Exploring Virtual Reality

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The Operations and Information Management (OPIM) Department kicked off the first in a series of technology workshops that they will be holding throughout the semester. The first workshop was held on Friday October 14th, showcasing the department’s virtual reality (VR) technologies.

Earlier in the semester at the MIS Welcome Party, students and faculty were given a brief look at virtual reality and other technologies available in the OPIM Department. Each workshop will go into more depth regarding each piece of technology.

This workshop was designed for those who may be new to VR or experienced users who would like to learn more about the resources available to them in the OPIM Department. Professor Jon Moore said he wants to promote interest in these new technologies and to provide a way for those interested to learn more about them.

The department capped the workshop at 20 participants due to limited space in the Gladstein Lab, where the VR equipment is located. All of the spots were quickly filled via online registration prior to the workshop. Professor Moore was happy to see how enthusiastic people were to participate. Students in attendance said that they signed up for the workshop to learn more about the different VR systems, how they were developed, and what they are being used for.

The workshop featured three different kinds of VR systems, including Google Cardboard, Gear VR and the HTC Vive, a fully immersive system. The HTC Vive was the main attraction, with students lined up to try it out. The Vive featured a variety of experiences, for both entertainment and education.

One of the educationally focused games allowed users to virtually enter and interact with the human body. It taught users about the different parts of the body as they navigated through, interacting with different parts of the cell, DNA, proteins and more. Professor Moore said that one feature allowed users to see what diseases and infections look like on the inside, providing a more realistic learning experience.

One student, Sarah Burdick said that it was cool to visually see and interact with what she had learned in science classes. She said it made science seem much more interesting to learn.

The VR technology in the OPIM department is being used for recreation and experimental learning, Professor Moore said. Moore teaches a class at UConn called Gamification in Business, in which he hopes to utilize VR technology. He said that the department hopes to incorporate these technologies further into the curriculum in the near future. The department is actively looking into how businesses are using virtual reality technologies in order to prepare students to use these types of technologies in real-world situations.

The next workshop will be an introduction to 3D Printing on Friday, October 28th. Interested individuals can sign up here to reserve a spot.

Upcoming Workshops for the Fall Semester

Posted on by Jonathan Moore

Our third workshop of the semester is an introduction to data analysis with the Splunk platform next Friday, November 11th. Please visit the OPIM site for a full list of workshops and their dates. 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:

  • Virtual Reality Demo – (New) overview of the different levels of VR and hands-on experience (Completed)
  • Intro to 3D Printing – repeat of last semester, was very popular so we are offering it again (Completed)
  • Splunk Analytics – (New), introduction to the network analytics software Splunk (Register Now)
  • Internet Of Things – (New), real time data analytics using smart devices (Register Now)

Internship Success Story: Melissa Birnbaum

Posted on by Nancy White

Melissa Birnbaum, a junior Marketing major, was an Audience Marketing Intern at Penske Media Corporation this past summer. PMC is a digital media, publishing and information services company that owns publications like Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) and Variety magazine. Melissa had the chance to apply through a referral who introduced her to the company. Continue Reading

Princeton Review Ranks UConn School of Business Among the Best in the Nation

Posted on by Claire Hall

The UConn School of Business is among the top business schools in the country at which to earn an MBA, according to The Princeton Review’s 2017 edition of “The Best 294 Business Schools.” “We recommend UConn as one of the best to earn an MBA,” said Robert Franek, Princeton Review’s senior VP-Publisher. “We chose the 294 schools in this book based on our high regard for their academics and our assessment of institutional data we collect from the schools. We also solicited and greatly respect the opinions of 25,000 students attending these schools who reported on their experiences.”

The publication identified UConn as a great place to develop real-world credentials, noted its high regard in the areas of finance and risk analytics, and praised its smaller class sizes, which make it easy to build relationships with both professors and classmates.

“I have had interviews with Covidien, Pitney Bowes, General Electric and Travelers Insurance, and I know UConn has a strong presence when I see that I am competing in the second round interviews with students from Yale and Cornell,” one UConn MBA student wrote in a review.

Opening Ph.D. Student Speaker Series

Posted on by Steven Kozlowski
School of Business finance doctoral students with Professor Lewellen.

This Fall, I had the pleasure of coordinating the Finance Ph.D. Student Speaker Series. The purpose of the Speaker Series is to enhance the research culture of the School of Business by attracting speakers whose research is particularly relevant to doctoral students. Each year doctoral students of the five academic departments make the decision of whom to invite, decide the professor’s agenda, and otherwise facilitate and coordinate the professor’s visit. Continue Reading

Building a Culture of Corporate Compliance

Posted on by Claire Hall

This event has been cancelled.

Executive Breakfast | Building a Culture of Compliance | Nov. 15, 2016

Corporate compliance is one of the hot-topic issues in business today, and it will be the the subject of a Nov. 15 Executive Education breakfast program, “Building a Culture of Compliance,” offered by the University of Connecticut School of Business at its Stamford Campus. Continue Reading

A Little White Lie – or Worse?

Posted on by Claire Hall

Lying?

UConn Researcher Discovers that Retail Execs Downplay, Mislead Outlook in Reports to Stockholders

Many CEOs from major U.S. retailers tend to soften, possibly even distort, their company’s financial standings and offer stakeholders pessimistic predictions about the future, even when their companies are thriving.Continue Reading

What’s Normal?

Posted on by Claire Hall

U.S. Economic Expert Shares Vast Knowledge With Our Graduate Students

Economist Cletus C. Coughlin, senior vice president and policy adviser to the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, was a guest lecturer in the School of Business’ graduate program on Sept. 27.

Coughlin presented his knowledge on “The U.S. Economy: What’s Normal?” in Professor Jeffrey Cohen’s “FNCE 5533 – Real Estate Capital Markets” class at the Graduate Business Learning Center in Hartford.

Cletus Coughlin, senior vice president and policy adviser to the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
Cletus Coughlin, senior vice president and policy adviser to the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)

In his 30 years at the Federal Reserve, Coughlin’s responsibilities have focused on advising senior officials on monetary policy, as well as on academic research on the topics of international trade, urban, regional, and real estate economics. He has been with the Federal Reserve since 1987.

Coughlin and Cohen have been collaborating on research for the past 15 years, having published on a wide range of topics, including property taxation, airport infrastructure issues, housing price impacts of airport noise, and the boom and bust of U.S. housing prices.

Most recently, they co-authored an article with a third researcher on foreclosures, which was published in September 2016 in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review. Read their article here.