With the start of a new year, so begins Zach Regan’s new job of IMA Treasurer. As a junior Management Information Systems (MIS) major, this is Zach’s first position in IMA. He began his involvement with the organization at the beginning of his sophomore year.

As an MIS major, Zach said he joined IMA as a way to get involved, for career development and to meet other students in his major. After his first year in IMA, Zach decided to run for a position because he said he wanted to get more involved with the inner workings of the organization.

Zach said that in addition to information technology, he is interested in finance and accounting, which is what intrigued him about the treasurer position. Additionally, Zach said he thought it would be beneficial for him to gain financial experience to make himself more well-versed in the different areas of business.

As the new treasurer, Zach hopes to drive interest in IMA amongst students and ultimately raise attendance at meetings. For his position in particular, he hopes to seek more funding so the club can put on more events and workshops for members.

As for Zach’s personal future goals, he is interested in pursuing a career in Information Security. He said an internship he had last summer in Information Security at 1-800-FLOWERS really sparked his interest in the field.

“It’s something that’s always changing and very interesting to me, I love reading the articles when companies get hacked and I want to see what I can do to improve in that field, to see what I can do to help,” Zach said.

Zach said that IMA has allowed him to see the different career opportunities available in his major and to network with different companies throughout his time in college. He said that having face-to-face time with professional recruiters through IMA events has given him practice with informal interviews.

One of Zach’s goals for the year is to grow the organization through additional members and resources. Zach encourages students to join IMA because he believes it guides you in your career, gives you exposure to all of the different opportunities available and gives you the tools for successful a career development.

Tyler Lauretti is a junior at UConn, majoring in Management Information Systems (MIS) and minoring in Computer Science. He is the UConn Campus Representative for Apple, an Advanced Technician at the University Information Technology Services (UITS) Help Center, and the incoming president of the Information Management Association (IMA). This past summer, Tyler held an IT internship at Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford.

Information Technology plays an important role in Tyler’s life and work.

“I have always had a passion for technology and I am fascinated by finding new ways to improve our lives through technology,” Tyler said.

The interesting thing about technology for Tyler is how much our lives revolve around it. People are constantly interacting with technology, sometimes without even realizing it, he said. Many large businesses are starting to invest millions of dollars into IT departments with the intentions of discovering new ways to improve efficiency, he said.

“I am looking forward to using my creativity and technical abilities to make a difference in the world,” He said.

Out of all areas of information technology, Tyler is most interested in artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence was previously known to be science fiction, but Tyler said there have been major breakthroughs with cognitive computing platforms, such as IBM’s Watson.

Tyler said he was initially unsure what he wanted to do with his MIS degree because of the many different career options. He decided to join IMA to get informed about the different career opportunities available in information technology and about what IT companies are looking for in potential candidates. He believed that it would give him the information and tools to succeed in his professional life.

Now, as the future leader of IMA, Tyler hopes to expand the organization’s reach to other schools at UConn. Tyler believes that information technology has something to offer everyone. He said that the initiatives that the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department is working on for the upcoming semester can be beneficial to all students. Tyler wants to reach out to all majors because he feels that there will be something that interests everyone.

After his time at UConn, Tyler would like to start out working for one of the major insurance companies in the Hartford area. During his internship at Travelers, Tyler experienced many different areas of the insurance industry, as well as, corporate information technology. One of his goals is to gain exposure to as many different areas of information technology as early in his career as possible. As for a long term goal, Tyler hopes to move to California and work in Silicon Valley someday.

UConn Senior, Anna Hack currently serves as the Marketing Officer for the Information Management Association (IMA). After starting out at UConn as a Marketing major, Anna realized her interests in technology and added a Computer Science minor during her freshman year.

Through taking Computer Science classes, Anna realized that technology was her greatest interest. She said she liked the challenge of Computer Science. Anna wanted to keep her business degree but she wanted to focus more on technology. She said that Management Information Systems (MIS) was the perfect fit for her.

As for her focus in information technology, Anna said she is most interested in application development.

“I really enjoy the creative process and seeing ideas come to life,” Anna said.

Anna said that she joined IMA to meet more MIS students and learn about the major, as it is one of the smallest majors in the School of Business. IMA has been very beneficial in networking with other students and with potential employers through career development events, she said.

As the Marketing Officer, Anna is responsible for communicating with students about the different events being held by IMA and maintaining IMA’s social media pages. Anna said the best part about IMA for her has been meeting so many people and having access to the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department’s new technologies, such as virtual reality.

As for students considering an MIS major, Anna’s advice was to get to know upperclassmen in the major. She said it is very helpful to know people who have gone through the same classes as you and to use them as a resource. IMA provides a platform to network with these students.

After graduation, Anna will be moving to Boston to work for Accenture as a Consulting Analyst. She attributes this opportunity to UConn’s OPIM Department. She said that she is very excited to start this next chapter in her life.