Officers from the Information Management Association (IMA), Luke LaBranche, Marissa Mazurok and Marc Senatore, presented the club to prospective companies at the Reverse Career Fair on October 5th. The Reverse Career Fair took place directly following the university-wide Career Fair.

The Reverse Career Fair allowed the IMA representatives to network with companies in hopes of finding potential partners for the club’s weekly meetings. Partnerships could come in the form of recruitment or professional development opportunities for the student club. IMA Treasurer, Marc Senatore said connecting with companies could potentially lead to the club receiving scholarships or corporate sponsorship.

Marc said the Reverse Career Fair was successful in getting IMA’s name out there to great companies. The IMA representatives were excited to connect with these companies, most notably, MassMutual, a life insurance company, and Cigna, a health insurance company. Senatore said these two companies have well known IT internships and post-graduate programs.

“The relationships we hope to form with them in the future are the very backbone of what IMA is about, tying together IT and Business,” Senatore said.

Competitors from the University of Connecticut’s First Annual MIS Case Competition were awarded for their participation and the top three teams were announced at an Awards Luncheon on Friday, October 7th.

Professor Jon Moore, the coordinator of the case competition, spoke about the success of the event and acknowledged the great efforts of all the teams that participated. He said that the Operations and Information Management Department (OPIM) was very impressed with the outcome of the events and that they plan to hold an MIS Case Competition annually.

The ROI’s – Spencer Rabin (not in photo), Conor O’Donnell, Edgar Ortiz, and Tyler Jackson – were the top team in the competition. The ROI’s were experienced in case competitions, having won a marketing competition in the Spring. The team created an innovative and technology-focused solution that was different from any other teams, placing them first.

Ideas R Us – Viara Radoulova (not in photo),Vivek Tedla,  Zachary Regan, and Tyler Lauretti – came in second place.

For third place, there was a dead tie in the scoring. Professor Moore said that instead of going through a tie breaking procedure that the OPIM Department wanted to award both teams for their accomplishments.

The third place teams were the Dynamic Dude(ttes) – Sidney Tomko (not in photo),Radhika Kanaskar,  Ani Vedere, and Hanna Bonitz – and the TsunaMIS – Belma Pehratovic (not in photo), Daniel Settle, Bradley Tice,  and Tian-Shi Xu.

One of the judges and a professor in the OPIM Department, Satvinder Mayall complimented all of the teams on their great work. He said he was very impressed with the presentations that all of the teams gave and the solutions that they came up with.

All of the teams that competed were invited to the luncheon and awarded a respective certificate or plaque based on their placement in the competition, along with a gift bag filled with MIS gear.

Professor Moore said that the competition was extremely successful as a whole. He said that he looks forward to continuing this success in the years to come.

 

Following the Competition kick off meeting, eight teams registered to participate in the first annual MIS Case Competition, held by the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department. Each team was made up of four students with a variety of majors within the School of Business, including at least one MIS student on each team. The teams had one week to prepare a solution to present in front of a panel of judges. The three judges, Shun-Yang Lee, Wei-kuang Huang, and Satvinder Mayall, were all faculty members from the OPIM Department.

The teams had 20 minutes to present their case solution, followed by a 10-minute Q&A session with the judges to clarify the details of their business plans. In the question and answer session, the judges challenged the students’ research to make sure they covered all the bases.

The competition was held in a closed room and the teams were not allowed to watch each other present to keep the competition fair, according to Jon Moore, the coordinator of the event. Professor Moore, the judges, student workers, and faculty in the department were the only ones in the room during the presentations.

The competition attracted students with varying experience in case competitions. Some students said they had never competed in one before, while others said they had competed multiple times. 

One team in particular, the ROI’s, had experience competing in, and winning a case competition. The team won a marketing case competition this past spring, advancing them to a National competition in Indiana at the end of October. The ROI’s said that they participated in this competition to get more experience and practice their presentation skills before Nationals. Compared to previous case competitions, the ROI’s said that it was more ambiguous, making it more difficult to know exactly what the judges would be looking for. The team said that they had a few different routes that they thought they could have gone with their business solution. Ultimately, they decided on a plan that was very technology focused.

Members of Ideas R Us said they wished that they were able to watch the other teams’ presentations. One member, Vivek Tedla said that he likes to learn from others and wanted to see what they came up with. The group thought they covered everything, but Tedla said that other teams might have come up with something that they didn’t think of. The team noted that the question and answer portion was helpful in covering all the points that they wanted to present.

On the other hand, the Dynamic Dude(ttes), made up of all sophomores, said this was their first time participating in a case competition. They said it was a bit overwhelming, only having a week to prepare, but that it was a great experience to build on for future competitions.

Volunteers and student workers – Ryan O’Connor, Melissa Burk, Sarah Burdick, Taylor Begley, Alison Reilly, and Lejla Becarovic – assisted Professor Moore in making the event a success.

“I thought it was a really good turn out given it was our first attempt at an internal case competition. We’re planning on doing one each year to give students experience competing and presenting,” Professor Moore said.

One of the judges, Shun-Yang Lee said that he was very impressed by the students’ presentations. He said he was very interested to see the creative solutions that different teams came up with.

Lee said, “I would encourage all students to take advantage of opportunities such as the MIS case competition to build connections and practice problem solving and presentation skills. Most importantly, it is fun!” 

The top three teams will be announced at the Awards Luncheon this Friday, October 7th at 11:30 a.m.

The Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department welcomed MIS students for the semester with a party on Friday, September 23rd. The welcome party gave MIS students and those interested in the major the opportunity to meet each other, while enjoying ice cream sundaes and learning about the department’s new technology.

Multiple stations were set up for different virtual reality experiences including Google Cardboard, Gear VR, and the HTC Vive. Other stations included a 3D printing demonstration and an Internet of Things display.

Representatives from the Information Management Association (IMA) were at each station to give students more information on the different pieces of technology.

The OPIM department brought in the new technology for experimental purposes, getting students acquainted with the technology aspect of MIS, and just for fun, said Tyler, a student volunteer in the MIS department.

Many students migrated toward the various virtual reality systems. For most students, this was the first time they had ever used virtual reality technology and they were fascinated by how it worked.

As part of the Internet of Things display, The Amazon Echo, named Alexa, was programmed to operate other devices in the room including light bulbs and air monitors. Alexa took commands and answered questions from students, such as playing a specific song or identifying the weather forecast.

Items created by the 3D printer were on display, while the printer was actively creating new pieces. Students were able to see the process and the end results.

There were three different types of virtual reality devices. The most complex system is the HTC Vive, which is a fully immersive experience. Tyler said that it feels like you are physically in the game versus just seeing it. He said that the Google Cardboard VR and the Gear VR operate by following the user’s head and eye movements, while the HTC system operates by all of the user’s physical movements.

Alex Martinez, a junior MIS student said that he has been interested in virtual reality for the past few years but never actually used the technology before the meeting.

One MIS student in attendance said that she is not super technological but she likes to learn about it. She said she wants to understand how it works to bridge the gap between business and technology. She said it was interesting to figure out how the different systems worked.

The event was a great success with over 60 students and faculty in attendance. The department will be holding workshops on the different technologies throughout the semester. The first workshop will be on Friday, October 14th, with a focus on virtual reality.

Representatives from each team gathered in the University of Connecticut Business School Board Room on Friday September 16th to kickoff the first annual MIS Case Competition.

Professor Jon Moore, the coordinator of the event said that he started the competition to teach students at the undergraduate level to apply their skills to real world business scenarios. He said that case competitions are very common in graduate business programs but they are not offered very much for undergraduate programs.

Students at the meeting said that they wanted to participate in the competition because it was a way for them to gain valuable career experience.

One student, Vivek Tedla said that he has participated in two other case competitions in the past.

Tedla said that participating in case competitions have been very beneficial for building his presentation skills and acquainting him with business professionals. He said that it is very important to build those skills as early as possible.

The competition presents students with a business case and each team must pitch a solution in front of a panel of judges. The case is based in the information systems field but the competition is open to students of any major within the School of Business.

Moore recommended that students make their teams as diverse as possible with a variety of majors, interests and skills. He encouraged students to think outside of the box and come up with innovative solutions to succeed in the competition.

As of the meeting on Friday, there were six teams confirmed. Individuals still have the opportunity to sign up through Wednesday September 21st.