Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

Category: Students

Michigan Tech Students Compete for $60,000

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Michigan Tech students, Ben Mitchell and Wade Aitken-Palmer practice in the last few hours before pitching at the New Venture Competition and their chance at $60,000 to fund Baisikeli Ugunduzi, a bicycle components business for rural Africa.

On March 30, 2012, six Michigan Tech teams will compete for $60,000 as part of the New Venture Competition. A joint partnership between Michigan Tech and Central Michigan University, the competition aims to support and promote Michigan entrepreneurship by showcasing talents and the passion of students.

Since September 2011, students have been developing and honing their entrepreneurial savvy through educational broadcasts, meetings, and mentor support to arrive at the competition in Mount Pleasant.

“Working with students to develop and push their ideas into the marketplace is one of the most innovative educations one can receive,” said Darrell Radson, dean of the School of Business and Economics. “We’re excited and thankful for the opportunity to partner with Central Michigan University and push entrepreneurial innovation for our state and our country.”

The competition includes three rounds of single elimination presentations and is punctuated by a luncheon panel featuring entrepreneurial experts from the state of Michigan. A business pitch competition will round out the day’s events and end with an awards banquet and reception.

Teams will be judged on key criteria including: quality of an idea, strength of the management team, clarity and persuasiveness of the written plan, and the oral presentation.

The competition includes a first place prize of $30,000 followed by $10,000 second place and $5,000 third place finish. Other awards also include Best Social Venture, Best Technology, Venture Shaping and a first and second place for Best Business Pitch.

Representing Michigan Tech

AsfalisMed: Travis Beaulieu and Joel Florek
Develop a medical record platform for individuals to store emergency medical information and medical history in an online profile that can be accessed by any EMS, clinic, or hospital.

Baisikeli Ugunduzi: Ben Mitchell and Wade Aitken-Palmer
Designs and produces high quality, non-puncturing bicycle components for rural people in Kitale, Kenya and serves sub-Saharan Africa.

G&A’s Farmer’s Market: Amber Campbell and Jeffrey Squires
A production, distribution, and retail facility for fresh produce, organic foods, and garden center products to be located in Houghton, Michigan.

Picket Books: Kyle Johnston and David Shull
A rental company that connects students around the world to facilitate peer-to-peer rental transactions for college textbooks.

Two Bows, LLC: Jessica Tompkins, Walker Derby, Shawn Peterson, and Christina Ruth
Provide women hunters with fit and functional apparel that is warm, quiet, and minimizes bulk.

Unoja Engineering: Bailey Gamble and Benjamin Savonen
Produces fluoride filitration systems that eliminate harmful pathogens by using bone char technology in Tanzania.

Stay informed of the competition progress by following #nvc2012 on Twitter or by visiting the School of Business and Economics facebook page: www.facebook.com/Businessattech.

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Annual APMP Scholarships Awarded

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APMP students hard at work.

The School of Business and Economics awards annual scholarships to students who participate in the Applied Portfolio Management Program (APMP).  The scholarships are made possible by generous donors who have setup funds to recognize specific skill sets and characteristics in the recipients.  Each scholarship is awarded in the Spring of the academic year. We are very grateful to the generous donors that provide excellent opportunities to stand-out APMP students at Michigan Tech.

2012 Scholarship Recipients

Clarence Fisher APMP Scholarship – Jessie Patrick

Chester Reault APMP Scholarship – Todd Storm

Norb Verville APMP Scholarship – Mike Harri

Joe Dancy LSGI Scholarship – Dan Eskola

Hugh Makens APMP Scholarship – Pat Carroll

Jeff Call Memorial APMP Scholarship – Rachael Ristau

Scholarship Descriptions

The Clarence Fisher, Chester Rheault, and Norb Verville APMP scholarships recognize the impact these three former Advisory Board members had in founding APMP.  Recipients of these scholarships this year were: Jesse Patrick, Todd Storm, and Mike Harri, respectively.

As an APMP Board member from origination through today, the Hugh Makens APMP scholarship honors Hugh’s continual support of the students and the program.  Pat Carroll is the 2012 recipient.

Dan Eskola was the recipient of the LSGI Fund Scholarship, also known as the Joe Dancy LSGI Scholarship.  This scholarship is awarded to the student who displays excellent academic achievement, expresses an interest in finance or applied mathematics, and demonstrates high moral and ethical characteristics.  The LSGI Fund is a hedge fund managed by Joe Dancy, a Michigan Tech alumnus from Dallas, TX.

Finally, the Jeff Call Memorial Scholarship was given to Rachael Ristau.  Jeff Call, a 2002 graduate of the School and the APMP, passed away unexpectedly in 2006.  To honor Jeff’s contributions to the School and the APMP Advisory Board, together with Jeff’s parents, the groups established the Jeff Call Memorial Scholarship.  It is awarded annually to the senior who demonstrates the highest degree of commitment to APMP—a commitment Jeff displayed every day during his time at Michigan Tech.

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MBA Students Help Guide Portage Hospital Decisions

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Students provide guidance for local healthcare provider.

MBA students from Michigan Tech have assisted in optimizing the schedule for Portage Health’s Dialysis Center as published in the Daily Mining Gazette weekend edition.

“The change in hours will increase patient safety, patient satisfaction and efficiency,” said Karen Kelley, dialysis director.

The decision to add new software, Schedule Wise, was suggested by an MBA team including Karen Giddings, Emmett Golde, Heather Richards, and Birong Tao in the spring of 2010.

“The students did a learn project where they examined patient flow, eventually concluding that new software would help,” Kelley said.

For more information about the Portage Health Dialysis Center, visit portagehealth.org/dialysis.

This was originally published by the Daily Mining Gazette March 17/18 weekend edition.

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Finance Club Experiences Chicago

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Finance Club enjoying a tour of the Chicago Board of Option Exchange.

On Wednesday, March 14th, Michigan Tech’s Finance Club traveled down to Chicago for a whirlwind tour of financial organizations. Their first stop? The Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) for a tour of their trading floor.

Students were able to go down on the floor of the exchange and get right next to the pits where they were trading securities with the old open outcry method.

Club President, Dan Eskola noted “It was a great experience to get down on the floor and see the open outcry auction pits trading. Many of these jobs have disappeared due to more efficient computer based trading and so it is good to see them before they go away.”

After the tour the group ventured to Peak 6– a proprietary trading company– where they had lunch.  The students had the opportunity to speak with the Chief Technology Officer, Danny Rosenthall, and one of the head traders.

Finance club members were able to view their impressive trading room located in the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) building.  Students were grateful to speak with these professionals who explained their business in honest, frank language.  The trip is an excellent opportunity for students to understand careers suitable for finance and accounting majors as well as ask questions about the financial industry.

The group also toured the Chicago Mercantile Exchange during their trip, where a lot of the financial transactions take place for commodities. “It was a great experience to see both of their huge trading floors as well as the fixed income securities,”  added Eskola.

This trip was organized by the Finance Club that is advised by Assistant Professor of Finance, Howard Qi, in the School of Business and Economics.

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Michigan Tech Students Break for Silicon Valley

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While many college students spent their spring break on sandy beaches, Michigan Tech students escaped 130 inches of snow (a mild winter) to tour high-tech companies in Silicon Valley.

Thanks to Brocade, which sponsored the trip, the Michigan Tech students immersed themselves in all things tech as they toured several leading companies. A Michigan Tech alumnus, Dave House, is on the board of directors at Brocade. The students arrived Monday and began with a tour of Kyocera and Autodesk.

“The trip has been eye-opening for the types of industries that are really booming,” said Kelsey Waugh, a materials science and engineering major. “It’s giving us a picture of where corporate America is heading.

Eli Karttunen, an economics major, agreed. “We saw a diverse array of successful companies with different management styles. It showed us what is possible for our future career opportunities.”

Touring google with Michigan Tech alumnae, Danielle VanDyke.

Cisco Systems and Plug and Play were toured before a meeting with another alum, Danielle VanDyke ’06 at Google and a visit to Brocade in San Jose, finishing the high-tech portion of their whirlwind tour.

“Seeing the different atmospheres and productivity showed me what companies do to support creative, productive engineers and employees in their working environment,” said electrical engineering major Josh Lehman. “This trip gave us the opportunity to see and network with west coast companies.

As the trip’s exclusive sponsor, Brocade wrapped up the students’ week-long Silicon Valley Spring Break Experience with an executive panel discussion, data center tour, and hosted a networking social where students were able to interact with Brocade employees, including reps from human resources, some with immediate opportunities for these top students.

The students also toured the Computer History Museum in Mountain View before flying back to the snow banks of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on a redeye at midnight Friday, to continue preparing to make a little high-tech history of their own some day.

Their California adventure wasn’t all tech-related—another Michigan Tech alumnus, Tom Porter, arranged a tour of his Porter Creek Vineyard led by his son, Tim, in the Napa Valley, Cal. area. The 17,000 square foot underground wine cave is unusually sophisticated with an environment completely controllable by iPad. Tim Porter toured the students through the technological complex and hosted a social gathering in the cave itself.

At Porter Family Vineyards, owned by Tom Porter a Michigan Tech alumnus.

The late Michigan Tech School of Business and Economics Professor Bob Mark started the Silicon Valley trip last year. The 2012 trip was organized by the School of Business and Economics and the Office of Innovation and Industry Engagement. View more photos from the trip on Facebook.

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