June, 2009

Wild, Wild June

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

Aaron Lykken,  Program Manager

Well, I did it; survived another wild early June. June is easily the busiest time of the year for me between final event planning, the Technology Commercialization Capstone presentation, graduation events, end of the academic quarter, and getting ready for Summer quarter (for the class who just started in Winter ‘09). While all the activity can be quite stressful at times it is certainly worth all of the effort when everything goes smoothly on the logistics side and you see the end result, happy graduates and their families.

I had my hands in many of the activities listed earlier but the Technology Commercialization Capstone presentation easily took up the most of my time and energy. The presentation is the final act of the TMMBA student before they graduate and is also the major deliverable for the Technology Commercialization course taken in the final quarter. Student teams in TMMBA were randomly assigned to emerging UW technologies and asked to build commercialization plans. Working closely with the UW TechTranser Office, each team created and presented a plan designed to bring one of four research-enabled innovations closer to commercial viability–algae for bio-fuel uses, a force sensing glove, shape memory alloys, and new solar cell technology. TMMBA teams were judged by a panel of faculty and alumni on criteria ranging from market applicability to industry analysis to risk mitigation to resource requirements–all with an emphasis on strategic thinking and presentation polish. After the presentations concluded, a winning presentation was selected from each of the four technologies and recognized at the graduation banquet later that evening. Being around the students constantly throughout the program I am able to watch as they grow as academics, colleagues, and professionals, so it is wonderful to see them come together one last time and show how far they have come over their MBA journey!

Aaron

Jeff presents to his panel

Corporate Vikings present their plan

Q&A with judges

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Apply online – Easy as 1,2,3

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Mikaela Houck, Program Assistant

For your convenience, TMMBA has moved to an online application this year. We’ve made it easier and more efficient for you to submit your application materials, and here are three reasons why:

1. Easy document upload – You can upload or enter your resume and essay questions online. Once you have created your profile, you can save your work and come back to it at a later date.

2. Online recommendation submittal – You can designate your recommenders online. After you enter your recommenders’ contact information, they will receive an email with direct access to the recommendation form and can then submit their recommendation electronically.

3. Track your materials – After you have submitted the online portion of your application, you can access your profile to track the progress of your application. You can follow along as the TMMBA office receives your official transcripts and letters of recommendation.

Our final deadline is September 1st, so get started today! Click here to access the application.

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Time Management

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Lucas Perin, TMMBA Student

The TMMBA can be very demanding in terms of time. It’s very likely that you have a job (I think you must have one to apply, although keeping one is harder and harder these days), and hopefully, you have a life.

When I started the TMMBA, I had a wife and one son. Now I have two. Sons, I mean, I still have just one wife, although keeping one is harder and harder these days.

I should not forget: having a baby during the TMMBA is madness. Therefore, saving time is very important. Here are some tips:

  • - Pre-reads: yep, they’re useful. You read before the class, you’ll understand more of the class, and you’ll need less effort to catch up later. The challenge is to make time for them. I get to work early and read for about 30-45 minutes, it serves me well.
  • - Amazon Fresh: It will save you some time, it has good stuff, it is sort of local, but some items are a little more expensive than Safeway, especially the “fresh” ones. Safeway is good for online groceries, too. The good thing about Amazon Fresh is that you don’t need to be present to receive your groceries. You can also purchase some Amazon.com items and have them delivered with your groceries (the service is called Amazon Now).
  • Get out of Facebook: I like it, but it takes too much time. Some people are still going to be friends with you even if they don’t say so in Facebook.
  • Comcast DVR: You’ll skip the commercials. But really, if you have time to watch TV, why are you looking for time saving tips?

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Congratulations Class 8!

Monday, June 15th, 2009

Sara Jones, Program Manager

Last week was a whirlwind of activity at TMMBA! Over a three day period Class 8 students had their Technology Commercialization Capstone competition, celebration dinner, and graduation. The capstone was an opportunity for students to showcase their learnings from the past 18 months. Over the course of spring quarter they developed a commercialization plan for a University of Washington technology and then presented it to a panel of judges on June 6. We ended the day with a dinner to celebrate graduation and announce the winners of the competition. Two days later, students headed to the UW Edmundson Pavilion for graduation. This is always a great day for me. I enjoy hanging out with the students as they get ready for the ceremony and am proud to see how far they have come in 18 months. It’s an exciting moment and I’m glad that I get to share it with them. Congratulations Class 8!

Graduation
Graduation Hec Ed

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Spring Quarter 2009

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Hani Rachidi, TMMBA Student

I must start and end simply with a word from Socrates “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.”

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And Life goes on…

Friday, June 5th, 2009

Reetu Gupta, TMMBA Student

We are almost at the end of 2nd quarter. I can’t believe it. Time flies no matter how busy life is.

Actually 2nd quarter wasn’t so bad. I went back to watching “Lost” live on TV. It may be because after 1st quarter, you become a more seasoned student. You learn better time management tactics. You also learn how to skim instead of reading and trying to retain everything. You learn to compromise on quality when you have four different assignments due within a week’s period. These may sound like bad things but if you are a perfectionist like me, believe me, these habits bring you closer to reality.

Anyway, one thing to remember is that you don’t get discount in life just because you are in TMMBA program. Life’s ups and downs still happen. Nothing stops in outside world even if you lock yourself in a classroom. At the very beginning of 2nd quarter, my family got hit by recession lightening. My husband’s company shut down and he lost his job. Now I had one additional assignment of helping him find a job and keeping his morale up. My 5 year old got prescribed with eye glasses and gave me first shock of parenthood. My company announced a pay cut and let few people go. In a nutshell, these were hard three months that hit me and my family close.

Interesting part was, TMMAB helped me maintain my sanity. It helped me in some very unique ways. I contacted my classmates and alumni for my husband’s job. I was glad to see that finding a job for my husband became a group project. I have never so much support from so many people. In addition, knowledge I gained in corporate finance and accounting, I immediately applied to personal finances. I was able to maintain my cash out flow with only 45% cash inflow. Using newly acquired Marco Economics skills I was able to read various indices and was able to set my expectations accordingly. “Green shoots” in economy gave us hopes and labor index monitoring told us it may be a while when labor market improves.

I think going through an MBA program during a deep economic recession made it very fruitful and interesting. It’s perfect combination of theory and its use in practice. I think it was a once in a life time opportunity for me. Not that I’m crazy about economic recessions but if I was going thru MBA in a normal timings I probably wouldn’t have been able to appreciate the gravity of management skills.

Posted in About TMMBA, Life outside TMMBA, Student Advice, Why TMMBA? | No Comments »