Understanding Splunk Analytics

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The latest in a series of technology workshops being held by UConn’s Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department focused on Splunk Analytics. The workshop took place in the Gladstein Lab on Friday, November 11th. Twenty students attended the workshop to learn more about real-time data analytics using the Splunk platform.

The majority of students in attendance were Management Information Systems (MIS) majors, with a few other majors within the School of Business. An accounting major at the workshop said that he was interested in gaining a better understanding of Splunk because he said it is imperative to being competitive in all aspects of the business world.

Professor Jon Moore, the organizer of the technology workshops, opened up with a brief discussion about why the department is conducting the workshops. He said it is a part of a new initiative called OPIM Innovate. The initiative focuses on creating innovation space, fostering research and providing workshops to students and faculty at the university.

Ryan O’Connor, an instructor in the OPIM Department, took over and gave a presentation about the different features and uses of Splunk Analytics, along with an interactive demonstration. O’Connor said that Splunk is used in most Information Technology  companies for troubleshooting. He said that it has other uses, such as for Big Data Analytics, Data Mining, and Data Security Intelligence. O’Connor called Splunk the “Google of querying data.” He said Splunk allows users to not have to be as specific when searching for data. “I like how versatile it is and how it allows for transparency in IT organizations,” Any student interested in taking Splunk Analytics classes online should email Ryan O’Connor at ryan.oconnor@uconn.edu.

The next workshop will be taking place on Friday, December 2nd with a focus on Internet of Things technology. Students interested in attending can register here to guarantee a spot in the workshop.

NCWIT Scholarship Opportunity

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The NCWIT (National Center for Women in Technology) Collegiate Award, sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Qualcomm, honors the outstanding technical accomplishments of college women of any year of study. Conferred annually, the NCWIT Collegiate Award recognizes technical contributions to projects that demonstrate a high level of creativity and potential impact. More information and the link to apply can be found here

 

Traveler’s IT Case Competition

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Four students from the University of Connecticut School of Business competed in the Travelers IT Case Competition on Friday, November 4th in Hartford. Maxwell Skalski, Joel Thomas, TJ Hannon,  and Christopher Connelly were chosen to participate by UConn’s sponsor in the competition, Professor Jon Moore.

Each school participating in the competition was allowed to enter one team, composed of four members chosen by the school’s sponsor. The competition was open to students that were sophomores or juniors majoring or minoring in a field relating to information technology. Hannon represented the Management Information Systems (MIS) major for UConn in the competition. The other students’ majors varied throughout the School of Business.

Six teams competed against each other by providing solutions to an IT-based business case and presenting to a judging panel of Travelers’ senior management.

The case involved updating and improving CAT van technology at Travelers. CAT vans are custom-made RVs that are used as operational mobile claim offices for catastrophe response. This technology is important to the company because they allow Travelers to be there for their clients as soon as possible when they most need assistance.

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The case problem was sent out to the teams on October 12th, three weeks before the competition itself. At the competition, each team had 20 minutes to present a proposed solution to the case and ten minutes following for questions.

Not only was the case competition an opportunity for students to gain experience in solving real world IT problems, but it acted as a way for students to learn about job and internship opportunities at Travelers, and networking with potential future employers.

Faculty Spotlight – Alex Tung

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Alex Tung, an associate professor in the UConn School of Business Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department and a proud Husky Basketball fan, is passionate about bringing together academics and the information technology field through his work. Tung has been involved with the OPIM Department at UConn since 2000. Tung told me about his interests in information technology, his reasons for teaching, advice to students entering into the field, and his future goals for the OPIM Department.

Tung’s focus in information technology is on building and improving IT software to help businesses become more efficient and effective in decision-making. He said this require deep thinking to come up with the correct logic to solve each problem in different functional areas of businesses.

Tung became involved in teaching because he loves spreading his knowledge. He said it is extremely satisfying to him when he sees students grasp what he is teaching and apply it to real-life problem solving. He said he finds teaching to be very rewarding and interacting with students motivates him to pursue new knowledge himself.

As for the importance of the Information Technology field, Tung said that no businesses today, whether they be large or small, operate successfully without the use of technology. Information technology is everywhere and the industry is growing on a daily basis. Because of this, people are needed to build and maintain these information systems, he said.

Tung’s advice for students pursuing careers in information technology is to be passionate and persistent. He said that working in the field can sometimes be frustrating when something is not working.

“Work hard and you will succeed. Once the system you try to build is working the way it should, or the piece of computer program you wrote solves a complex problem, the feeling of fulfillment is beyond imagination,” Tung said.

Additionally, he advised students to always keep up with new technologies because the industry advances very rapidly. Mastering new technologies as they become available is a key to being successful in the information technology field, Tung said.

When asked about his future goals for the OPIM Department, Tung said he hopes to build an IT entrepreneurial field lab facility to integrate the theory and application of students’ learning. He said that the information being taught in the classroom should be able to be immediately applied to real-world scenarios while they are still at school and he wants to facilitate this.

“I have no doubt that with the high caliber of our students, the next Mark Zuckerberg could very well likely be produced by UConn’s OPIM Department,” Tung said.

MIS / BDA Alumni Networking Dinner

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You are cordially invited to join fellow MIS/BDA/Business Technology alumni

and faculty while we offer our current MIS students the unique opportunity to

network with you over dinner in Hartford. Come help our students succeed in

the business world by offering your valuable alumni insight and expertise.

We will also provide the latest updates from the School of Business OPIM

department while you enjoy a complimentary dinner with our students.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016
6:00 pm – 6:30 pm – Alumni Cocktail Networking Session
6:30 – 8:30 pm – Complimentary Dinner and Networking with Current Students

UConn Graduate Business Learning Center

Observation Deck, 2nd Floor

100 Constitution Plaza

Hartford, CT | Directions

>> Click here to register now! 

If you have any questions please contact Amanda at
Amanda.Spada@business.uconn.edu or 860-486-5498.

Upcoming Fall Workshops

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Our third workshop of the semester is an introduction to data analysis with the Splunk platform next Friday, November 11th. Please visit the OPIM site for a full list of workshops and their dates. All workshops are capped at 20 people so please make sure to register on the site ahead of time.  Over the course of the fall semester we plan to have the following:

  • Virtual Reality Demo – (New) overview of the different levels of VR and hands-on experience (Completed)
  • Intro to 3D Printing – repeat of last semester, was very popular so we are offering it again (Completed)
  • Splunk Analytics – (New), introduction to the network analytics software Splunk (Register Now)
  • Internet Of Things – (New), real time data analytics using smart devices (Register Now)

A Demonstration in 3D Printing

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The Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department held a 3D Printing Workshop on Friday, October 28th. This was the second in a series of technology workshops held by the department throughout the semester.

The 3D Printing workshop went into depth about the different technologies available in the OPIM Department Gladstein Lab. Students and faculty were able to preview these technologies at the MIS Welcome Party at the beginning of the semester. The workshop was designed for those who may be new to 3D Printing technolgy or experienced users who would like to learn more about the resources available to them in the OPIM Department.

During Friday’s workshop, The OPIM Department explained how 3D Printing technology works, what it is being used for, and how it was developed. Students in attendance were given a detailed presentation on the 3D printing technology, while observing the technology in action. The goal of the workshop was to inform interested students and faculty about these technologies and to demonstrate how they operate.

The workshop featured the Maker-Bot Replicator 2X and Maker-Bot Replicator Z18 systems. The Department demonstrated the printers by taking a photo of a pumpkin and printing it into a three-dimensional object.

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In his presentation, Chris Buckridge (BUSN IT) explained some ways that 3D Printing is currently being utilized, such as radio prototyping, healthcare products, education, recreation and architecture.

There were over 20 students and faculty present at the workshop. Due to limited space, registration was available online prior to the workshop. All of the available spots were filled with additional walk-in attendees.

The next workshop will be about exploring real time data analytics using the Splunk platform. That workshop will be held on Friday, November 11th at 1 p.m. in the Gladstein Lab. Interested individuals can register here to guarantee a spot in the workshop.

Student Spotlight – Jenny Tang (IMA Secretary)

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18cf955A junior at the University of Connecticut, Jenny Tang serves as the Information Management Association (IMA) Secretary. As Secretary, Jenny does a lot work behind the scenes for IMA by organizing the group’s information.

Jenny told me about her journey to becoming a Business major, the reason she became involved in IMA, her involvement at UConn, and her future plans for her senior year and beyond.

Jenny started out at UConn as a Computer Science major and she is now in the process of pursuing a Management Information Systems major. She said she is working on creating her own individualized major that combines MIS, Computer Science and Communications Technologies.

This individualized major includes classes based in the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) and Communication Technology departments. Her reasoning for pursuing a specialized major is to understand human interaction with technology and how people design and develop systems, as a result.

After hearing about IMA at the Involvement Fair and speaking with members, Jenny decided to join. At the time, Jenny was a Computer Science major, which is not in the School of Business. Jenny encourages any students, business majors or not, to join IMA. She said that the meetings and events held by IMA apply to anybody that is interested in technology.

Jenny noted that the recruitment events held by IMA are especially beneficial for Computer Science and MIS majors. On the other hand, the workshops held by the OPIM Department throughout the semester appeal to anybody that is interested in technology.

When asked about the best part about being involved in IMA, Jenny said it is the people. She said she has met a variety of people in your classes that she never got the chance to meet before IMA. She said it is a great place to meet and network with people that have similar interests.

Jenny said that she wants to continue to be involved in IMA next year, whether it is with the same position or a different position. She said she does not care so much about what position she has, she just wants to help IMA grow by spreading awareness about the organization and the MIS major.

In addition to her position in IMA, Jenny is on the executive board of Kids and UConn Bridging Education (KUBE), where she mentors elementary and middle school students one Saturday a month.

Beyond her time at UConn, Jenny hopes to pursue a career in Information Technology. She said she is not sure what field of IT she wants to specialize in exactly, but she hopes to start out in a rotation program where she can figure out what area of IT she wants to focus on for the majority of her career.

Annual CIMBA Industry Panel

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Over 250 students in the University of Connecticut School of Business attended the annual CIMBA (Careers in Information Management and Business Analytics) Industry panel discussion. The event was held in UConn’s Rome Ballroom on Wednesday, October 19th. Many senior IT executives and recent UConn graduates made up the panel this year.

The purpose of holding this event each year is to spread awareness to undergraduate students about career opportunities in Management Information Systems (MIS) and Business Analytics.

All students in the Business Information Systems (OPIM 3103) course were required to attend the forum as part of their grade. This is a course that is required for all students in the School of Business meant to build a understanding of  information systems across all majors.  Instructors of the course were in attendance to answer questions and provide guiding questions.

MIS Professor Jon Moore said that this event allows students to learn from UConn MIS alumni and to see how they got to where they are today.

The Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Assistant Department Head, Ramesh Shankar said that many students have switched to the MIS major after being exposed to this event in the past.

In addition to its benefits for Business students, this event is an important community outreach activity, Shankar said. A group of high school students and their instructor for Pathways to Technology Magnet School in Hartford were in attendance.