Tag: Technology

BCTIM is buzzzzzing with activity; we’re busy, busy! With so many great events on the calendar, we’re expecting to see lots of bright faces, some familiar and some new!

Here’s a first look at what we’ve got coming up:

BCTIM’s Operational Excellence Seminar Series will start this year with John Stroup, CEO & President of Belden, Inc. presenting “A New Era in Manufacturing Management: Manufacturing Closer to Home Markets”. Join us on October 23rd for this interactive and intriguing lecture.

The Fall Lecture Seminar Series continues with the next lecture on November 7th, featuring Onur Boyabatli, visiting professor from Singapore Management University.

The 11th Annual Meir J. Rosenblatt Memorial Lecture will be November 21st. This special event is in honor Meir J. Rosenblatt, who taught at Olin Business School as the Myron Northrop Distinguished Professor of Operations and Manufacturing Management. This year’s Lecture will feature David Simchi-Levi of MIT, presenting “OM Research: From Problem-Driven to Data Driven Research”. Please visit our Rosenblatt Memorial site for more information and registration to this event.

Student volunteers, lead by Vaibhav Sharma and Eduardo Jacobo, sophomores at Olin, showed residents from Bethesda senior living how to turn on their computers, pick a password and navigate the Internet at the first Computer Comfort class on Sept. 19. The tutors also set up email accounts and taught their students how to send, and open, email.

“Now you can receive email from your families,” Sharma said. “It’s a great way to stay in touch.”

Harris Frank

Vaibhav Sharma and Eduardo Jacobo created the new Computer Comfort student organization to recruit volunteers to tutor senior citizens eager to use the internet. Former Bethesda resident Harris Frank who is 89, worked with students to develop the curriculum.

Frank worked closely with Mahendra Gupta, PhD, dean of the Olin Business School and the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management, and Steve Malter, PhD, associate dean and director for undergraduate programs, to develop the program. He believes it can serve as a model nationwide.

Erin Kim, a freshman at Olin, helps Dr. Elsie Meyers navigate a Macbook in the Active Learning Lab in Bauer Hall in the new “Computer Comfort” class being offered for area seniors.

Participants are benefiting from the course by using their new knowledge to pay bills and stay in touch with loved ones.

Computer Comfort will continue throughout the fall with new participants and volunteers.

Thanks to Diane Keaggy for her article on WUSTL Newsroom.

Images: Photos by Joe Angeles, WUSTL Photo Services; video by Marc Niemeyer, AB’14

Forward magazine, a publication of the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI): “The Cyber Threat: just a click away” features findings from a recent BCTIM project that Olin students conducted with MSCI and recommends IT security measures for the metals industry.

Olin’s new program degree focused on Big Data, Master of Science in Customer Analytics (MSCA), held its first “Thought Leader Speaker Series”.

Justin Honaman, Managing Partner, Consumer Goods & Retail at Teradata, traveled from Atlanta, Georgia, to kick-off the series and meet with the students who enrolled this Fall in this innovative program. Mary Gros, from Teradata’s University Relations, was also in attendance.

Honaman kicked-off the presentation by sharing his background and creative hobbies (in addition to being analytics’ expert, he is also an author, singer and songwriter), and followed with insights on Teradata’s journey from data warehousing to advanced data analytics company.

Hadoop, cloud, global analytics… In the world where “big data is everywhere”, bringing all the consumer information into one place and being able to interpret it and analyze is a huge competitive advantage. That’s why students who have an understanding of data driven business and metrics will be particularly valuable in the job marketplace, Honaman pointed out.

MSCA students will have the opportunity to gain more insights directly from the corporate world, as the “Thought Leader Speaker Series” will host speakers from companies like Ernst & Young, Nestle Purina PetCare or Accenture in the upcoming weeks.

About MSCA
Launched this Fall in partnership with IBM, the MSCA program is run by Seethu Seetharaman, PhD, the W. Patrick McGinnis Professor of Marketing. Click here to learn more.

The success of BCTIM’s 6th Annual Industry Conference on Operational Innovations for Competitive Success is the highlight of BCTIM’s first blog post!

Hosted Wednesday, September 3rd, the Conference was held in Olin’s new Knight Hall, in the state-of-the-art Emerson Auditorium. A series of lectures given by experts from both industry and academia allowed for an interactive exploration of the ever-changing trends of supply chain. Industry speakers included VP & Chief Supply Chain Officer of Sigma-Aldrich, Dan Key, and VP of Logistics-North America of AB InBev, Pablo Gonzalez, as well as Panos Kouvelis, Ph.D., Director of the Boeing Center for Technology, Information and Manufacturing at Olin Business School. A variety of perspectives and unique insights were shared during a collection of 30-minute presentations.

We were delighted to have such a strong turnout; over 140 attendees made our efforts to collaborate industry ideas and knowledge among professionals and scholars a great success. Speakers, professionals and students had several opportunities to network and engage in conversation. Several attendees reported positive takeaways and left glowing reviews.When asked if the Conference provided a value-source in regard to concept applicability, Marc Hernandez of US Transportation Command had this to say: “Excellent presentation of real world challenges, opportunities, and how to implement organizational optimization and changes.”

We’re pleased to have had such a diverse turnout across industries, contributing immensely to the exchange of ideas and applicability of the “Operational Innovations for Competitive Success” theme.

Thanks to all who made this event a success. Please follow us along our blogging journey and stay connected for the many events to come!

For more information on The Boeing Center for Technology, Information and Manufacturing, please visit our newly re-vamped website.

Harnessing the power of big data is a must-have skill for today’s tech-driven marketplace. In response to the growing need for anayltics-savvy managers, Olin is launching a new Master of Science in Customer Analytics degree program in partnership with IBM.  The graduate program is designed to arm managers with the technical and strategic tools for 21^st century business.

“The MSCA program will train students to become analytics-driven business managers,” said Seethu Seetharaman, PhD, the Patrick W. McGinnis Professor of Marketing and director of the program. “Graduates will be well equipped to successfully participate in the emerging business era of big data. The program is ideal for applicants whose undergraduate training is in a technical field who want to build on their abilities and develop the skills to manage strategic business issues using advanced analytical methods.”

From the IBM Academic Initiative site.

Olin’s partnership with IBM is through the company’s Academic Initiative, which includes a large network of IBM and higher education professionals to help advance curriculum in areas including Big Data and Analytics, Cloud Computing, Security and Social Business.

Students will benefit from the collaboration with IBM on special projects and learning to use IBM software to conduct analysis. Washington University computer science and political science professors will also participate in the program along with a schedule of guest speakers from the business community.

“Our graduates will be able to seek job opportunities with any organization that has embraced the value of big data, including companies marketing the world’s most respected and recognizable brands,” Seetharaman said. “Additional opportunities exist at consultant companies with a heavy reliance on customer analytics. Organizations across the board will be searching for applicants trained in social media analytics.”

The MSCA program holds a STEM designation. A STEM program is one that is based in Science, Technology, Engineering or Math. Under regulations established by the Department of Homeland Security, international students in this program are eligible to apply for a 2-month off campus work experience called Optional Practical Training (OPT). Students that graduate from a STEM degree can apply for a 17-month extension of OPT.

The program can be completed in a 10 or 18-month format, including foundations coursework in August. Rolling admissions is in effect for domestic students. Due to visa processing time, the international student application deadline is now closed.  Prospective students should visit the website or contact Nikki Lemley, Associate Director of Specialized Masters Programs Admissions, via email MSCAInfo@wustl.edu.

Image: Façade study for IBM Manufacturing and Administrative Center, Rochester, Minnesota, 1956-58. Published in: Eero Saarinen: buildings from the Balthazar Korab archive / edited by David G. De Long and C. Ford Peatross, 2008. Library of Congress.