Congratulations to Idea Pitch Competition winners representing the Michigan Tech College of Business (COB): In first place—Anastasia (Asia) Motta with The Droplet; in third place—Alex Bos with The SELF Couch; and the audience-favorite—Noel Kamdem-Tegue with Black Earth Rising, a food truck.
Each year the Michigan Tech College of Business recognizes faculty for their accomplishments in the areas of service and research. A faculty panel of past recipients guides the selection process. This year’s honorees are:
This year’s Service Award went to Jenny Apriesnig, assistant professor of economics. A faculty member in the College since 2018, Apriesnig took on the advisor role for Michigan Tech Collegiate DECA last fall. Under her leadership and mentorship, the group reactivated and saw early success. Highlights include: Six students competing and placing at the state competition in February and four students competing in the national conference in Baltimore in April, with two earning a top 10 placement.
The organization now has 13 members and is looking forward to growing.
Apriesnig’s above-and-beyond efforts were noticed by her students, too—many of whom nominated her for Tech’s student organization advisor of the year, another award she received this year. Nominees noted that she traveled with the group to various functions across the country and held one-on-one mentoring sessions to ensure each student felt prepared and supported ahead of their competitions and presentations.
Many College of Business students were active in DECA during their high school careers, and were eager to continue their endeavors during college.
“Jenny’s dedication to support DECA students is appreciated by everyone in the College of Business; she is an outstanding role model for our students,”
Many of Associate Professor of Economics William (Bill) Breffle’s research papers are published in top environmental economics journals, including the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, The American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Land Economics, Ecological Economics, and Environmental and Resource Economics. Breffle has also published in policy journals such as Contemporary Economic Policy and Urban Studies. Two of Breffle’s journal articles were selected for International Library of Environmental Economics and Policy book volumes as “important and influential essays.” Another publication he co-authored is listed among the top 200 most influential research papers in the discipline of environmental and ecological economics. Impressively, according to Google Scholar, his research has been cited more than 1,500 times.
During the first half of his 30-year career, Breffle’s research centered on the valuation of economic damages caused by injuries to natural resources, such as mining injuries, releases of organics, and oil spills. Research teams across 15 states that included him secured more than $700 million in settlements for restoration and remediation. More recently, his research has investigated pressing topics related to sustainability and carrying capacity, especially focused on the Great Lakes, but also climate change issues as far away as Laos and Uganda. Blending his teaching with research, Breffle’s co-authors frequently include students.
“Dr. Breffle’s selection for the COB Faculty Research Award is a reflection of his career-long commitment to academic discovery. His research has informed policy decision-makers on national issues for more than 20 years.
“MTU students are fortunate to learn from a person who sits at the forefront of his profession,”
The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, business analytics, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.
From an applicant pool of 600 students, Rourke Sylvain, president of Michigan Tech’s chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO), is among the 100 participants selected to compete in the 39th Annual Global Pitch Competition hosted by the University of Tampa. Over the next month, Rourke, who is a graduate student pursuing biomedical engineering, will create a four-phase online investor pitch deck—the problem, the solution, a business model, and a video pitch.
Twenty semifinalists will move on to present their ideas live at the Global Conference in Chicago, Illinois, to be held October 28-30. The highly selective conference and competition promises to “Frame Your Future” with an assembly of some of the brightest minds in collegiate entrepreneurship.
Founded in 1983, CEO has a global network of more than 250 college and university chapters, and supports and inspires the growth and development of students seeking to be entrepreneurial. Michigan Tech’s chapter of CEO was established last year, and the environment in the College of Business (COB) is rich for tech-savvy innovation.
“Rourke’s opportunity is a reflection of the advancements we can make when STEM intersects with business.”
Rourke is advancing Integrated Molecular Innovations LLC, an enterprise centered on his research on electrochemical biosensors. His end goal is to develop a device that can remotely monitor thyroid hormones in patients. According to Rourke’s research, more than 3 million people are diagnosed with hypothyroidism every year. Many lived with symptoms for years pre-diagnosis, and most don’t find a stable medication regimen for another year or more. He says the current testing protocol requires patients to travel to a medical provider’s office or a central clinical laboratory every few months to have blood drawn and tested. Rourke’s device will allow for home testing, resulting in a richer data set for physicians and faster diagnosis and symptom relief.
Rourke’s pitch must include value proposition, customer discovery, product-market fit, investment requirements, and customer pain points. Much of his entrepreneurial training has come through his participation in Husky Innovate, a series of events, workshops, and resources designed to guide students through key phases of innovation and business development.
Earlier this year, Rourke saw significant success when he was selected to pitch during TCNewTech’s University Showcase, part of Michigan Tech’s Grand Traverse region initiative. During Central Michigan University’s New Venture Competition, Rouke and fellow biomedical engineering student Ali Dabas earned second place in the “High-Tech, High-Growth” category, with a prize of $5,000 in seed money.
The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, business analytics, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.
Following a recommendation approved by the Provost and President, the College of Business (COB) is pleased to announce that Jun Dai has been appointed as the Ten Haken Faculty Fellow in Accounting and Finance, and the Ten Haken Faculty Fellow in Business is Junhong Min.
“The College of Business is blessed with excellent faculty,” says Dean Johnson, dean of the College. “As such, a goal of the Ten Haken Faculty Fellows is to rotate these Fellows such that more faculty can be recognized and provided with a boost to their careers.
The COB has a goal of 50 percent of our faculty in funded faculty positions by 2035.
Jun Dai’s most recent accomplishments include lecturing on “Teaching Blockchain to Accounting Students” at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Faculty Hour webinar in August, with more than 650 faculty colleagues from around the world in attendance.
Of the appointment, she says: “This offers tremendous support to my career from many perspectives—working with students on course tutors, establishing new student research projects, and traveling to conferences to share outcomes with academia and industry.”
Using the Ten Haken resource to support the local community through a new project that aims to identify social pathology through big data is also a goal for Dai.
Dai, who achieved her Ph.D. at Rutgers University and began at Tech as visiting faculty in 2018, is an assistant professor of accounting. Her research interests lie in applying new technologies such as blockchain, industry 4.0, and data analytics in the auditing profession. Her teaching foci include accounting systems, accounting analytical methods, and business database management. She also serves as the associate editor of the Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting and an editorial board member of the Journal of Information Systems.
In July, Dai chaired the 31st Annual Research Workshop on Strategic and Emerging Technologies in Accounting, Auditing, and Tax, held in San Diego.
She received the 2021 American Accounting Association Notable Contributions to Accounting Literature Award for a research article titled “Toward Blockchain-Based Accounting and Assurance.” In it, she explores how blockchain technology could reengineer the existing accounting and auditing procedures to make them more transparent, intelligent, and automated.
Junhong “Jun” Min, led students in a hands-on market research project that, through the study of digital metrics, directly benefited COB’s brand positioning and fall website refresh. As advisor of the American Marketing Association student organization, Min, an associate professor of marketing, mentors students through sales and digital marketing competitions in regional conferences, and hosts networking events with industry experts from leading companies.
“The Ten Haken Fellowship provides new experiential learning opportunities for students, including alumni networking, community service, local marketing internships, and student-led research projects,” Min says.
The fellowship helps bridge the gap between academia and practitioners in the industry.
Min was a finalist for the 2022 Distinguished Teaching Award, a reflection of his expertise and passion for leading hands-on marketing courses—including Principles of Marketing, Marketing Data Analytics, Sales and Sales Technology, and B2B Marketing in a Digital Age. He studies the relationship governance problems that threaten a firm’s long-term success and growth. He has presented potential solutions in a variety of journal publications, including the European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, and Journal of Business Ethics, as well as national and international conferences such as the American Marketing Association, the Society for Marketing Advances, and the Decision Sciences Institute.
His analysis, conducted with Matt Monte of Houghton-based Monte Consulting, earned the award for best paper at the Society for Marketing Advances conference in Orlando, Florida. Using more than 12,000 ratings and reviews collected from IMDb.com, the pair identified factors causing inconsistencies between online ratings and reviews. Their work aims to contribute to the understanding of sponsorship marketing performance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ten Haken Faculty Fellows were established in 2017 through the support of Joyce and Richard Ten Haken, COB accounting alumni. Prior to the appointment of Dai and Min, Jeff Wall, associate professor of management information systems, and Sheila Milligan, associate teaching professor of accounting, fulfilled the roles from 2019 to 2022. “Sincere appreciation is extended to both Sheila and Jeff for their depth of service to the fellowships,” says Johnson. “We look forward to the new endeavors Dr. Dai and Dr. Min establish during their term as Ten Haken Fellows.”
The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, business analytics, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.
Aidan Holley, 18, has won the Parade of Nations essay contest on multiculturalism. He will receive a $1,000 scholarship to Michigan Tech, where he will study engineering management starting this fall.
Multiculturalism is a fact of life for Holley, who lives in Baraga, Michigan. “I have lived in the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community most of my life,” Holley explains. “Half of my graduating class at Baraga High School was tribal.”
The Parade of Nations essay contest was open to high school seniors who plan to go to Michigan Tech. It asked two questions:
In his essay, Holley writes: “In my community, Baraga County, this concept is especially important to understand. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community lies within the area, and Baraga’s culture can be divided mainly into two different groups: Yoopers with Finland in their blood and Native Americans who have been on this land for centuries. For the most part, we get along well together. But there are times that it can get problematic, because multiculturalism is a mostly unknown and foreign concept for much of our populations. If both groups put multiculturalism into effect for Baraga, it would create a more welcoming environment for either group to be more open to each other, spreading even more culture to each other without the worries of being slandered.”
As for the importance of multiculturalism to the country and the world, Holley says: “My definition of multiculturalism is to have a better understanding of the people who surround us in our world. To me, it is really important to be able to harness this major ability, as it helps connect people from multiple different regions of the globe. For example, in a workplace, having workers who are American, Italian, Kenyan, Russian, Japanese, and/or Brazilian in the same area helps create diversity, which helps each culture to understand the other. Using this example all over the world would create an alliance of hundreds of different backgrounds and traditions and unite them together into one large hub that anyone can learn from.”
Aidan goes on to say: “Our country is another good example of why multiculturalism is important to understand. It does happen in some areas of the United States, but only on certain occasions and in certain areas of the country. If it happened all over our society, it would create a much more accepting environment to be able to share whatever culture someone belongs to with a different culture.”
The valedictorian of his class at Baraga High, Holley has won more than 20 scholarships. He was inducted into the National Honor Society in 10th grade. He also served on the student council.
Both Parade of Nations contest winners this year were from Baraga. Chiara Rapacci, an exchange student from Italy, won the logo design contest. Holley is not surprised. “It reflects on the teachers at Baraga High School,” he says. “I can’t say enough good about the teachers there.”