Interdisciplinary Case Competition Connects BHP with CS and Engineering

This past weekend, BHP hosted the second annual Interdisciplinary Case Competition, which brings together BHP, CS and Engineering students. The competition is an opportunity for business and tech students to learn to work together, and bring their unique skills to the table to solve a business problem. This year’s case involved a struggling fictional airline facing issues with their workforce, technology and operations.

Southwest Airlines partnered with BHP for the competition, sending managers from various departments to judge the competition alongside McCombs faculty members and BHP alumni. Though the airline was fictional, the competition co-chairs created a case which was very relevant to issues major airlines face every day. Teams came up with creative solutions, based on data analytics and extensive research. BHP Faculty Director Robert Prentice said he was impressed in the final rounds. “It was amazing to see how much they knew about the airline industry. They really did a great job researching the industry,” he said. The Southwest Airlines managers were also impressed. One of them even commenting that he learned something from the students that he hadn’t known about before.

It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end a team of juniors took first place, with the key differentiators being comprehensiveness of their plan and clarity of their case. The winning team will receive $1,000. Great job to all the teams participating and kudos to Sai Yeleru and Abhishek Ramchandani, the competition co-chairs, for organizing such a well-run competition and putting together a great case!

First Place Team: Eric Saldanha (BHP), Diane Sun (BHP), Mandeep Patel (ME), Malvika Gupta (BME)

Second Place Team: Saagar Pateder (BHP), Maitreya Movva (BHP), Luca Tomescu (EE), Vishal Vusirikala (CS)

Third Place Team: Catherine Cheng (BHP), Eric Sun (BHP), Wesley Klock (EE), Lee Rao (CS)

HBA Company Field Trip Takes Students to San Francisco

Written by Michelle Zhang

This past weekend, BHP students traveled to San Francisco, California to tour tech giants Google, Facebook, and Adobe, and to see the sights. Despite the gloomy clouds and uncharacteristically rainy days, students enjoyed visiting company campuses, hearing from alumni panels, and taking in the laid-back California scene.

Visiting the Facebook office.

The first company visit was to Facebook, where they received a warm welcome from BHP and Plan II alumna Surveen Singh and were given a comprehensive tour of the Facebook campus. Designed by Disneyland engineers, the campus was illuminated by vibrant, colorful walls and typographic signs showing off the various restaurants and amenities available to employees (including a dentistry, barbershop, and dry cleaners!). Students were particularly excited to spend a few minutes in the arcade, stocked full of old-school games such as Street Fighter and Dance Dance Revolution. The tour concluded with an alumni meet-and-greet at the Sweet Shop, where students and BHP graduates chatted over plates of smores cupcakes and lemon poppyseed bars.

The group outside of the Google office.

Next on the list was Google, where alumna Elyse May provided a quick walk-around tour of the Googleplex campus. Immediately hit by the scent of the food trucks parked outside, students continued through the fields of lawn chairs and volleyball courts — all painted Google primary colors, of course — and past such eccentricities as a large-scale model of a dinosaur skeleton. Back in the building, an alumni panel greeted students and answered questions ranging from undergraduate degree focuses to work culture.

Last on the company visits was Adobe, where students got to see the clean, modern architectural layout of the offices and amenities. The tour showed off Adobe’s recreation center, which featured ping-pong tables and large television screens, as well as its affordable and delicious cafeteria. Students spent some time at the earthquake-proof skybridge, peering out over the San Francisco landscape, before heading into the employee panel full of representatives from departments ranging from HR to finance. After the panel, students munched on some light appetizers and networked at tables with the employees on the panel, getting to ask some more in-depth questions about their experiences at Adobe.

Students in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Afterwards, students headed off into the city on their own that Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Popular destinations included the Golden Gate Bridge, Haight-Ashbury district, Ghiradelli Square, and Chinatown. For dinner, students met up at Firenze by Night in Little Italy to enjoy a five-course meal with various BHP alumni working in the area.

Come Sunday, students left the vibrant Bay Area to head back home, now dreaming of summer internships in sunny San Francisco on the creative campuses of Facebook, Google, and Adobe. Thanks to HBA Financial Committee for putting on a great CFT!

BHP Alum Leads Students in Unique Career Design Workshop

By Kate Shanks, BHP Junior

A couple weeks ago, I attended a workshop put on by BHP for the first time, called Design Your Career. The workshop was led by BHP alumnae Haley Robison, CEO of KAMMOK, an Austin-based startup. As a junior who still isn’t quite sure what I want to do after graduation, I thought the workshop could be really useful to me. I also knew a bit about Haley and knew she was really dynamic, so I was really looking forward to learning more from her.

The workshop was designed to give students tools based on design thinking that could be applied to plan their careers. One of the best activities of the day was a 100 jobs exercise. We each identified 12 jobs that were most appealing to us, then broke into groups to discuss themes emerging from the list. The exercise helped me better understand myself, my passions, my interests, and career options that I hadn’t previously considered.

We then used the prototyping element of design thinking to each plan out three completely different career paths for ourselves. We ended the workshop by bringing those prototype dreams to reality by creating achievable stepping stones for ourselves so we can better understand what we want for our future.

The workshop created a structured but creative space for students to explore different future possibilities. Haley’s experience in design thinking, from her time working at IDEO and working for the Stanford Design School, really helped her to guide us through this unique style of thinking. For me, I found it interesting how I was able to combine elements of what I dream of doing with what I am preparing myself in college to do, in order to propel myself forward. I left the workshop with more tools to design my own career path and excited about all of the directions that I could go in after graduation.

Co-chair Reflections from the Freshmen Leadership Kickoff

LK gorup

Written by Tonya Chen

One of my favorite experiences in college was Leadership Kickoff. It was where I met the friends who would stay up until 3 a.m. working on Excel assignments with me, and the mentors who would guide me through my first year away from home. I even conquered my fear of heights by leaping off a 50 feet platform dubbed (very appropriately) “The Screamer”.

My co-chair, Uttam, and I quickly realized that one of the best things about kickoff is that it highlights the community in BHP. There were always people working towards making the retreat a success, even before we jumped on board. As cliché as it may sound, Uttam and I want to say, “We couldn’t have done it without y’all.”

Thank you…Student Leaders

leadersAll the amazing student leaders (Peer Mentors, HBA Executive Board, and Ethics Board Co-chairs) worked tirelessly to make this event possible. They literally did everything; from facilitating ropes courses for hours under the Texas sun, to dancing in the team cheers during the “BH-Playoffs”. This year we wanted to help the peer mentor groups grow closer to each other on a deeper, personal level. The student leaders led small groups for Cabin Chats until 1:00 a.m., where everybody shared their perspectives on the broad topic of life.

Thank you…Newcombe Tennis Ranch

ropesI’d give them 6 stars if I could. The wonderful staff guided us through daunting high ropes courses, and gave words of encouragement every step of the way. They’ve accommodated us year after year with the best facilities and food. They also threw the best ice cream & karaoke party to end a long day of introductions, problem solving, competitions, and everything in between. Shoutout to Tisha for gracing us with her amazing Cher performance. (If you ever have the chance to get her in front of a mic, do it.)

Thank you…Amazing Staff

The BHP staff are the reason BHP students love the program. Thanks to Tisha, Greta, Paul, Dr. Prentice, Shelley, and Lynn for attending and assisting with the retreat, and for being the backbone of it all. The kickoff ended with the formal convocation ceremony, joined by the amazing advisors and director. The freshmen learned about the honor code and promised to abide by it. It was the perfect closing to the weekend.

Thank you…Uttam

Co-chairsUttam is officially my favorite person. It was so great to watch him interact with the freshmen and make them laugh. I honestly cannot imagine co-chairing with anybody else. Thank you for forcing me to sing” Breaking Free” from High School Musical against my will.

 

 

And finally…

Thank you…Freshmen

groupYou all were put through a lot this past weekend. You played an intense game of rock-paper-scissors, gave us inspiring 30-second motivational speeches, recreated the UT Tower with your bodies for the scavenger hunt, and much more. But you exuded team spirit the entire time. You made this Leadership Kickoff memorable for years to come. We wish we could offer you more than our final parting words because of the incredible impression you made on us. Remember, you are the master of your fate; you are the captain of your soul. We can’t wait to see what you do!

HBA Hosts Nonprofit Speed Dating Event for BHP Students

nonprofit1

Written by Jena Mrochek

“Your head plus your heart equals your hustle.” This quote from Lexi Heller, a representative of Teach For America, is emblematic of the passion of those who work in the nonprofit sector. Ms. Heller was one of the seven nonprofits professionals who served on the panel for HBA’s Nonprofit Speed Dating event on March 2. At this event, about 15 BHP students were able to meet and talk with a panel of seven nonprofit professionals from the Austin Area. These professionals included:

  • Amber Fogarty – Director of Learning and Leadership at Mission Capital
  • Lila Igram – founder of Connectorg
  • Lexi Heller – representative of Teach for America
  • Karen Landolt – Professor of Business Law, Behavioral Ethics, and Entrepreneurship at the McCombs School of Business
  • Ashley Haustein (Plan II/Econ ’11) – Developing and Marketing manager at the Miracle Foundation
  • Isha Paul (BHP ’12)- Strategic Planning Manager at KIPP Austin Public Schools and Austin Chapter President of Pratham
  • Aaron Yeats (BHP ’01) – member of the Board of Directors of the Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival

nonprofit2Three groups of 2 or 3 panelists rotated among groups of students so that each student was able to hear from each panelist. The discussion flowed freely throughout each rotation as the panelists shared their insightful experiences. For those of you who were not able to attend the event, here are some of the valuable takeaways from the discussions:

  1. Don’t be afraid to question how things how are run. Teach for America representative Lexi Heller emphasized that a large part of her success as a teacher operating in a low-income school is that she does not follow the traditional teaching strategy at her school. Rather, she uses her creativity to develop daring projects that both challenge her students and show them the relevancy of what they are learning. Isha Paul agreed with this, noting that her organization is considering changing the name of her position from “Strategic” planning manager to “Disruption” manager precisely because her task is to question why things are being done the way they are and to strive to change them for the better.
  2. Prepare to wear many hats. Although Ashley Haustein’s title at the Miracle Foundation is “Developing and Marketing Manager,” she explained that she actually plays many different roles within the organization, and that these roles change every day. Although she admitted that sometimes she wishes her job were more structured, she also appreciates that she is able to do so much for her organization and for her cause.
  3. Realize the importance of building relationships. Lila Igram of Connecther and Aaron Yeats of the Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival noted that in order to build and sustain a strong nonprofit organization, it is essential to nurture relationships with donors. At the same time, however, both emphasized the importance or realizing that some donors may drop out for financial reasons or, as Mr. Yeats noted, may no longer support the organization because of its ideological changes over the years.
  4. Reconsider the idea of “work-life balance.” Karen Landolt, who worked in law for six years before realizing that she needed a change and becoming involved in nonprofits and academics, noted the importance of being passionate about what you do. She explained that while she was working in law, she was continually thinking about how much she was working. Now, although she works a comparable number of hours, she does not even think about it as much because she enjoys her work. This implies a good work-life balance lies not in a forty hour work week, but rather a week spent on work that one loves.
  5. Know that meaningful work is not limited to the nonprofit sector. Amber Fogarty of Mission Capital agreed with Dr. Landolt, noting her shift from the corporate marketing world to the nonprofit sector and the difference it made in her career. However, Ms. Fogarty also noted that many people believe that they can only find truly meaningful work in the nonprofit sector. She emphasized that this is not true; passion and meaningful work can be found in both the nonprofit and the for-profit sectors. What’s really important, she said, is that you find what you personally are good at and what you feel strongly about. That could be in either the for-profit or the nonprofit sector.

If you would like to learn more about any of the nonprofit organizations that the panelists were involved in, please click on one of their links below.

Mission Capital: https://missioncapital.org/

Connecther: http://www.connecther.org/

Teach For America: https://www.teachforamerica.org/

Miracle Foundation: http://www.miraclefoundation.org/

Kipp Austin Public Schools: http://www.kippaustin.org/

Pratham: http://www.prathamusa.org/chapters/austin

Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival: http://agliff.org/