year. And, creativity was a required element.

Before the project began, students chose critical roles within their teams – e.g. Consultant, Analyst, and/or Developer. During the final class session of the semester, the teams presented their prototypes and recommendations in person to the client liaison/RMS representative. Following the team presentations Ashley Johnson encouraged the students to seek out internships if they enjoyed the work performed in the class. She also commended the groups for communicating openly with her as a client throughout this scenario.

“You have done great work here,” said Ashley. “As you move forward in your careers, remember to add this to your resume, that you have created a data warehouse and are comfortable analyzing big data sets. This is exactly the type of work I would expect to see in my office,” said Ashley Johnson, Data Analytics Manager with RMS.

The student teams were told to approach the project as if the transactional data were collected from an actual client’s business enterprise. The two years’ worth of data were used to analyze performance in relation to the competition, item profitability, top product-drivers, etc. The expectation was that students learn database software skills including data extract/transform/load (ETL) using the SQL Server suite of applications, as well as Microsoft Visual Studio, Excel,  Access, and other Windows 7 software for completing the final proposal. This activity provided experiential learning that mirrors the work performed by IS/IT professionals in industry today. Lessons learned will be incorporated in the next course offering as we strive for continuous improvement of our innovative MIS curriculum.

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