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Commencement 2005: Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Each year Rensselaer's Lally School of Management and Technology push the envelope of entrepreneurship and innovation. This year's graduating MBA students are no different. "Rensselaer students bring their curiosity, a knack for problem-solving, and a creative way of thinking to their business practices. With persistence and a well-designed business plan, they can create new enterprises or redesign established businesses that have the potential to change the world," said Lally School acting Dean Iftekhar Hasan Adam Tkaczuk, Laura Mann, and Azmat Ahmad are perfect examples of the can do attitude that is at the heart of Rensselaer's philosophy. That ability to think and do has characterized the Lally School, its students, and faculty since its founding. They are three of the students participating in the 199th Commencement at Rensselaer on Saturday, May 21, 2005. MBA student Adam Tkaczuk has already made his mark as an entrepreneur. Not many graduating MBA students can say they helped make a new product viable by significantly reducing company costs while still an intern, but that is exactly what Tkaczuk was able to do. While spending the fall semester in Singapore as part of the Lally School's exchange program with the National University of Singapore, Adam offered to travel to China before starting his studies to meet with suppliers and make a recommendation to his internship employer, Float-Tech. The company, based in Troy, New York, is a high-growth startup from the Lally School. During a visit in Hong Kong, Tkacuzk took a day to travel into mainland China where he toured each supplier's facility. He met with company representatives, determined what they could offer Float-Tech, and in general evaluated their operations. He sent his recommendation for one of the suppliers back to company headquarters in Troy. The result the new suppliers, located in Shenzhen near Hong Kong, reduced variable costs by about 28 percent. When it comes to entrepreneurship, Azmat Ahmad takes the prize — literally. She was awarded the Lally School's prestigious Herman Family Fellowship for Women in Entrepreneurship in 2003. The prize supports up to two females enrolled in the MBA program each year, and helps them pursue their entrepreneurial interests. During her time at the Lally School, Ahmad successfully competed for a position in the Rensselaer Entrepreneurship Intern Program and was able to work with the Business Development Group of Cerner Corporation, a healthcare information solutions company. Her responsibilities included participating in the set up and start of Cerner Healthcare, the wholly owned subsidiary of Cerner in Bangalore, India. Ahmad has recently accepted a position as executive development associate in the business development group of Cerner Corporation at the company headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. She will move to Kansas City with her husband and three sons. If Laura Mann gets her way, restaurant customers and wait-staff will benefit from time savings and enhanced service. The reason why is an award-winning business plan that Mann masterminded tentatively called E-Meal. The concept is simple: you sit down at a table in a restaurant and you order your meal and drinks electronically via a personal touch screen networked with the restaurant kitchen and bar. The order is processed and the food is delivered to your table. According to Mann, E-Meal will speed and streamline ordering, which will delight customers and ease the burden on waiters and waitresses. While at the Lally School, Mann also led an effort through the Graduate Student Management Association (GMSA) to create an annual networking program to strengthen the relationship between local business leaders and the school. She reached out to the Rensselaer County Industrial Development Agency and the Troy Chamber of Commerce to build support and participation for the initial event, which drew more than 200 participants. This initiative brings Rensselaer grad students together with Lally alumni and local business leaders to exchange ideas and to network. Mann has local roots in the Capital Region and hopes to stay and be part of the revitalization under way in the area. "Creating a brain trust in this area is important to me," she says of the region. "I have had offers from very, very prestigious companies but I want to stay in this area to help develop an environment for world-class commercialization in technology." |
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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 110 8th St., Troy, NY 12180. (518) 276-6000 |