International Student Adds Business to Engineering

An International Student Adds Business to Engineering

Dominican Republic and MBA student, Samuel Mosquea

When Samuel Mosquea came to USU five years ago, he could not have imagined where the MBA program would take him.

Samuel came with a group of 100 students from the Dominican Republic in 2007. He received his undergraduate in aerospace engineering in 2011 and immediately started his MBA at the Huntsman School.

One thing Samuel enjoyed about his experience at the Huntsman school is the opportunity he has had to travel. He has visited countries such as China, Jordan, Israel, and South Korea, all because of the MBA program.

Samuel said that a lot of people told him that the skills of the MBA program would not contribute to his undergraduate engineering degree.

But Samuel strongly disagrees.

“I think the skills from engineering complement what I am learning at the school of business,” he said.
Samuel is a dedicated student who desires to be a leader.

“I think an engineer with a MBA can have a bigger impact,” Samuel said. “As an engineer you build things, but as a leader you can do that, plus more.”

Last October Samuel was invited to attend the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) in Anaheim, on behalf of the Huntsman School. The networking opportunities there led to a full-time job at Ernst & Young in Austin, Texas.

For the complete story, click here.

Father of Three Goes to Graduate School

Father of Three Goes to Graduate School

In 2010, Bryce Huff quit his job of five years at a bank, sold his home, and decided to further his education. First, he went to Oregon to obtain a master’s in conflict resolution, but after finishing there, Bryce came to the Huntsman School to earn his MBA.

“When I came through that door, I knew I wanted to be involved in everything I could,” Bryce said.

With his wife pregnant with their third son, Bryce endeavored to make the most of his MBA experience. He became the account manager for The Agency, an internal, student-run marketing group. It was because of his position with The Agency, as well as his involvement with the Entrepreneurship Club, that Bryce landed a full-time job when he graduated.

Bryce Huff

At a weekly lecture that Bryce helped to organize with the Entrepreneurship Club, Mike Glauser invited Jackie Butler, owner of Med Quest Pharmacy in North Salt Lake, to speak to the students. Med Quest is an innovative company that takes a scientific approach to prescribing important health-supporting supplements.

“I sat next to her at the dinner and really reached out to her,” Bryce said, and after a recommendation letter from Dr. Glauser, Bryce was offered a position with the company.

Because he was so involved at the Huntsman School, “things are really starting to fall into place,” Bryce said.

A Single Mom Perserveres to Get an MBA

In this month's Huntsman Post I wrote an article highlighting three outstanding MBA students. Here is the story of one.

A Single Mom Perseveres to Get an MBA

Melinda Ryan is a student whose life will be changed forever because of the Huntsman School MBA program. When Melinda finished an undergraduate at USU, she desired to go on and earn an MBA, but things weren’t that simple for her.

Melinda Ryan with her son

After getting a divorce her senior year at USU, Melinda needed to care for her son on her own. When she showed interest in earning her MBA at the Huntsman School, Dave Patel, assistant dean, worked to offer Melinda a full-time job with benefits and half tuition, so that she would be able to attend the MBA program here.

When fall came Melinda was working close to 50 hours a week, and her son was starting kindergarten.

“I thought I couldn’t do it,” Melinda said, “but I just put my head down and powered through.”

After thriving in networking opportunities with several companies and professionals introduced to her by the Huntsman School, she received a job in Seattle, WA., that she started this month.
“It’s so hard to get ahead when everything is against you,” she said. “I am so fortunate and grateful for the faculty and all those who helped me get to where I am.”


For the complete story click here.

The wild, wild web

Connor Child

If I wanted to know who got voted out of the top 8 on the 2007 season of American Idol, I could find that information on the Internet. If I was looking for information about the origins of bubble gum, there's a website for that. If I was interested in what kind of car Lightning McQueen is, there are numerous online discussions and comment boards devoted to the subject.

Simply put: there is a lot of stuff out there on the internet. So it makes it even more impressive when I talk to people like Raine Christensen, a Huntsman student who runs banktruth.org, a website that has climbed the ranks to become one of the top bank evaluating websites on the web. A Google search for "best banks" will bring up nearly 300 million results, and his website is currently the second one listed.

I wrote a short story about Raine's website for the most recent edition of the Huntsman Post, which came out yesterday. The Post also includes a story about our MBA students scoring in the 90th percentile on a national test given to 225 institutions. And did you know that a student club in the Huntsman School has achieved a "superior" designation for national record 35 consecutive years? Many of the people reading this weren't even born before then.

All of these stories, along with many more, can be read here.

- Connor Child

A Huntsman alumnus on entrepreneurship and what he learned from the Huntsman School

Today I had the opportunity to talk to a Huntsman alumnus about the innovations his company is making in the aerospace and wind energy industries.

Allan Wood is the CEO of AnalySwift (analyswift.com), a company that uses technology developed at Utah State to analyze composite materials and design structures made from them. From helicopter blades to bridges, companies like ATK, Boeing, Siemens and AeroVironment use AnalySwift’s software in their design and analysis. Wood said that they’re also getting involved with companies that produce the blades on wind turbines.

Wood said his experience at USU gave him key knowledge, experience and connections in building up his company.

Wood started AnalySwift this past March with Dr. Wenbin Yu, an associate professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at USU’s College of Engineering. Wood graduated from USU with dual majors in marketing and finance in 2003, and followed that up with an MBA that included an entrepreneurship emphasis. He said the things he learned at the Huntsman School were invaluable when starting up AnalySwift.

Paul Lewis Siddoway

“My MBA classes were heavy with relevant coursework for the activities in which I’m now involved,” Wood said. “I think you get out of it what you put in, and I was thankful to have opportunities for real-life experience through coursework and internships.”

As part of his MBA program, Wood took classes uniquely suited to entrepreneurship, including studies on how viable business ideas are. When he was preparing to start his own business, he took the principles and procedures he learned in case studies and applied them to his own business plan.

“Starting in October, we went through the same feasibility study process for AnalySwift, and it looked very promising,” Wood said. “That gave me confidence that this was a good opportunity.”

Wood said it hasn’t all been very easy, but many of the resources used in the start up of AnalySwift came from connections made at USU, from the technology they use to legal agreements to the graphic design. They were helped by a grant from the state of Utah’s Technology Commercialization and Innovation Program.

“It took us a little longer that we though to get things moving and get things in place, but we’ve had some help,” Wood said. “We’re still fairly young, so we’ve been doing a lot of the ‘up-front’ stuff the past couple of months and we’re now trying to reach out and contact customers.”

Throughout the course of my experience at USU and the Huntsman School, I’ve made connections with other students and business professionals, and learning about what successful graduates are doing makes me excited to join the ‘real’ world.

Paul Lewis Siddoway

Huntsman graduates get the personal touch right to the end

Today I went to the Graduate Commencement and Hooding Ceremony and found, that in addition to the wise words of Byron Burnham, the vice provost and dean who spoke at the event, there was inspiration coming from the sidelines. Kathy McConkie, the assistant director our MBA program, was on the front row, leaning forward trying to get a picture of every single graduate.

I know Kathy to be a great photographer but what impressed me was that she was calling out to the graduates by name as they reached the end of the ramp to get them to pause so she could take their picture. It was clear as I saw their faces light up when she called them that they knew who she was.

It’s that kind of personal attention and sense of family that Kathy brings to our MBA program. If you know anything about Kathy McConkie, you know that this is one woman who can light up a room with her smile. I know, I know, that sounds corny, but it is true.

I told Konrad Lee, faculty chair and director of the MBA program, about what I saw and he wasn’t surprised.

“The positive impact Kathy has on our program and the lives of our students is amazing,” he said. “She reaches students in a very real way because of that personal connection she brings to her work.”

I took a bunch of pictures today and I got lucky when I caught the very moment our Jamie Andrus realized her shoe was caught in the ramp. Did you know she’s the assistant director of our Partners and Business program and was a good sport about the picture. She gave me permission to post it on Facebook. Check out our Facebook page to see that picture and to find a link to all the other pictures I posted into our Smug Mug account.

Check out this blog tomorrow for more on the advice that Dean Burnham shared with the graduates and for a link to more pictures.

Steve Eaton

(The photo in this blog is Kathy McConkie. You gotta love her.)

Job search tips

Future Huntsman MBA Student Katelyn Ericson wrote an article in The Deseret News which includes tips on finding a job after graduation. Here is an excerpt from that article:

"Your bags are packed, finals are completed and all you have left to do now is pick up your diploma. After four long years of tests and quizzes there’s only one question left to answer: Now what?

Let’s face it, with a wavering economy and tough competition, it is difficult for college graduates to find employment, even with good grades and experience. In the next few weeks, thousands of students from colleges across the United States will receive their diplomas without job offers or prospects.

Unfortunately, when finals are finally over, that’s when the real work begins."

You can read Katelyn's full article here.

Huntsman MBA students sing the Scotsman

A group of Huntsman MBA students recently returned from a trip to China where they had the opportunity to visit with business leaders and expand their global vision. While there, the group visited the Great Wall of China where they performed the Scotsman.

Hong Kong: Disneyland

March 7th, 2011

It is the small things that make Hong Kong Disneyland unique. First things first, everything is smaller there. The park has only three “themed” areas, all of the rides can be ridden within three hours, and even the ride itself is built smaller with less leg room. The greatest part about the small factor, however, is the short lines. No line was longer than 15 minutes. Surprisingly, the longest ride was not for the solo roller coaster, Space Mountain, either. The longest lines were for the Jungle River Guide or the shows. Much of the emphasis in Hong Kong Disneyland is also put on picture taking with the Characters. The Chinese people love to take pictures and everyone seemed to have a camera on them.

Food differences were apparent as well. You can purchase squid, fish (which some say looks like eyes on a stick), and other Chinese snack foods. It is also surprising to see the number of adults in the park outnumbered the children. Though this may have been due to the fact that it was Monday and kids were in school. They also had to present instructions in three different languages, English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Nevertheless, the foundation, principles, and philosophies of Hong Kong Disneyland are the same as in the United States. It is all about the Characters, building “Disney Moments”, and making people smile. What else can you expect from the happiest place on earth?

Huntsman MBA students in China

Day One: Arrive in Hong Kong

My first impression of Hong Kong is a mixture between New York City and Mexico. On the streets, there are people constantly approaching you trying to recruit your business, like in Mexico. The most frequent sellers are ladies trying to sell you on buying a foot massage. There are also men dressed up in their suits trying to get you to buy a suit of your own. The New York flare comes from the many exquisite shops, from being surrounded by tall buildings, from the odd smells when you turn the corner, and from the numberless taxis cruising through the narrow streets.

Our first adventure was getting some real food. Not anymore airplane food. The restaurant atmosphere, though similar in many respects, had its own distinct flare. When we first arrived at our restaurant we wanted to know how long we would need to wait. Even though there were several people waiting before us, they worked on getting us a table for 15 right away. As we walk into the restaurant, several employees stop to give you a slight head bow and show their respect to you. Once seated, you could order multiple times throughout the meal. We ordered dumplings, hot and sour soup, egg fried rice, and other authentic Chinese dishes. Many aspects of the meal were very easy including ordering, the service, and the no-tip philosophy. Once an entree was ready, they delivered it. You could begin eating and once the other entrées were done they would be added to the food already out on the table. The challenge for me came when I tried to use the chopsticks. Years of avoiding the chopsticks at Panda Express caught up to me. It was difficult to get a hold of the food. In fact, I still have yet to figure it out. Nevertheless, we had a great first meal. Hong Kong is going to be fabulous, I can already tell and we have just begun.