October 2007

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Elections for the 1st Year Officer position

October 30, 2007 in Uncategorized by Supply Chain Association | Permalink

The Supply Chain Management Association met on Oct 30 and Brad Updegrove shared information about the activities planned in the coming weeks. The Supply Chain Career Panel is scheduled for Nov 9 wherein alumni from leading firms will share their industry experiences and guide the 1st year students on potential career options in the Supply Chain sector. A facility tour is being planned around early spring. This will be a great opportunity to witness the various elements of Supply Chain in action.

The election for the 1st Year Officer position was held during this meeting. Candidates had an opportunity to speak extempore for 2 minutes describing their background and what they planned to do in the position if elected. The 1st Year Officer is responsible to gather the ideas of the 1st year SCMA members and drive them toward implementation with the help of the steering committee of the association.

-Rohit Gurtu, MBA Class of 2009

Officer, MBA Supply Chain Management Association

Prior to Smeal, Rohit has worked for more than 15 years in the automotive industry. He has undertaken various roles in manufacturing, purchasing, and procurement with Maruti Suzuki, Honda Siel Cars, Delphi Automotive Systems, and Saud Bahwan Automotive, LLC.


Company Explo’ 2007

October 28, 2007 in Career by MBA Association | Permalink

The past week saw me through a hectic 2nd week of MOD II. As promised, we are being served a whole lot of quantitative heavy courses during this seven-week Module. Just as many of us first years were getting concerned that we were not devoting much time into researching the companies and industries that we were trying to target for our internships, the MBAA’s Corporate and Alumni Affairs office along with Smeal’s Career Services team organizes the 1st Company Explo’ 2007. The 2nd year MBA students volunteered to set up career booths representing the companies where they had spent their summer internships earlier this year. They were there to field our questions – the insider’s view of organizational cultures, specific projects that they had worked on, the selection process for the internship positions, the internships themselves and much more. Representations included among many others – Dell, Ford Motor Company, Apple, Target, GE, Pfizer, GE, Dupont, Air Products and Chemicals, JPMorgan Chase, Target and PGA Tour.

The event helped me understand the job profiles for the summer internships that were offered at the companies that I am targeting. Students from both years’ classes were actively involved in this event. I got some great insights from Andy Pezalla (MBA Class of 2008) on supply chain management in the retail industry in the context of his internship at a major US retail chain’s corporate office. The recommendations that he had provided to the company through his project were being implemented and were visible in the advertising strategy on their website. Smeal MBA candidates were making a strong difference during their internships!

Similar conversations with others who had interned in various functions of Supply Chain Management at Ford, Apple and Dell provided me with valuable inputs too. A comprehensive project report on the high market potential of the healthcare services (especially rural) industry in India. Medical equipment and healthcare services were completely outside my scope of interest in this event. What started as an aside into the booth due to its attention-grabbing presentation on India, eventually transformed into a long conversation with Alessandro Gubbini (MBA Class of 2008), who had interned at Siemens, India earlier this summer. It was interesting to observe the value added to the company due to Alessandro’s fresh perspective (as a non-Indian) and diligent research on the Indian health services market for the feasibility of Siemens’ new products in the area of medical equipment and health care services.

Thus, the week ended with great takeaways on some of my target companies and the SCM industry in general. In spite of the heavy workload being sent our way over our current MOD, the week ended on an energetic note, thanks to the efforts of the MBAA Corporate and Alumni Relations office, Smeal Career Services and the host of volunteers from the Classes of 2008 and 2009!

-Johny Paul

johny.jpg Hailing from India, Johny had been working as a Software Designer over the past nine years, spending equal amount of time with Hewlett-Packard Co., India and earlier to that with PricewatershouseCoopers, India. He has a Bachelors Degree in Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, India. At Smeal, he intends to pursue the Supply Chain Management and Strategic Leadership Portfolios.

WMBA Makeup Session

October 26, 2007 in Uncategorized by MBA Women International (WMBA) | Permalink

What happens when a group of female MBAs sit together, each with a cosmetic mirror, and follow professional guidance to try over ten different kinds of make up? A lot of fun! The Women’s MBA Association organized this activity to help female MBAs to improve our makeup skills and have a little girls-only fun.

After over one hour of hard work on our faces, we were all excited about our new appearances. So what followed next? Well, of course nobody wanted to go back home and wash it off. So, it was off to Tony’s Big Easy (a local bar) where there was a networking event for MBAs and JD (law) students. With our new looks, we showed the law students how energetic and pretty women MBAs could be.

I had heard of the make up session during the orientation week and had been looking forward to it for weeks. I have taken part in many activities and this one, believe me, is a must if you are a female MBA. After the make up session, I was excited about exploring the magic of eyeliner, which I had always skipped. Now, I’m sacrificing some sleep time every morning (I’m sleep deprived already, so what’s a little less?) to stand in front of the mirror and add that extra little touch.

–Chao He
Originally from China, Chao attained her Bachelor’s Degree in English there and has over six years working experience in international education. At Smeal, Chao plans to focus on Product & Market Development, Strategic Leadership, and Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

makeup-photo.jpg
Finally, some time with the girls…

After what I deemed the most stressful week of first mod (count them: two accounting projects, stats quiz, teams quiz, first communications speech, SIPs) we finally had some time to breathe. A visit to 2nd year, Jodie Vanderman’s apartment was exactly what I needed. A glass of wine, appetizers, and our first informal get-together as women leaders of the future was born. Well… not so dramatically. It was a great opportunity to relax and just be girls in the midst of a male dominated education. Jodie instructed us on proper make-up application and color choices from her Mary Kay kit and caboodle. We all listened intently as she unveiled the cosmetic secret to covering those nasty dark-under-eye circles. Let me tell you – the results were gorgeous and the celebrated success carried itself downtown to a mixer.

–Amy Hsieh
MBA Candidate 2009