OPIM Innovate is the new initiative adopted by the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department in the Fall 2016. The initiative was developed to market the Management Information Systems (MIS) major and to bring new emerging technology to students.

Department Head Ram Gopal and Instructor in-Residence Jonathan Moore developed and implemented the initiative by expanding the department’s research lab space, bringing in new emerging technology. The lab is equipped with Virtual Reality (VR), 3D Printing, Internet of Things (IoT), Microcontrollers and data analytics.

Initially, the OPIM Department came up with the initiative because they were finding that MIS students with internships in the field were working in innovation centers with technologies, such as IoT, drones, and VR.

“We realized that many interests lie in technology outside the provided curriculum,” Moore said of the expansion.

Moore said that this idea lead to building a more dedicated space for students and faculty in the department to work on projects and learn about different types of technology outside of the classroom. As a whole, the initiative is meant to help students work through the process of completing a project, while learning new technology in the process.

Beginning in the Fall, Moore organized multiple workshops for students featuring different topics relating to new technology. So far there have been workshops about Linux, 3D Printing, Splunk Analytics, IoT, Tableau, and VR. What started as exclusive to MIS students, workshops are now open to all students.

This spring, with the initiative more developed, OPIM Innovate hired a team of students, trained in the design thinking process to operate the Innovation Space and Research lab. Having these students involved helps guide users of the space and to provide technology demonstrations and follow ups to the formal workshops.

An advisory group, made up of students and faculty, has been formed for the initiative to brainstorm different ideas, provide feedback on the current processes and to build buy-in from different areas. Moore said that they are always looking for students or faculty interested in joining the advisory group to share their ideas for the innovation space, future workshops, and to give him any feedback they may have. Any individuals interested in joining the advisory group should contact Jonathan Moore at jonathan.a.moore@uconn.edu.

In the future, Moore hopes to team up with other groups at UConn and potentially outside companies to advance the space and better the experience for students.

The Dean’s Office at the UConn School of Business sponsored a workshop on Tableau data visualization software for students in the Business Connections Learning Center (BCLC). The two-hour workshop took place on the morning of Thursday, December 1st, with 20 students in attendance, the majority of whom were freshmen.The workshop was co-taught by two faculty members in the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department – Jon Moore and Ryan O’Connor.

The purpose of the workshop was to introduce freshmen and sophomore undergraduate students to data analytics technology and data visualization. The workshop allowed students to learn more about the Management Information Systems (MIS) major and potentially spark their interests in the subject.

The instructors walked students through basic data visualization on the Tableau software and allowed students to experiment with different data sets. The workshop finished with an open-ended problem that asked students to find different stock price data sets and visualize them. The goal was to allow students to visualize and connect the data sets to real world business problems.

Moore said that the workshop allowed students to learn more about how to use technology in their respective majors. A variety of majors were represented, including MIS, Marketing, Accounting and Finance.

The event was voluntary and Moore was pleased with the turn out. He said that it was very rewarding to see the amount of students that expressed interest in the subject. Following the workshop, O’Connor gave students resources to learn more about Tableau going forward.

The final technology workshop for the Fall 2016 semester put on by the Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department on Internet of Things (IoT) took place on Friday, December 2nd. Approximately 20 students attended the workshop in the Gladstein Lab.

Professor Ryan O’Connor gave an interactive presentation to the group, explaining IoT and how it is used in business. His goal was to make IoT technology tangible for students and to teach them more about how it applies to different areas of business.

According to O’Connor’s presentation, the concept of Internet of Things refers to the ever-growing network of physical objects that feature an IP address for internet connectivity, and the communication that occurs between these objects and other Internet-enabled devices and systems.

O’Connor said he became interested in IoT because he is involved in network design and application. He used the Amazon Echo named Alexa as an example of IoT technology during his presentation.  Using voice commands, Alexa controlled other devices in the room through Internet connectivity. Other devices shown were the Awair air monitoring system, Flower Power plant sensor, and LIFX smart light bulbs.

Students in attendance were impressed with the presentation and many said they learned many things about IoT in such a short time. One student said he was very interested in the presentation and wanted to continue exploring IoT after the workshop. He said that O’Connor’s presentation was extremely informative and sparked his interest in the topic even further.

When asked why IoT technology is so important, O’Connor answered simply, “Because it’s the future!”