Download pdf - RECONNECT: Lally School Newsletter

A NEWSLETTER FOR LALLY SCHOOL ALUMNI/AE AND FRIENDS

RECONNECT

2013-2014

We’re Growing Our Portfolio

The Rensselaer Lally School ofManagement turns 50 years old this year! The landscape of businesseducation is rapidlychanging and weare changing with it, including the shortening of our schoolname this fall. We have positioned our MBAprogram to emphasize innovation andtechnology management to complementour presence in one of the top technologicaluniversities in the world. We have addedtwo new master’s programs, an M.S. inBusiness Analytics and an M.S. in SupplyChain Management, to complement thequantitative strengths of the Institute.

We continue to prepare our undergraduatestudents for the marketplace of the future,now offering a choice of eight academicconcentrations. Lally graduates aresuccessful, well-regarded by employers, andworking all over the world. Our recent B.S.graduates, for example, earn a $60,000mean starting salary, which is $10,000 morethan the national average.

To keep this momentum going, yourinvolvement and support as an alum orfriend of the Lally School is essential. Wecannot succeed without it. We greatlyappreciate the help many of you alreadyhave provided and hope to encourage manymore of you to get involved. With your helpand our hard work, we can achieve another50 years of superlative business education!

Best wishes, Tom Begley, [email protected]

Lally is 50 Years Strong!

Our new M.S. in Business Analytics and M.S. in Supply ChainManagement have launched! Our Business Analytics degree is positionedto serve students to work with “big data.” This program providesstudents with the knowledge and essential skills needed to respond tothe new challenges characteristic of the data intensive decision-makingenvironments in the world today. The first intake of this one-year,30-credit graduate degree program started in Fall 2013. Academicpartnerships with companies such as IBM and SAS will allow students to access a suite of software tools, training, and data sets.

Business Analytics Program LaunchTo help usher in this newprogram, the Lally School helda business analytics paneldiscussion in April 2013,“Industry TransformationThrough Big Data and BusinessAnalytics.” Moderated by Lallyprofessor and associate deanfor research, T. Ravichandran,leading experts in the industrygave their insight on thecurrent state of this field. Panelists included: Brenda Dietrich, an IBMfellow and vice president; William Kelly, MBA, MPH, president of TreoSolutions; Inder Thukral, CEO of Boston Analytics; and Greg Moran,president and CEO of Chequed.com.

Supply Chain Management Keynote EventThe Master of Science in Supply ChainManagement (SCM), a one year, 30-creditgraduate degree program, prepares students tocoordinate the flow of goods, structurerelationships with suppliers, position resources,deal with logistics, and fulfill demand mosteffectively. The Lally School had a kickoff eventfor the new graduate program (as well as a firstmeeting of its SCM Advisory Board) onSeptember 26. The featured keynote speaker

was Rensselaer alumna, Meredith Stevens ’85, chief supply chain officerat Newell Rubbermaid.

New Undergraduate ConcentrationsLally also added four new undergraduate concentration options for ourBachelor of Science in Business and Management program: Accounting,Business Analytics, International Management, and Supply ChainManagement. This will enhance our current concentration offeringswhich include: Entrepreneurship, Finance, Management InformationSystems, and Marketing.

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Center for Financial Studies Kickoff in NYC

The Center for Financial Studies (CFS) in the Rensselaer Lally School had a public launch event in New York City this spring. The featured speakerwas Dr. Emanuel Derman, author, quantitative finance expert, andprofessor of practice at Columbia University. CFS strives to fosterhigh-quality research and learning in the fields of financial engineering,risk management, corporate finance, financial intermediation, and capitalmarkets. The co-directors of the Center are Aparna Gupta, associateprofessor, and John Teall, professor of practice at Lally.

Highlighting the Future of Finance

Photo credit: © 2012 The Business Review Photo by Donna Abbott Vlahos

Rensselaer Lally School graduate student Steven Porzio ’12, M.S FERA,received The Business Review’s 2012 Future Financial Executive award.Each year, the publication’s CFO of the Year program includes thisprestigious honor, which is awarded to a college student, graduate orundergraduate, in the Capital Region with a strong interest and potentialfor a career in finance.

GMSA Says, “Cheers!”

The Rensselaer Lally School Graduate Management Student Association(GMSA) hosted, “Cheers with Alumni,” at Revolution Hall at Brown’sBrewing Co. in Troy. The annual wine tasting event provides Lallygraduate students the opportunity to network with alumni/ae andmembers of the local business community. Support was provided byCDPHP, the event’s title sponsor, and supporting sponsors, TS TreoSolutions and TIMIT Solutions.

Innovation in the Nation’s Capital

Thirteen Lally School MBA students visited Washington, D.C. this springwith professor of practice, Tom Triscari, as part of the class, Managing onthe Edge. They gained insight into the communication channels thathelp to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, economic development, andinternational relations. The students met with public and political officialsto discuss strategies to promote the continued economic growth ofRensselaer County and the region’s Tech Valley.

Visiting Executive Series Seminar

Dr. Julie Shimer ’74 presented, “Managing Your Career,” at the Jerome S.Reinert '56 Visiting Executive Series seminar held at the Heffner AlumniHouse in Fall 2012. Shimer is the retiring CEO of Welch Allyn, a95-year-old medical devices company in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., and thefirst woman to hold that post in the company’s history. Shimer explainedthat innovation can be driven by identifying problems that providebusiness opportunities to help customers.

3LALLY SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: RECONNECT

Lally in Action

An Affinity for Startups

Harry Ruda ’68,’69— president and CEO of Wing Power Energy and ahigh-tech, serial entrepreneur— received the 2012 William F. Glaser ’53Rensselaer Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Ruda has founded and/orserved as chief executive officer of six high-tech startups, raising morethan $100 million in investments from venture capital, angel networks,and corporate strategic investors. His keynote, “Addicted to Startups,”highlighted the qualities and personality traits an entrepreneur needs to succeed.

Perspective from the Field

It All Starts With a Plan

The Lally School hosted its second annual business plan competition forhigh school students in May 2013. Sixty-eight students representing 25teams had an opportunity to pitch their ideas. A panel of managementscholars and area business leaders determined the top three winningteams of the $5,000 in cash prizes as well as other specialty awards.Participation more than tripled at this year’s event from last year, withstudent teams from New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Tennessee, andeven two teams from China.


360 Degrees of Entrepreneurship

The 2012-13 Entrepreneurs' Breakfast Series,a Rensselaer-community collaborative issponsored by the Severino Center forTechnological Entrepreneurship. The Spring 2013 featured speakers included:

From Scientist to CEORutvik Mehta ‘11, Ph.D.,co-founder and CEO, Thermoaura

Companies as Investors: The Worldof Corporate Venture CapitalJohn Freer '99, '06, MBA, manager,External Technology Initiatives, GE Global Research

The Good Life? Entrepreneurship as a Career ChoiceAnthony Pfister, CEO, Classbook.com

The First Five Years in StartupCountry: Celebrating EcovativeDesign's Fifth AnniversaryEben Bayer '07, co-founder and CEO,Ecovative Design

Marketing for Startups: Panel DiscussionSusan Bardack, co-founder/CEO,Buzz Media SolutionsDave Borland, principal,CMO, Burst MarketingPeter Dean, president, Rendertribe


Looking for SIG or theEntrepreneurs’ Breakfast Group?

We’ve changed the format to StartUp Tech Valley, an after work hours community event withspeakers and panels, sponsored by local businesses.

Find out more http://startuptechvalley.org.

Passing the Torch

At the annual Rensselaer Business PlanCompetition, Rensselaer undergraduate andgraduate student teams compete for cash andin-kind prizes valued at more than $15,000. In2013, the Severino Center for TechnologicalEntrepreneurship located at Lally and theAlbany-based Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO)collaborated to connect Rensselaer studentswith local, highly successful entrepreneurs inpreparation for this competition.

The first place undergraduate team wasJAGO, with a customizable trip planning site.Team members (pictured from left to right)included David Liu ’13 MGMT, Kevin Petrikas’13 MGMT, and Grant Rosener ’13 MGMT.

The first place graduate team was VITAL VIO,with smart lighting fixtures with disinfectionproperties. The team includes Rensselaeralumni James Peterson ’12 ME (pictured)and Colleen Costello ’12 BME. In August2013, Vital Vio secured a joint investmentfrom two funding sources for $450,000.

Also, pictured below are (far left) RemyArtega ‘06, the 2012-13 Severino CenterEntrepreneur-in-Residence, and (far right)Gina O’Connor, associate dean andprofessor at Lally.

Video Game Entrepreneurs Recognized

Karthik Bala ’97 and brother Guha Bala, co-founders of VicariousVisions, were named the 2013 William F. Glaser ’53 RensselaerEntrepreneurs of the Year. Vicarious Visions is a creator of hit videogames with its studio based in Menands, New York. To date, thecompany has sold more than 45 million games worldwide. They haveshaped popular culture with hit video game titles including versionsof: Skylanders, Guitar Hero, Crash Bandicoot, Tony Hawk, Spider-Man,and Marvel Ultimate Alliance for various platforms. An event in theirhonor was held October 9.

Lally School Team Changes

NEW FACULTY


Peggy McDermott,director of theundergraduateprograms

NEW ROLES

Jason Kuruzovich,academic director ofthe Severino Centerfor TechnologicalEntrepreneurship

Tom Triscari,academic director of the MBA program

T. (Ravi)Ravichandran,associate dean forresearch and theIrene and RobertBozzone ’55Distinguished Chair

Gina O’Connor,associate dean foracademic affairs

NEW STAFF

Yingda Lu,assistant professor

Dorit Nevo,associate professor

Michael T. Breslin,assistant director ofMBA and M.S.Career Resources

Erika Falle,administrative specialist

Sean Kelley,assistant directorof the MBA/M.S.Admissions office

Jill Quinones,director of Businessand AdministrativeOperations

Julie Tracy, senior communications specialist

Christine Zinzow,senior studentservicesadministrator

Using Data More Efficiently with SQL

Microsoft Access SQL Comprehensive (AlphaPress), was authored byPindaro Demertzoglou, lecturer and senior systems administrator atLally. The book features many case studies from real life projects andexercises and is applicable to the student or professional learningMicrosoft Access SQL.

The Written Word

A sample of some of the books and research papers published by Lally professors:

The Evolution of Securities and Markets

John Teall, professor of practice, authored the book, Financial Trading andInvesting, which presents concepts, tools, and market details that tradersneed to succeed in today’s increasingly competitive, international, andtechnologically-oriented markets. Teall teaches degree candidates in theM.S. in Financial Engineering and Risk Analytics program at Lally and is co-director of the Center for Financial Studies.


Female CFOs Get Better Loan Terms

Qiang Wu, assistant professor ofaccounting; Bill Francis, professor offinance; and former Lally professor, IftekharHasan, published an article in the Journal ofAccounting, Auditing, and Finance, “TheImpact of CFO Gender on Bank LoanContracting,” that found female chieffinancial officers (CFOs) received bankloans at lower loan prices and with morefavorable contract terms than did theirmale counterparts.

Debt Hurts Company Expansion

Associate professor of strategicmanagement, Jon O’Brien, one of severalauthors of a large study of Japanese firms,found that debt was problematic forcompanies attempting to expand into newmarkets, especially research anddevelopment intensive companies, though itwas not harmful for companies sticking to

existing markets.The article, “HowCapital StructureInfluencesDiversificationPerformance: ATransaction CostPerspective,” waspublished inStrategicManagementJournal.

Ways to Get Involved at Lally!

Recruit our students

Be a guest speaker

Mentor Lally students

Attend a Lally School event

Connect your company with Lally

Offer internships and co-ops

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Refer prospective students to Lally

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute110 8th Street, Pittsburgh BuildingTroy, NY 12180www.lallyschool.rpi.edu

Thank you! We are grateful for the generous donation by Rensselaer Lally School alumnus, Mr. Peter Bakal ’83, to make the printing and distribution of this newsletter possible.