On Friday, February 8th, the OPIM Department hosted a Management Information Systems (MIS) Meet and Greet. The event was for students studying MIS or interested in the major, and was a perfect opportunity to learn more about the OPIM Department, OPIM Innovate, and the Information Management Association (IMA).
At the event, which was hosted in the Gladstein Research Lab, many emerging technologies were out for display and available to use. However, the biggest hit was the virtual reality (VR) demo, utilizing the HTC Vive’s virtual reality headset and wireless controllers. Strapped up to a portable backpack computer, students used the HTC Vive and Valve’s The Lab application to immerse themselves in several virtual reality environments. For Nicole Roehrig, a graduate exchange student from Germany studying mechanical engineering, the MIS Meet and Greet was the first place she had ever used a VR system. Reflecting on her experience after the demo, she said, “I heard a lot about [VR] in some of my lectures, but actually doing it was really cool.”
Other than testing out the tech and grabbing some goodies, the MIS Meet and Greet also became a place for casual conversation among MIS majors, the IMA, and other students. As Victoria Trautman (MIS ’20), president of the IMA, eloquently stated, “The MIS Meet and Greet definitely helped create a sense of community for students and IMA.”
This message also rang true for Amber Rehman (’21), who just recently switched her major from finance to MIS. She said she attended the Meet and Greet to speak with other MIS majors and to make sure she “made a good choice,” to which she enthusiastically affirmed she did. “[The MIS Meet and Greet] was overall a great time,” Rehman added, “and I enjoyed creating a greater bond among my peers of similar interests.”
In total, the MIS Meet and Greet had about 35 students in attendance, most of which were MIS majors. For those interested in a similar networking environment focused on MIS and information technology (IT), consider joining the IMA! It holds weekly meetings centered around career readiness, invites industry professionals to talk about the IT field and recruit students for their companies, and is a great place to meet and talk to other people interested in MIS.