Tim Bart is a third year engineering management student from Brighton, Michigan. Growing up within driving distance of two large state schools, he knew that the big campus life would not be the right fit for him. On his search to find a smaller school in a unique location, Tim stumbled upon Michigan Tech.
After coming up for a campus visit, he knew he wanted to graduate with a B.S. in engineering management from the School of Business and Economics at Michigan Tech. To reach his goal, he spent two years at a community college before transferring. He was very strategic about the classes he chose to take at Schoolcraft College (in order to get the most out of his credits). When Tim transferred in the fall of 2015, he brought 35 of his 43 credits with him. Not knowing anyone in Houghton, Tim signed a lease blind and met his roommates when he arrived for classes. Although initially nervous to live with four strangers, it proved to work out very well! Everyone in the house became friends, and a year later he is still sharing an apartment with two of those students.
During his first career fair on campus, Tim talked to Greenheck Fan Corporation (the leading suppliers of air movement and control equipment) from Schofield, Wisconsin. They were looking for engineering management students for a spring/summer semester co-op. Tim knew he wanted to stay on campus for a full year before taking on work experience. Five months later at the spring career fair, Tim talked with Greenheck Fan again and they offered him a summer/fall co-op. He moved to Wisconsin and worked as a Manufacturing Engineer Co-op from May 2016 – December 2016. While on co-op Tim worked day-to-day with a materials specialist to control the flow of inventory, get production information to assembly lines, and monitor purchase orders. He led larger projects where he diagnosed problems with efficiencies, improved process flows, assessed the feasibility of large future projects, and assisted other team members with their initiatives. One of his larger projects was looking at the possibility of implementing robots called AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles) in the facility. These robots would be used to move goods and materials from one location to another.
All students enrolled in a co-op at Michigan Tech are in an online course where they write about their experiences and engage in conversations about the type of work they are doing, workplace culture, and other aspects of their job and the company they are working for. Like many students on co-op, Tim had the same responsibilities as the full-time employees and was happy to find autonomy in his work.
When he is not in class or hitting the slopes/trails, Tim can be found in the Academic Office Building connecting with students who are interested in joining the School of Business and Economics. He remembers how helpful it was for him to ask questions and hear stories from current students about their experiences on campus and is happy to be that connection to potential new students. Tim invites you to check him out on the web at zeemee.com/timbart or to send him an email at tabart@mtu.edu to start a conversation!
CCI Systems, a networks solution company headquartered in Iron Mountain, Michigan, has donated 50 pieces of computer and networking equipment to the School of Business and Economics at Michigan Tech.
The donation will support the new Information Systems Student Lab of the Management Information Systems (MIS) program, created to give Michigan Tech students an opportunity to experiment with industry hardware and software in a free-form environment.
The MIS faculty reached out to industry partners from their advisory board, asking for gently-used, commercial-grade equipment for networking and computing. CCI Systems, one of the advisory board’s industry partners, put together a large donation that exceeded the MIS program’s expectations.
“The MIS students at Michigan Tech will benefit substantially from this opportunity to learn about networking and cyber security technologies through hands-on experimentation in a safe lab environment,” said Jeffrey Wall, assistant professor of management information systems at Michigan Tech. “The lab will provide them with further opportunities to experiment and interact with different operating systems and programs. The School of Business and Economics and the Management Information Systems faculty greatly appreciate CCI Systems’ generous donation of lab equipment.”
MIS advisory board member Evan Rice, director of information and analysis services at CCI Systems, said, “CCI believes in what the MIS program is trying to achieve. The future of our business depends on new, highly capable, technical professionals entering the job market. We find that Michigan Tech is uniquely positioned, both technologically and geographically, to provide those future employees. So for us, giving back to these programs is a no-brainer.”
-Jenn Donovan – Tech Today, March 21, 2017
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ8Nbu6uhdE[/youtube]
Erin is a second-year accounting student from Traverse City, Michigan. During her search for the perfect university, she recalls looking for school with a prestigious academic atmosphere in a location that would allow her to continue to enjoy the outdoors. In the fall of her senior year, Erin was invited to participate in the School of Business and Economics’ Impact Scholarship Competition. At the competition, Erin and her family had the opportunity to meet several faculty members.
This fall, two years after participating in the scholarship competition, the same professors that Erin met during Impact, she now had as instructors in class. They remembered having met Erin and her parents at the competition and were excited to have her in class. Erin says this is just one example of our faculty truly caring about their students.
All through high school Erin was an avid runner and skier, but was not sure if she would continue to compete at the collegiate level. During her first year at Tech, she was a walk on for both the Nordic and running teams. Needless to say, she never looked back. Erin has continued as a three season athlete. That means she runs on the cross country team in the fall, skis on the Nordic team in the winter, and runs track in the spring. “Being an athlete really has taught me time management. I need to go to sleep early so I can wake up and be productive in classes and at practice.” Traveling many of the weekends throughout the year requires her to stick to a strict study schedule so she is able to make the most out of every day. One of her favorite parts about competing on the home trails is seeing her professors in the crowd. “It is much different for someone to show up to a ski race and stand around in the snow than it is to come to an indoor sporting event and sit comfortably in the stands.” Erin says she can’t imagine what she would do with all her time if she wasn’t involved in athletics.
While being a student athlete does take up on average 15 hour a week (plus travel), Erin has also made time to get involved in an academic organization, Kappa Sigma Iota (KSI). KSI is a student organization dedicated to helping students gain an understanding of the business world through networking, guest speakers, and CPA/industry tours. In her first year at Michigan Tech, Erin went on a trip to Minneapolis with KSI. They visited a few companies and firms including Caterpillar, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Grant Thornton. After their tours, she sent a follow up Email to Grant Thornton thanking them for the experience, and mentioned she was interested in exploring a career with a CPA firm. The representative from Grant Thornton got back in touch with Erin and invited her to participate in a four day recruiting conference known as Grow with Grant Thornton. In July, she headed to Chicago with other college students where they were exposed to Grant Thornton’s services lines such as audit, tax and advisory. Shortly after the program ended, Erin was offered an internship for the following summer. Erin is excited to spend this summer in Minneapolis where she will work as a tax intern.
While Erin is only half way through her second year, she knows she will pursue the Accelerated Accounting (MS) Michigan Tech and take the CPA exam. We are excited to see what the coming years have in store for her!
If you’d like to learn more about Erin, or get in touch with her check her out on ZeeMee!
Hunter Austin, a second year engineering management student wrote home to tell us about his first few weeks studying abroad in Valencia, Spain!
“Studying abroad offers so many advantages. For myself, as an Engineering Management major it allows me to learn another language and become familiar with another part of the world. These attributes are ones that employers love to look for in applicants. In addition, I choose a program, which allows me to continue to take classes in my chosen field so as to not fall behind on my degree. Those things aside, being a college student is about so much more than just getting a degree and a job. It’s about becoming a better person who’s compassionate, analytical and has the tools to contribute to society in a positive way. I try to strive towards this everyday and I believe Michigan Tech does an amazing job of preparing us for our future. We pride ourselves on being analytical and you can see through our alumni just how much of a difference we make in the world. However, often college students in the United States never make it out of the country during their studies. This is a big disadvantage being that we don’t have the luxury of being able to travel and see multiple cultures just hours away. In the context of our globalized world this make studying abroad undeniably crucial. Going abroad opens your perspective to cultures you’ve never made contact with in your life before. I know that in just the short while I’ve been in Valencia, Spain I’ve learned so much about Spaniards, about Europe, and about just how connected we all are as a human race. I’ve gained so much since my first day here and everyday is a new experience and challenge. The people I’ve met and the places I’ve gone, I know I’ll never forget. I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to study abroad as it could be the most important experience you have in all of college.
Also, if that didn’t convince you the food is utterly amazing here!!!”
Hunter representing Michigan Tech will visiting Xativa, a small city outside of Valenica.