Full-Time MBA: News & Events

UAlbany’s full-time MBA students have been quite busy this semester. Read below to learn more about what they’ve been up to!

Target Distribution Center Tour-October 20, 2009

By Daniel Cesternino, Class of 2011

On October 20th, the MBA class of 2011 went on a field trip to the Target Distribution Center located in Gansevoort, NY. The MBA students were signed in for the tour, and brought through the factory to a conference room. It was here that multiple group leaders and team leaders introduced themselves to the students, and explained different aspects of the Target Organization in a brief PowerPoint presentation. Students were encouraged to ask questions about the presentation given, and the information provided helped lay the ground work for the daily operations of the center.

The students then broke up into three smaller groups, and were given a more personal tour by different group leaders from the center. The tour guides covered many aspects about operations including inventory processes, shipment deliveries, and most importantly how the Information Technology is incorporated throughout the facility. It was amazing to see how smoothly the company was running. Hundreds of packages were zipping by on a conveyor belt below, as students watched from a catwalk above. All the conveyor belts were perfectly timed, and would eventually lead to a main conveyor, which would drop packages down a slide leading to the corresponding delivery truck for that item.

Finally, the students were regrouped back in the conference room for a final questions session. The group leaders thanked everyone with a Target gift bag, water bottle, and iconic Target stuffed animal from advertisements. The day concluded with the students of the field trip taking a group picture in front of the Target Distribution Center, a lasting memory of the trip.

Sustainability Speaker Series-November 2-4, 2009

Guest Speaker Greg Pedrick from NYSERDA - November 2

By Robert Maisel, Class of 2011

The UAlbany Full-Time MBA students were fortunate to have guest speaker Greg Pedrick come in to speak about the sustainability efforts in place at NYSERDA. Mr. Pedrick bestowed his knowledge from his efforts in the organization, providing information about the different types of technology being used to channel new sources of energy. He talked of such energy sources as solar, wind, geothermal, and nuclear. He discussed clear advantages to each, but left the students thinking of the costs and trade-offs of being sustainable, and how developed a process it is.

As well as relating to the students on an organizational basis, Mr. Pedrick volunteered sustainability efforts he is implementing in his personal life as well. He shared the ways in which he and his wife have helped to make the environment more sustainable. He spoke of building a house in a strategic location to soak up sunlight and installing solar panels in his house, for example. He encouraged students to take an active role in making the world a more sustainable place. He mentioned that buying food locally, joining a Community-Supported Agriculture, or avoiding preservatives in food products could help out in this practice. Also, recycling and knowing that you can say “no” to certain products which you do not need, or even re-using or fixing older products rather than buying new ones can improve sustainability efforts on a personal level. Even the choice of taking a train over a plane, or simply biking to work rather than driving, were impactful points Mr. Pedrick left the MBA Students pondering as he concluded his presentation.

Click here for Greg Pedrick’s bio

Guest Speaker Dean Donald Siegal - November 3

Dean Donald Siegel presented an ethics seminar entitled: “An Empirical Analysis of the Strategic Use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).”

Click here for the PowerPoint presentation and Dean Siegel’s publication: “Green Management Matters Only if it Yields More Green.”

Guest Speaker Vincent Forte from National Grid - November 4

By Nicholas Querques, Class of 2011

We were excited to have Vincent Forte, a Principal Engineer working on Smart Grid at National Grid, join us and share how National Grid is working toward implementing this cutting edge technology into their business model. National Grid is an international electricity and gas company that currently owns over 4,000 MW of generation. As a result of the company’s mission to continuously modernize, National Grid plans to convert its current infrastructure into a Smart Grid, which is referred to as an automated metering infrastructure (AMI) in technical terms. The Smart Grid system that National Grid is currently implementing through its two pilot programs collects, measures, and analyzes energy usage from advanced devices such as electricity meters and gas meters through various communication media on request or on a pre-defined schedule. Smart Grid technology "raises the bar" with regard to traditional automatic meter reading (AMR) in that it enables real-time two-way communication between National Grid and each individual customer.

National Grid’s forward thinking and awareness of emerging energy technologies like Smart Grid ensure that it will be able to sustain its competitive advantage over other energy providers both here in the northeastern U.S. and in the United Kingdom as well. It is imminent that in the very near future there will be a fundamental shift in the energy industry. The current energy infrastructure, which is in dire need of an overhaul, will transform to the fundamental service platform of the future, the Smart Grid. The Smart Grid system will give consumers of energy more control of their energy usage and greater opportunity to be increasingly self-sustainable by producing their own, clean energy. A truly integrated and fully operational Smart Grid would provide both commercial and residential users of energy with real-time information regarding their usage while offering meaningful reductions in their energy costs and carbon footprint. It is essential for government support of energy efficiency and clean energy device production like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (which has dedicated $11 billion to Smart Grid alone) to continue as technologies like Smart Grid continue to be developed and reach commercialization. The viability and potential economic and environmental benefits resulting from Smart Grid technology are unquestionable; it is essential for energy companies like National Grid to continue to develop, refine, and ultimately implement Smart Grid systems for their end-users

Click here for Vincent Forte's bio

Junior Achievement Bowl-A-thon - November 6, 2009

More than 100 students, faculty, and staff from the School of Business bowled during the 22nd annual Junior Achievement Bowl-A-Thon on Friday, November 6 at Playdium Bowling Center in Albany. This is an annual School event and connects undergraduate and graduate Accounting and Business students and staff who are dedicated to raising money for JA. This year we had 21 teams (a record!) thanks to the efforts of this year’s Bowl-A-Thon Coordinator, Laura Boccio, Class of 2010. Laura is shown below with her classmates from the Class of 2010.