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

Did everyone get the August edition of the Huntsman Post?

Three months ago, Steve Eaton wrote that students who read the Huntsman Post are 22 percent less likely to engage in pointless discussions or to be irritated when they drop their keys repeatedly.Well, at the beginning of August, a new edition of the Huntsman Post was sent out, and the benefits of reading our online newsletter have only gotten better. For example, a recent unpublished study shows that students who read the August edition of the Post are 3 times more likely to not get stuck in rush hour traffic with no air conditioning on a 90 degree day.


The August edition is filled with valuable information and stories for anyone with connections to the Huntsman School of Business. You can learn more about three major additions to the Huntsman School's faculty: Jim Davis, the new head of the department of management; Michael Glauser, the new director of entrepreneurial programs; and William Shughart II, the J. Fish Smith professor in Public Choice. 


Find out what brought governors, presidents and senators to Utah and to USU. Check out how close the Huntsman School is to its goal of awarding $1 million in scholarships. Read more about what Huntsman students did to help a charity work more efficiently at feeding the hungry. All these things and more can be found in the August edition of the Huntsman Post.

Do college graduates remember what their student experience was like?

Whether you’re a recent grad or recent retiree, we all remember those long nights and longer study sessions spent cramming for that ever-so-important exam. We juggled a swinging single social life or caring for kids, working 20 to 40 hours a week, an internship and not to mention what seemed a more-than-full time school schedule. Yep, it was a wonderfully busy time (emphasis on the wonderfully, though, right?). Now, some of us have moved on into the real world. Hopefully we will get to use that degree we worked so hard for, and hopefully we can continue to dare mighty things. The question is, “Do we remember what it’s like to be a college student?” Things may have changed, so we’ve supplied a quiz to give an idea of where you might fit on the scale.

Rob Goates

How do you relax?

1.       Night on the town, cruising Main Street, spending time with the apple of my eye.

2.       Drive up Logan Canyon, pay Old Juniper a visit (rest assured, he hasn’t changed).

3.       You’ll find me in the front row at the Spectrum, losing my voice.

4.       Stay inside, hanging with the roomies, watching that flick or TV show we just can’t get enough of.

5.       Speaking of can’t get enough, I need to study, back to the library!

What do you eat?

1.       I’m poor, the only thing I can afford has noodles in it, i.e. ramen and cup of noodles (and we loved them!).

2.       Don’t have time, eating is a luxury, grab that energy bar and get to class.

3.       Go with my sweetums out to that restaurant that we love, no matter the price.

4.       Marketplace, Sky Room, Junction and the Hub, every meal, every day.

5.       Live off the land, thar’ are turkeys in them hills.

What do you drive?

1.       Honestly, anything that gets me from point A to point B.

2.       I don’t need to drive, I live on campus.

3.       I wouldn’t say I drive it, but it does look good in the mechanic’s shop. Luckily, Cache Valley Transit is free...

4.       Are you kidding? Cycling is the only way to go, come rain or shine.

5.       Sports car, enough said.

How is your sleep?

1.       I sleep better when it’s not raining because my lean-to shelter I call “home” gets wet.

2.       I sleep better when it’s not raining as well but because our ceiling leaks so badly.

3.       Excellent, the house I own is top-notch.

4.       Study now, sleep later. I can sleep when I’m dead.

5.       Dead asleep; the Howl last night was so much fun.

Now count your points!

How do you relax?  1 = 5 points, 2 = 2 points, 3 = 4 points, 4 = 1 point, 5 = 3 points

What do you eat?  1 = 1 point, 2 = 3 points, 3 = 5 points, 4 = 4 points, 5 = 2 points

What do you drive?  1 = 3 points, 2 = 4 points, 3 = 1 point, 4 = 2 points, 5 = 5 points

How is your sleep?  1 = 2 points, 2 = 1 point, 3 = 5 points, 4 = 3 points, 5 = 4 points

5-7 points, Congratulations, you definitely remember what it’s like to be a student! You may consider yourself “economically-friendly,” but when it comes down to it, you are POOR. But deep down inside, you look back on it with fondness and look forward to those experiences for your kids.

8-10 points, Congratulations, you definitely remember what it’s like to be a student! Taking advantage of the beautiful landscape that Logan has to offer is one of your fortes. You may have skied the Beav or fished at Second Dam, but you were there, enjoying every minute.

11-13 points, Congratulations, you definitely remember what it’s like to be a student! You were a studying machine with the drive of a jet engine. Working those all-nighters and running on empty, you’re hopefully now enjoying the fruits of your labors (and remembering your alma mater J).

14-16 points, Congratulations, you definitely remember what it’s like to be a student! What a socialite you are, you make events successful and work hard to get the most from what’s offered. Because of you, the traditions that make Utah State great live on.

17-19 points, Congratulations, you definitely remember what it’s like to be a student! While you weren’t the wealthiest, you still enjoyed many comforts during your college years and knew how to take advantage of what was given you.

20 points, Uh, you definitely DO NOT remember what it’s like to be a student! If you are in this group, I wish I were friends with you. You are one of the very select few that really enjoyed a plush lifestyle in college.

Rob Goates

The NBA Draft and design thinking

The NBA Draft took place last night, which means I’ve been doing a lot of reading. As a die-hard fan of the NBA, people often come to me with questions about certain selections and I try to be prepared. My favorite writer when it comes to the NBA Draft is Chad Ford from ESPN.com.

Ford recently wrote an article for my favorite website, Grantland.com, about how teams have evolved in the ways they evaluate potential selections. They rely much more on spreadsheets and sophisticated statistical formulas and much less on face-to-face contact with the players.

Has it worked? Ford provides a compelling argument that it hasn’t. Between 1990 and 1999, when the process was a lot more personal, 37 percent of all lottery picks (players taken within the first 11-14 picks, depending on the year) turned out to be All-Stars, while 31 percent were busts. In the past decade, when the process has become a lot more analytical and impersonal, just 21 percent of all lottery picks turned into All-Stars while a whopping 42 percent are draft busts. Even though teams are spending more money, they are having much less success at identifying the best players.

Roger Martin

This all reminds me of when the Huntsman School had Roger Martin come for a Dean’s Convocation last September. Martin, who is the dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, spoke about design thinking. Design thinking combines the best of analytical thinking and intuitive thinking. A business that can find the appropriate balance between the two will continually experience innovation and will have a constant advantage over its competitors.

Martin did not discount the importance of analytical thinking, and neither did Ford in the aforementioned article. But there is so much more to making important decisions than quantifiable statistics. We can make the best decisions when we combine what we have diligently analyzed with intuitive thinking.

Connor Child

Mysteries unveiled in the Huntsman Post

Today the Huntsman Post came out and there are a few things I thought you should know about it. Studies have shown that people who read the Huntsman Post are 22 percent less likely to engage in pointless discussions or to be irritated when they drop their keys repeatedly. People who read the Huntsman Post are 12 percent less likely to be misled by fabricated statistics. (Did you know that an estimated 50 percent of all study results posted in blogs are fundamentally flawed or fabricated?)

Did you know that Sterling Morris, who knows stuff, reads many parts of the Huntsman Post and that John Johnson, who knows a ton of stuff, looks at it? Did you know that we can put the name “Frank Caliendo” in this blog and he’ll never know because he’s far too busy to notice? It’s true. (There have been reports that Dannon Loveland reads the Huntsman Post, but we haven’t been able to confirm them.)

Even though the Huntsman Post is a small, online newsletter, it often scoops major publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. It includes stories it has unearthed that aren’t even on their radar screen.

This Huntsman Post includes a story about a project some students did that only ended up sparking laughter throughout Cache Valley. It tells of the surprise that happened at Commencement this year. It explains the connection between competitive snowboarding and the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. It spells out exactly why one can say with certainty that the Huntsman School of Business is an award-winning institution. If you click on the right links you’ll find your way to a long list of video recordings of recent speakers who have visited Logan.

If you are a basketball fan you know of Brady Jardine, who will be next year’s star player. Did you hear what happened to his wife, Jenna, after graduation? Just in case you don’t remember who Jenna Jardine is, we have included a picture of her and Brady taken just minutes before “the incident” that was captured on film and included in the Huntsman Post.

All this stuff and more is in the Huntsman Post, including links to videos about the school you might have never seen. Check it out for yourself by clicking here.

Steve Eaton