Month: September 2017

5th Annual UConn BBQ with Cigna

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Monday October 16th Cigna will be hosting their 5th annual BBQ Recruiting event. The event is scheduled to take place from 2-6pm on Fairfield Way, with a rain date of Wednesday, October 18th.

Cigna will be recruiting for their TECDP program, a rotational program where interns and full-time employees are able to try different roles within IT, network with peers and executive leaders, and have flexible time to dedicate to different TECDP committees. CS, CSE, MIS, and DMD majors, as well as anyone interested in a career in technology, are all encouraged to attend the event and apply for this opportunity with Cigna.

Cigna TECDP employees are also looking for volunteers to collaborate with for a philanthropy event with Foundation for Hospital Art. Volunteers will help paint murals that will be donated to hospitals. Artistic talent is not necessary in order to participate as these murals are similar to a large coloring books! If you are interested in volunteering contact Jon Moore at jonathan.a.moore@uconn.edu

Student Spotlight – TJ Hannon

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For junior Management Information Systems (MIS) major, TJ Hannon, Information Technology (IT) is in his blood. His father, who works in IT, got TJ started with his first computer running Windows 98 at a very young age and since then he’s never looked back. Multiple business courses taken during high school ignited his interest in business as well. These two passions led TJ to research programs online and ultimately find University of Connecticut’s MIS major, as he describes it “the perfect cross between a computer and a business degree”.

The wide applicability field that IT provides is what keeps Hannon continuously intrigued to this day. He states “we live in a world where information technology is not only found in every aspect of our lives, but it’s needed. Whether it’s a business or hospital we all need IT”.

Although the IT field is a large one TJ has found an area he is most interested by, architecture. Architecture IT focuses on designing and maintaining networks and databases, essentially the generally infrastructure of IT. Hannon stated, “IT architecture is something that I find fascinating due to the fact that it is extremely broad and particularly useful in a business setting. With an understanding of architecture, you can tackle the largest enterprise problems through IT”.

TJ is an active member of the Information Management Association (IMA). He spoke candidly about deciding to join the groups as it offers countless of opportunities for both MIS and all business majors in general. “It pays to stay on top and ahead of technology when trying to land a career after college. The resources and opportunities IMA provide education on these technologies, as well as relationships with working professions in these fields”, said TJ.

In addition to his involvement in IMA TJ is also a lab specialist at the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Innovate lab. One of his main responsibilities as a lab specialist is to have a strong understanding and promotion of the Design Thinking process. TJ described the Design Thinking process as a problem solving methodology that promotes creative thinking. While this might seem daunting to some TJ assures that isn’t the case, “it is a multi-step process, which anyone can learn and apply to any idea or task that they want to work through. It is my job to help assist students through this system”. Another responsibilities of his position pertain to emerging technology. For example TJ has recently been investigating several virtual reality technologies in order to apply them to OPIM Innovate’s mission of bringing emerging technologies to students and faculty.

TJ’s passion for architecture IT led him to intern at Travelers in Hartford this past summer, which he described as an incredible opportunity. He worked for Contact Center Technologies providing contract server support for every line of business within Travelers. TJ found this internship not only extremely enjoyable but also very insightful as got him thinking about possibly pursing a graduate degree in data analytics.

During his remaining time at UConn TJ plans to continue taking advantage of the opportunities that the OPIM Innovate lab offers him. He encourages students to make use of the resources found in the OPIM Innovate space to further their understanding of emerging technology.

 

MIS Case Competition Kickoff Meeting

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On Friday September 15th the Operations and Information Management Department (OPIM) held a kickoff meeting for their annual Management Information Systems (MIS) Case Competition. Sponsored by the OPIM Department and coordinated by the Information Management Association (IMA), the competition is based on business cases focused in MIS.

20 students attended the kickoff meeting, some as a team representative and others looking to join or conjoin pairs to make a team of 4. In total 10 teams signed up to participate, two more than last year.  The representatives and remaining teams were given the guidelines and instructions for the competition.

The teams have been finalized as of Wednesday September 19th, and on Friday September 22nd the case will be sent out. The teams will have one week to complete and prepare a case solution presentation. On September 29th the students will present their solution to this real business case to a panel of judges.

Again scholarship awards will be presented to the top three teams, first place will be awarded $500 per person, second place $250 per person, and third place $125 per person. Every participant of the case competition is given the opportunity to test their skills in this real-life scenario to help prepare them for future business endeavors.

OPIM and IMA wishes the best of luck to the participants and looks forward to seeing their presentations on the 29nd!

OPIM Welcomes Back Students

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On Friday September 8th the Operations and Information Management Department (OPIM) held an ice cream social reception to welcome back their students. Management Information System (MIS) and Business Data Analysis (BDA) majors, new and returning alike, gathered in the OPIM department to learn about the resources available to them.

Students were welcomed by Jon Moore, MIS Program Director, who highlighted the opportunities and resources available. During this event was also the official opening of OPIM Innovate, which is an initiative to get emerging technology into the hands of students. Attendees were shown the new innovation space as well as the upgrades to the OPIM research lab. Students moved to different stations where they received their major t-shirt, made ice cream sundaes, and were also encouraged to explore the demonstrations going on in the lab. Faculty and student workers were showing off different technologies found in the lab, including Virtual Reality, 3D printing, and Internet of Things.

Freshman MIS major, He Huang, expressed his excitement to attend workshops on 3D printing in particular as he is intrigued to learn more and gain experience of the process. The OPIM department is frequently bringing new forms of technology to the lab and teaching their students about them during their workshops. Lauren Vanfossan, senior MIS major, spoke about her interest in artificial intelligence as it evolves in society, “it will be interesting to see what the lab shows us about the benefits of artificial intelligence versus the negative aspects heavily expressed by the media”.

Over 80 students attended the event throughout the three-hour period. Many of these students were new to the program and came to learn more about what OPIM can offer them. Overall the reception was a success and many students who visiting the space were excited to take advantage of the departments opportunities in the future.