PwC seeking a Summer Risk Assurance Intern

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PwC is looking to bring on a Risk Assurance Summer Intern as part of their IAS/PA group in Hartford. Students from the UConn School of Business are encouraged to apply.

A strong candidate will demonstrate knowledge and proven success through experiences and coursework in the broad range of risks affecting companies and management decision making, complex IT environments, and all aspects of auditing.

Working in assurance at PwC involves – asking questions and testing assumptions, helping to determine if companies are reporting information that investors can rely on, helping businesses solve complex issue faced by management and boards, and conducting quality audits to serve the public interest and the capital markets.

Interested individuals can apply for this position directly on PwC’s website.

Gamification Workshop

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The UConn Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department conducted a Gamification workshop on Friday, April 14. This comes as a part of a series of technology workshops being held by the department throughout the semester as a part of the OPIM Innovate Initiative.

OPIM Professor Jon Moore, one of the coordinators of OPIM Innovate, taught the workshop. Moore, also, currently teaches a course on Gamification here at UConn. The workshop gave students some background on the process of Gamification and an activity on the topic.

Gamification is the study of creating experiences that increase engagement and learning in variety of different environments – such as, marketing, customer engagement, training and efficiency enhancement, Moore said. The importance of Gamification has grown because of the increase in customer data and, in turn, the acquisition of more accurate analytics data that can predict and display exactly what clients want, he said.

“I believe that Gamification is a new topic and pretty exciting to study,” Moore said.

Many students that have taken his class are Management Information Systems (MIS) majors, but Moore said what is interesting about Gamification is that it attracts a diverse audience, because it is applicable for many different majors.

Moore’s goal for the workshop was to spark students’ interest in Gamification and to introduce the topic to those who did not know about it beforehand. He said he hoped to gain the interest of potential students and to lead them into taking his Gamification class in the Fall.

One of the students in attendance, Shanzay Iqbal said she thought the workshop and the topic was very interesting. Iqbal has attended most of the OPIM Department’s workshops throughout this year.

“I really enjoyed the activity because it engaged students. Some of the other workshops are more of a lecture format and aren’t as interesting. I’m a hands on person so I liked that,” Iqbal said.

Moore said he included an activity to keep his audience engaged throughout the workshop. He said because Gamification software is less hands-on, he decided to add a group activity halfway through the workshop.

Moore was pleased with the outcome of the workshop with positive responses overall from the students in attendance. He said that many students approached him following the workshop, showing interest and seeking more information on the topic.

Additionally, Moore said he is looking for students who are interested in helping with Gamification consulting in the future, because many companies and outside organizations have shown interest in partnering in the space.

The last workshop of the semester, Exploring IoT through SPLUNK Analytics, will be taking place on Friday, April 21st in the Gladstein Lab. Please register here to reserve your spot in the workshop, as space is limited.

CoMIS Case Competition 2017

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Professor Jon Moore and four of his students traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota to compete in the CoMIS Case Competition for the first time. CoMIS is an international case competition, where UConn competed against 19 of the best teams in the world.

Professor Moore’s team was made up of students with a variety of backgrounds – Tyler Lauretti (Management Information Systems), Chris Connelly (Accounting), Spencer Rabin (Finance, and the alternate Sarah Burdick (Digital Media and Design). These students were chosen because they were the top four in the Business Case Competition Independent Study, conducted by Professor Moore and the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department.

The first day of the competition, Thursday, March 30th, all of the students participating broke up into groups to visit the platinum sponsors of the event – 3M, Optum and Medtronics. Later that night, all the participants attended the Networking Dinner, where they were given the rules of the competition.

The next morning, the case was presented to all of the teams in the competition. The case revolved around consulting the Office of Information Technology (OIT) for the University of Minnesota on how to prepare the university for infrastructure and research in the field of Internet of Things (IoT).

Once the case was distributed, teams were confined to their hotel room for 24 hours to prepare a solution to present to the judges the next day. The presentations took place on Saturday, April 1st in a series of rounds. Despite great efforts and a fantastic presentation, UConn’s team did not make it to the final round of the competition.

“We gained a lot of great experience to bring back to the class and prepare for next year,” Professor Moore said, following the competition.

Moore said he is looking forward to competing in CoMIS in the future and he was impressed with the work of his students being that it was the first time he has had a team compete on such a big stage.

Demonstration of Raspberry Pi

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The latest in a series of technology workshops held by UConn’s Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department demonstrated Raspberry Pi. The workshop was held in the OPIM Department’s Gladstein Lab on Friday, April 7th, as part of the department’s new OPIM Innovate Initiative.

The attendees of the workshop came from a wide range of backgrounds beyond Management Information Systems (MIS), including students from the School of Engineering and Computer Science Department.

OPIM adjunct faculty member, Ryan O’Connor instructed the workshop, stating his goal was to explain Raspberry Pi technology and show students what the technology is capable of.

O’Connor said that Raspberry Pi is a Microcontroller, which is basically a tiny portable computer. He said that some common uses of Raspberry Pi technology are to control devices in the home, to host a web server and for Internet of Things (IoT) technology, just to name a few.

“The possibilities are pretty much endless with Raspberry Pi,” O’Connor said.

During the workshop, O’Connor gave an introduction to Raspberry Pi and instructed students on how to host and solve a web server using the technology.

“By the end of the class everyone was hosting a web server off of Raspberry Pi. I don’t think that’s something they thought they’d be able to say coming out of the workshop, so I think it went well,” O’Connor said.

Students in attendance said they found the workshop and O’Connor’s presentation to be extremely informative. O’Connor said he was pleased with the outcome of the workshop, calling it a great success.

The next workshop, an Introduction to Gamification will be taking place on Friday, April 14th in the Gladstein Lab. Please register here to reserve your spot in the workshop as space is limited.

Student Spotlight – Maggie Quackenbush

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Maggie Quackenbush is a senior majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS) at UConn, but the story of her college journey is a bit different from others in the major. Maggie started out as an Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) major and it wasn’t until her junior year that she switched to MIS.

She said she made the switch because she felt she was not being challenged enough academically in the HDFS program. She said she had no exact career plans in HDFS, which was another factor in her decision to change her major.

So began her search for a different career path. Maggie said she missed taking math classes so she researched different majors within the Math Department, the Business School and the Computer Science Department. Maggie said she found MIS to be the perfect combination of all of her interests.

“Once I found MIS, I decided it would be perfect for me since I could learn so many new things and I felt like it bridged the gap between my technical interests and Psychology, because I’m able to apply technology to business contexts in a way that helps people and aligns well with the way they think,” Maggie said.

She said she has always been very interested in technology. Maggie said that when she was younger she taught herself how to code HTML and that she has always loved playing video games. On top of that, Maggie said she loves to be creative with technology. She said that MIS provides her with many opportunities to use creativity, for example in the ways she approaches certain problems within technology, designing interfaces, and front-end development.

The reason Maggie is so interested in technology is because it is always changing, allowing her to constantly be challenged, she said. A career in information technology will allow her to be challenged even beyond college while simultaneously working to help people, Maggie said, which is exactly what she wants out of a career.

“Technology has such potential to help people in their everyday lives in addition to solving bigger problems that we can’t solve on our own,” Maggie said.

As a graduating senior, Maggie said she feels fully prepared to start her career due to her experience at UConn. She said that the MIS program has given her all of the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in a job. Another skill that she attributes to her time at UConn is the ability to find her place and get involved in such a large environment. She said that this is a skill she is glad to have as she enters into the working world.

 

“In a big company, it won’t always feel like you really matter in the big picture, but my time at UConn has taught me how to make sure that I am a part of the big picture,” she said.

As for her advice to students just starting out in MIS, Maggie said to take advantage of the wide range of opportunities that MIS has to offer.

“If you’re interested in something and there isn’t a related elective offered, you should still stick with that interest and look for online open source courses or even just watch TedTalks on the subject,” Maggie said.

MIS is a great field, she said, but because it is so broad, she suggests figuring out exactly what it is within the field that you are interested in. She said that if you can narrow your focus and pursue a career with that focus in mind, it will be easier to find a job that you love after you graduate.

After graduation, Maggie hopes to begin a job that aligns with her interests and skills. She said she is primarily looking into rotational programs, where she has the option to work in a few different areas, such as cyber security, development, or data analytics.

Eventually, Maggie hopes to attend graduate school for something relating to User Experience and Interface Design for video games.

She said that her dream job would be to create video games for children with special needs to help them in some way. She said for example, she could create a virtual reality experience for Autistic children who get overwhelmed in social situations. She said her idea for the game would expose them to virtual social settings to increase their comfort and ability to deal with those situations. Another idea she mentioned was an educational video game focused on helping students who are struggling in school with specific learning needs.

“Anything that involves using technology in a way that makes people’s lives better would make me feel successful in this field,” Maggie said.

Introducing a New Course on Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship

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The UConn School of Business and School of Engineering announced a new class available starting in Fall 2017. This new course, MGMT 3500 (Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship) gives students in Business and Engineering the opportunity to collaborate with one another to develop business products and opportunities. This will be a hands-on experience where students can learn technology to design and prototype their business ideas. The course is based on team ideation, multi-stage prototype development and the development of complementary business models.

The course will be taught by faculty from both the School of Business and the School of Engineering with  the assistance technology and business experts. These experts will present to the class regulary and provide feedback on the team projects.

Grant opportunities will be available to students under the Third Bridge Grant if they successfully develop and pitch their ideas.

Additionally, students taking the course are encouraged to take part in Innovation Quest and CCEI’s Accelerate UConn.

For more information about this course, please contact David Noble, the Co-Executive Director of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Consortium, at david.noble@uconn.edu.

 

Visit the 2nd Annual Service Learning Expo

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Students, faculty and staff from all of UConn’s campuses are encouraged to attend the 2nd Annual Service Learning Exposition. The event will showcase the efforts that UConn students, faculty and staff have been putting in to service learning in the community.

The expo is intended to provide insight into different opportunities that are in accordance with UConn’s Academic Vision – to develop engaged citizens through coordination, advocacy, and capacity building for engagement activities. Many of these engagement activities are representative of Service Learning.

Expect to hear testimonials from students about making a difference in the community, while growing personally and professionally. Faculty and staff will be detailing their commitment to service learning by teaching innovative courses and creating different programs to benefit the community.

“Come to learn, share, and get inspired from Service Learning Courses, Outreach Programs, Potential Internships, Independent Studies, Teaching Opportunities, Entrepreneurialism, and Research – ALL are examples of Service Learning!”

Where: South Reading Room of the Wilbur Cross Building (Storrs)

When: Wednesday, April 19th

Register here by Friday, April 7th to attend the expo!

Faculty Spotlight – Marshall Dougherty

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Marshall Dougherty is a graduate of UConn’s Management Information Systems (MIS) program and now an adjunct faculty member in the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department. In addition to his work
here at UConn, Dougherty runs the daily operations of the Corporate Audit Data Integrity Team at Traveler’s in Hartford.

After graduating from UConn and receiving many top job offers, Dougherty went on to work at Deloitte, which at the time he said was ranked as the #1 place to start your career. He said he owes his success to the UConn MIS program in preparing him extremely well for a career in the field.

“I have nothing but great things to say about the department and how it prepared me,” Dougherty said.

Because of his great experience at the university, Dougherty began working at UConn in the Fall of 2015. He said he enjoyed the technical training that he was doing at Traveler’s, which made him realize that he wanted to pursue teaching. Dougherty said he showed his interest to UConn’s OPIM Department and he was fortunate that they took him up on the offer.

He currently teaches the predictive modeling course in data and text mining, as well as the data analysis for audits and investigations course, which he said involves a great deal of SAS programming. Just last week, Dougherty taught the Introduction to SAS workshop, as part of the department’s OPIM Innovate Initiative. He enjoys sharing his knowledge of SAS programming because he knows it is an extremely valuable skill.

Dougherty said the best part about teaching for him is the impact that he can have on his students’ careers and lives.

“I love bringing perspective from the industry to students and imparting tangible skills that can help them land a job or excel at one,” Dougherty said.

On the other hand, at Traveler’s, Dougherty works with a team of SAS and SQL professionals conducting data analytics to support the audit function and developing automation approaches to controls across various business areas.

He said he loves his job at Traveler’s because of the variety. Dougherty said his team is constantly getting involved in new and different projects. He said he mainly works on analytics. He enjoys his role because it gives him the opportunity to learn many new things while getting a true sense of the inner-workings of an expansive enterprise.

Within the information technology field, Dougherty is most interested in data analytics, forensic data work, and business process automation.

Information technology is an extremely marketable field, which is why he would advise students to enter into it. He said if you have an understanding of technology you will always be able to find work.

“It goes without saying that technology powers almost every facet of our lives at this point,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty also said he appreciates how the field emphasizes concrete skills.

As for his future goals in the field, Dougherty said its onward and upward. He hopes for his team at Traveler’s to increase their reach across the enterprise to serve even more customers than they currently do.

“The bigger our footprint can be, the happier I’ll be,” he said.

He said he hopes for his team at Traveler’s to increase their footprint across the enterprise. He said that because of the broad view they currently have of the company, his team will be extremely valuable to serve even more customers than they currently do.

Dougherty said he hopes to increase his involvement with the UConn OPIM Department as much as his job at Traveler’s and family life will allow.

Outside of work, Dougherty said he is just a simple guy. He and his family love the outdoors, are cat and dog owners and raise chickens, he said. He and his wife have one son and they are expecting another in May, he said. In the future, he plans to travel more often, as it is something he truly enjoys.