On Friday, October 18th, Hanover Insurance and OPIM Innovate co-sponsored a guest lecture on Agile Data Analytics. Run by alumni Matias Niño, an agility and project management professional from REI Systems, students were introduced to agile and its applications regarding software development.
As explained by Niño throughout the lecture, “Software was the first knowledge work that came about” and could not be sustained by previous project management methods. The waterfall model, for example, was too rigid to handle the rapid advancement of technology; projects often reached obsolescence before they were even completed, and only one end product could be produced to provide feedback. With agile, however, multiple work packages are completed in an iterative process responsive to change. This allows project teams to change their trajectory if the business or supporting systems call for it.
Other than the convenience of flexibility, Niño also praised agile’s ability to decentralize project processes. “When you put decision making as close to the work as possible, you get better results,” he said. To demonstrate this, he had the attending students participate in an activity. Inspired by the human knot icebreaker, students were asked to split into teams and tangle themselves together. The difference between this activity and the regular exercise, however, was the source of direction in the first round. During the first round, a “project manager” from each team gave orders; both were unsuccessful at untangling their teams before time was up. Yet, when the teams were left to their own devices, both completed their objective in seconds. “It was better to have people working from the inside,” said Rose Zimmerman (MIS ’20). “Since they were in it, they knew what was going on.”
Niño, being a Management Information Systems alum based out of Virginia, traveled back to Connecticut to volunteer his time and guest lecture. When asked why he pursued this opportunity, he stated the following: “I really did this because, thinking back to when I was here at UConn, the professionals that came back to give their guidance and share their experiences were really inspiring to me. They helped me with life-changing decisions. After I graduated, I wanted to do the same.”
We thank Matias Niño for guest-lecturing and everyone for attending the Agile Data Analytics workshop.
Interested in attending one of our upcoming Hanover Challenge workshops? Here’s the schedule.
On Friday, March 29th, OPIM Innovate hosted its Alexa Skill-Building Workshop from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM in the Gladstein Lab, BUSN 309. Led by 
In addition to the A.I. exposition of the workshop, Lauretti also clarified a few common, yet incorrect assumptions about the Amazon Alexa. For one, the Alexa cannot be purchased from Amazon, unlike their Echo and Dot smart speakers. Why? Unlike Amazon’s physical hardware, the Alexa is a cloud-based voice service that connects to all Amazon smart devices and some third-party devices. As such, while Alexa is a complement to Amazon’s smart speakers, she is also the overarching artificial intelligence framework that keeps every device responsive. When Alexa is asked something through a smart speaker, for example, a recording of the request is sent to the Amazon cloud for processing and analysis. Then, once the meaning of the message is predicted, Alexa gives you her best response.
Before utilizing Voiceflow, Lauretti had attendees create paper fortune tellers (shown to the right). The point of the exercise was to show how Alexa can only process voice information, and cannot utilize any other “senses” in order to make a decision. As such, while paper fortune tellers require you to pull, fold, unfold, and process visual information, Alexa cannot do that with her limitations; she can only be programmed to listen and respond. Thus, when attendees began to use Voiceflow, which allows you to chain commands and responses together in a circular decision-tree-like diagram, all of the different blocks available for use on the graphical interface involved either speaking or listening for information. For example, in emulating a paper fortune teller game, a “Speak” block can be created with directions on which color to pick so Alexa can voice them to the user. Then, that “Speak” block can be chained to a “Choice” block outlining all of the different choices to search for in the voice input (blue, red, yellow, or green, for example). If the user does not pick a color on that list, the “Choice” block can be linked back to the “Speak” block through an “else” option so Alexa can clarify the different color choices, again. As can be inferred, an Alexa skill diagram utilizing Voiceflow can become very involved very quickly. However, even if the visual model can become fairly complex, it is very simple to build.
After the Alexa Skill-Building Workshop, many students left with a greater understanding of the Alexa service and Alexa skills. “I didn’t realize how simple it was to make skills for your Alexa,” said 
On Thursday, March 7th, the UConn Operations & Information Management (OPIM) Department held its third annual OPIM Alumni & Student Networking Dinner. The event, held at the UConn Graduate Business Learning Center, was attended by 12 alumni, 8 faculty, and 22 students, all with a background in management information systems (MIS), business data analytics (BDA), and/or business technology (BT). During the dinner, students table-hopped after each course of the meal (three in total) and networked with professionals from a variety of fields. The event was meant to promote professional development by placing students in an environment where they could network with UConn alums, receive advice, and develop valuable professional relationships.
As for the perspective of current students, many MIS majors who attended the dinner left with a greater understanding of the information technology industry, the skills desired by certain companies, and interview advice. “The event really helped with my networking skills,” said