Month: November 2016

Student Spotlight – Tyler Lauretti

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Tyler Lauretti is a junior at UConn, majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS) and minoring in Computer Science. He is the UConn Campus Representative for Apple, an Advanced Technician at the University Information Technology Services (UITS) Help Center, and the incoming president of the Information Management Association (IMA). This past summer, Tyler held an IT internship at Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford.

Information Technology plays an important role in Tyler’s life and work.

“I have always had a passion for technology and I am fascinated by finding new ways to improve our lives through technology,” Tyler said.

The interesting thing about technology for Tyler is how much our lives revolve around it. People are constantly interacting with technology, sometimes without even realizing it, he said. Many large businesses are starting to invest millions of dollars into IT departments with the intentions of discovering new ways to improve efficiency, he said.

“I am looking forward to using my creativity and technical abilities to make a difference in the world,” He said.

Out of all areas of information technology, Tyler is most interested in artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence was previously known to be science fiction, but Tyler said there have been major breakthroughs with cognitive computing platforms, such as IBM’s Watson.

Tyler said he was initially unsure what he wanted to do with his MIS degree because of the many different career options. He decided to join IMA to get informed about the different career opportunities available in information technology and about what IT companies are looking for in potential candidates. He believed that it would give him the information and tools to succeed in his professional life.

Now, as the future leader of IMA, Tyler hopes to expand the organization’s reach to other schools at UConn. Tyler believes that information technology has something to offer everyone. He said that the initiatives that the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department is working on for the upcoming semester can be beneficial to all students. Tyler wants to reach out to all majors because he feels that there will be something that interests everyone.

After his time at UConn, Tyler would like to start out working for one of the major insurance companies in the Hartford area. During his internship at Travelers, Tyler experienced many different areas of the insurance industry, as well as, corporate information technology. One of his goals is to gain exposure to as many different areas of information technology as early in his career as possible. As for a long term goal, Tyler hopes to move to California and work in Silicon Valley someday.

Faculty Spotlight – Ryan O’Connor

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Adjunct Professor Ryan O’Connor started working in Information Technology when he was just 16 years old at a small computer shop in Quaker Hill, Connecticut. Now, Ryan teaches classes in the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department at UConn and he works full-time for Hurricane Labs, though he is still confused for a student from time to time.

Ryan shared his experiences in Information Technology, how he became involved in teaching, the importance of technology and his advice for students entering into the field.

Ryan’s own experience at UConn inspired him to become a teacher at the university. He said that he wanted to give back to UConn and he felt that he had a lot of experience and knowledge to give to others.

“Knowledge is a powerful thing, but only if it’s shared” Ryan said.

Ryan believes Information Technology is important because it is involved all monumental achievements in society. He is mainly interested in Information Security and data driven decision making. He said a course he took with OPIM Professor Bob Day at UConn is what sparked his interests in these areas of technology.

“Information technology is so important because it’s as much the present as it is the future,” Ryan said.

Ryan graduated from UConn with a Master’s in Business Analytics and Project Management (MBAPM) in 2014. During his time at UConn, Ryan worked at the University Information Technology Services (UITS) Help Desk. He worked at UITS for seven years, eventually transitioning to a full-time position in the Information Security Office. After earning his Masters degree, Ryan left UITS to further pursue a career in Information Security and Splunk consulting. Ryan currently teaches courses in Network and Design Applications (OPIM 3222) and Business Data Analytics (OPIM 3511) in Storrs and West Hartford.

As for advice for students looking to enter into a technology-based field, Ryan said it is important to become a ‘yes’ person. He said that anything is possible with technology and it is important to keep a positive mind set to be successful.

“It might be hard, but you’ll learn far more in struggling to figure something out than simply saying ‘no we can’t do that,'” Ryan said.

He encourages all of his students to take advantage of every opportunity given to them during there time at UConn.

Ryan hopes to advance in his position at Hurricane Labs as a Splunk Consultant and continue to develop the OPIM Department at UConn. He said he and Professor Jon Moore are hoping to develop the lab environment in the OPIM Department into something new and innovative. He said the goal is to make it a place where students can apply what they learn outside of the classroom. Another goal of his is to help other professors continue to grow their curriculums with technology and promote more hands on learning with students.

Student Spotlight – Anna Hack (IMA Marketing Officer)

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UConn Senior, Anna Hack currently serves as the Marketing Officer for the Information Management Association (IMA). After starting out at UConn as a Marketing major, Anna realized her interests in technology and added a Computer Science minor during her freshman year.

Through taking Computer Science classes, Anna realized that technology was her greatest interest. She said she liked the challenge of Computer Science. Anna wanted to keep her business degree but she wanted to focus more on technology. She said that Management Information Systems (MIS) was the perfect fit for her.

As for her focus in information technology, Anna said she is most interested in application development.

“I really enjoy the creative process and seeing ideas come to life,” Anna said.

Anna said that she joined IMA to meet more MIS students and learn about the major, as it is one of the smallest majors in the School of Business. IMA has been very beneficial in networking with other students and with potential employers through career development events, she said.

As the Marketing Officer, Anna is responsible for communicating with students about the different events being held by IMA and maintaining IMA’s social media pages. Anna said the best part about IMA for her has been meeting so many people and having access to the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department’s new technologies, such as virtual reality.

As for students considering an MIS major, Anna’s advice was to get to know upperclassmen in the major. She said it is very helpful to know people who have gone through the same classes as you and to use them as a resource. IMA provides a platform to network with these students.

After graduation, Anna will be moving to Boston to work for Accenture as a Consulting Analyst. She attributes this opportunity to UConn’s OPIM Department. She said that she is very excited to start this next chapter in her life.

Understanding Splunk Analytics

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The latest in a series of technology workshops being held by UConn’s Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department focused on Splunk Analytics. The workshop took place in the Gladstein Lab on Friday, November 11th. Twenty students attended the workshop to learn more about real-time data analytics using the Splunk platform.

The majority of students in attendance were Management Information Systems (MIS) majors, with a few other majors within the School of Business. An accounting major at the workshop said that he was interested in gaining a better understanding of Splunk because he said it is imperative to being competitive in all aspects of the business world.

Professor Jon Moore, the organizer of the technology workshops, opened up with a brief discussion about why the department is conducting the workshops. He said it is a part of a new initiative called OPIM Innovate. The initiative focuses on creating innovation space, fostering research and providing workshops to students and faculty at the university.

Ryan O’Connor, an instructor in the OPIM Department, took over and gave a presentation about the different features and uses of Splunk Analytics, along with an interactive demonstration. O’Connor said that Splunk is used in most Information Technology  companies for troubleshooting. He said that it has other uses, such as for Big Data Analytics, Data Mining, and Data Security Intelligence. O’Connor called Splunk the “Google of querying data.” He said Splunk allows users to not have to be as specific when searching for data. “I like how versatile it is and how it allows for transparency in IT organizations,” Any student interested in taking Splunk Analytics classes online should email Ryan O’Connor at ryan.oconnor@uconn.edu.

The next workshop will be taking place on Friday, December 2nd with a focus on Internet of Things technology. Students interested in attending can register here to guarantee a spot in the workshop.

NCWIT Scholarship Opportunity

The NCWIT (National Center for Women in Technology) Collegiate Award, sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Qualcomm, honors the outstanding technical accomplishments of college women of any year of study. Conferred annually, the NCWIT Collegiate Award recognizes technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of creativity and potential impact. More information and the link to apply can be found here

 

Traveler’s IT Case Competition

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Four students from the University of Connecticut School of Business competed in the Travelers IT Case Competition on Friday, November 4th in Hartford. Maxwell Skalski, Joel Thomas, TJ Hannon,  and Christopher Connelly were chosen to participate by UConn’s sponsor in the competition, Professor Jon Moore.

Each school participating in the competition was allowed to enter one team, composed of four members chosen by the school’s sponsor. The competition was open to students that were sophomores or juniors majoring or minoring in a field relating to information technology. Hannon represented the Management Information Systems (MIS) major for UConn in the competition. The other students’ majors varied throughout the School of Business.

Six teams competed against each other by providing solutions to an IT-based business case and presenting to a judging panel of Travelers’ senior management.

The case involved updating and improving CAT van technology at Travelers. CAT vans are custom-made RVs that are used as operational mobile claim offices for catastrophe response. This technology is important to the company because they allow Travelers to be there for their clients as soon as possible when they most need assistance.

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The case problem was sent out to the teams on October 12th, three weeks before the competition itself. At the competition, each team had 20 minutes to present a proposed solution to the case and ten minutes following for questions.

Not only was the case competition an opportunity for students to gain experience in solving real world IT problems, but it acted as a way for students to learn about job and internship opportunities at Travelers, and networking with potential future employers.

Faculty Spotlight – Alex Tung

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Alex Tung, an associate professor in the UConn School of Business Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department and a proud Husky Basketball fan, is passionate about bringing together academics and the information technology field through his work. Tung has been involved with the OPIM Department at UConn since 2000. Tung told me about his interests in information technology, his reasons for teaching, advice to students entering into the field, and his future goals for the OPIM Department.

Tung’s focus in information technology is on building and improving IT software to help businesses become more efficient and effective in decision-making. He said this require deep thinking to come up with the correct logic to solve each problem in different functional areas of businesses.

Tung became involved in teaching because he loves spreading his knowledge. He said it is extremely satisfying to him when he sees students grasp what he is teaching and apply it to real-life problem solving. He said he finds teaching to be very rewarding and interacting with students motivates him to pursue new knowledge himself.

As for the importance of the Information Technology field, Tung said that no businesses today, whether they be large or small, operate successfully without the use of technology. Information technology is everywhere and the industry is growing on a daily basis. Because of this, people are needed to build and maintain these information systems, he said.

Tung’s advice for students pursuing careers in information technology is to be passionate and persistent. He said that working in the field can sometimes be frustrating when something is not working.

“Work hard and you will succeed. Once the system you try to build is working the way it should, or the piece of computer program you wrote solves a complex problem, the feeling of fulfillment is beyond imagination,” Tung said.

Additionally, he advised students to always keep up with new technologies because the industry advances very rapidly. Mastering new technologies as they become available is a key to being successful in the information technology field, Tung said.

When asked about his future goals for the OPIM Department, Tung said he hopes to build an IT entrepreneurial field lab facility to integrate the theory and application of students’ learning. He said that the information being taught in the classroom should be able to be immediately applied to real-world scenarios while they are still at school and he wants to facilitate this.

“I have no doubt that with the high caliber of our students, the next Mark Zuckerberg could very well likely be produced by UConn’s OPIM Department,” Tung said.

MIS / BDA Alumni Networking Dinner

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You are cordially invited to join fellow MIS/BDA/Business Technology alumni

and faculty while we offer our current MIS students the unique opportunity to

network with you over dinner in Hartford. Come help our students succeed in

the business world by offering your valuable alumni insight and expertise.

We will also provide the latest updates from the School of Business OPIM

department while you enjoy a complimentary dinner with our students.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016
6:00 pm – 6:30 pm – Alumni Cocktail Networking Session
6:30 – 8:30 pm – Complimentary Dinner and Networking with Current Students

UConn Graduate Business Learning Center

Observation Deck, 2nd Floor

100 Constitution Plaza

Hartford, CT | Directions

>> Click here to register now! 

If you have any questions please contact Amanda at
Amanda.Spada@business.uconn.edu or 860-486-5498.

Upcoming Fall Workshops

Our third workshop of the semester is an introduction to data analysis with the Splunk platform next Friday, November 11th. Please visit the OPIM site for a full list of workshops and their dates. All workshops are capped at 20 people so please make sure to register on the site ahead of time.  Over the course of the fall semester we plan to have the following:

  • Virtual Reality Demo – (New) overview of the different levels of VR and hands-on experience (Completed)
  • Intro to 3D Printing – repeat of last semester, was very popular so we are offering it again (Completed)
  • Splunk Analytics – (New), introduction to the network analytics software Splunk (Register Now)
  • Internet Of Things – (New), real time data analytics using smart devices (Register Now)