OPIM professor James Marsden, a 24-year School of Business faculty member, has received an international, lifetime achievement award for his contributions to the field of information systems. Continue Reading
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 goa
l 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!”
Crowdsourcing firms and platform designers may need to revisit their strategies, according to UConn School of Business researchers, because the competitive nature of the work, eager newcomers trying to promote themselves, and subtle biases in presentations may be skewing the outcomes. Continue Reading
The latest in a series of technology workshops being held by UConn’s Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department focused on Splunk Analytics. The workshop took place in the Gladstein Lab on Friday, November 11th. Twenty students attended the workshop to learn more about real-time data analytics using the Splunk platform.
The majority of students in attendance were Management Information Systems (MIS) majors, with a few other majors within the School of Business. An accounting major at the workshop said that he was interested in gaining a better understanding of Splunk because he said it is imperative to being competitive in all aspects of the business world.
Professor Jon Moore, the organizer of the technology workshops, opened up with a brief discussion about why the department is conducting the workshops. He said it is a part of a new initiative called OPIM Innovate. The initiative focuses on creating innovation space, fostering research and providing workshops to students and faculty at the university.
Ryan O’Connor, an instructor in the OPIM Department, took over and gave a presentation about the different features and uses of Splunk Analytics, along with an interactive demonstration. O’Connor said that Splunk is used in most Information Technology companies for troubleshooting. He said that it has other uses, such as for Big Data Analytics, Data Mining, and Data Security Intelligence. O’Connor called Splunk the “Google of querying data.” He said Splunk allows users to not have to be as specific when searching for data. “I like how versatile it is and how it allows for transparency in IT organizations,” Any student interested in taking Splunk Analytics classes online should email Ryan O’Connor at ryan.oconnor@uconn.edu.
The next workshop will be taking place on Friday, December 2nd with a focus on Internet of Things technology.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked into the Gladstein Lab in the Operations and Information Management Department. I heard a few things about virtual reality, mostly through the 30-second videos that popped up on my Facebook news feed. Would it feel like a glitchy video game? Or, possibly worse, would it feel so realistic that I would become nauseous or fall over? Continue Reading
Our third workshop of the semester is an introduction to data analysis with the Splunk platform next Friday, November 11th. All workshops are capped at 20 people so please make sure to register on the site ahead of time. Over the course of the fall semester we plan to have the following:
The Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department held a 3D Printing Workshop on Friday, October 28th. This was the second in a series of technology workshops held by the department throughout the semester.
The 3D Printing workshop went into depth about the different technologies available in the OPIM Department Gladstein Lab. Students and faculty were able to preview these technologies at the MIS Welcome Party at the beginning of the semester. The workshop was designed for those who may be new to 3D Printing technolgy or experienced users who would like to learn more about the resources available to them in the OPIM Department.
During Friday’s workshop, The OPIM Department explained how 3D Printing technology works, what it is being used for, and how it was developed. Students in attendance were given a detailed presentation on the 3D printing technology, while observing the technology in action. The goal of the workshop was to inform interested students and faculty about these technologies and to demonstrate how they operate.
The workshop featured the Maker-Bot Replicator 2X and Maker-Bot Replicator Z18 systems. The Department demonstrated the printers by taking a photo of a pumpkin and printing it into a three-dimensional object.
In his presentation, Chris Buckridge (BUSN IT) explained some ways that 3D Printing is currently being utilized, such as radio prototyping, healthcare products, education, recreation and architecture.
There were over 20 students and faculty present at the workshop. Due to limited space, registration was available online prior to the workshop. All of the available spots were filled with additional walk-in attendees.
The next workshop will be about exploring real time data analytics using the Splunk platform. That workshop will be held on Friday, November 11th at 1 p.m. in the Gladstein Lab.