A team of Georgia Tech students earned first prize for proposing a system for electric vehicle adoption in Atlanta in a competition hosted by the City of Atlanta and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Denning Technology & Management students Corbin Klett, Matt Jacobson, Logan Marett, and Andrew Vaziri, and fellow Georgia Tech student Kevin Miron, earned $5,000 for their proposal to drive demand for 50,000 electric cars on Atlanta’s roads during a two-year period. The students also represent Solar Jackets, a Georgia Tech student group dedicated to the design, creation and expansion of solar technology.

"Our approach was to devise creative and unique solutions to electric vehicle adoption, emphasizing ways of reducing the cost to the city government,” says Jacobson. “We stressed branding and education, creating a new ‘EV Brand’ we dubbed ChargeATL, and a website mock up to go along with it."

The goal is to be the first region in the country to have 50,000 electric vehicles in use, and the City of Atlanta will use funding from the Department of Energy to implement some of the ideas generated from the competition. Mayor Kasim Reed's office wanted to harness the creativity of Georgia students to find ways to meet the goal. The effort to pass electric vehicle legislation began in the fall, and the winning students are currently working in a consulting capacity with the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.

Last fall, the 47-member Denning T&M Class of 2013 completed the Georgia Tech Ropes Challenge Course.

The course, which stands more than 40 feet tall, is designed to teach leadership skills and teamwork. The students worked together to solve both mental puzzles and physical challenges.

To complete the Denning T&M Program, business students take a class in mechanical engineering (ME2110: Creative Decisions and Design) alongside mechanical engineering majors. This rigorous course asks students to design and build a robot to perform tasks in a final course-wide competition. This year’s competition, held in November 2011, featured 13 Denning T&M scholars, including Antoinette Biagi, Denning T&M Class of 2012.

Antoinette cites a solid rapport with teammates as crucial to their success in winning first place. “I had an incredible team. In six weeks, we modeled an autonomous robot in SolidWorks and manufactured a device through extensive use of the OMAX waterjet, CNC mill, and countless lock washers and bolts,” she says.

In addition to bragging rights, each member of the team was awarded an iPad2 from competition sponsor Pratt & Whitney. “The best part of the competition was seeing other Denning T&M students succeed through the rounds,” adds Antoinette.  “The experience makes me truly appreciate the rigorous expectations of the Denning T&M program and its outstanding graduates."

The Denning T&M Program gained further recognition when the Best in Show Award went to “Team Arm Candy,” whose members included Denning T&M Class of 2012 student Margeaux Leighton. The three-hour competition featured 55 teams from different course sections.

Last November, two Denning T&M alumni returned to the College of Management to teach an advanced Excel workshop to the Class of 2012. John Wood, T&M 10, and Casey Drummond, T&M 11, founded learnhowtoexcel.com, a comprehensive Website that allows users to increase their Excel skills (the Website covers everything from locking cells to advanced pivot tables). This event was an amazing opportunity for our current students to learn from their peers.

John and Casey both spoke about entrepreneurship and knowledge sharing. Their presentation focused on giving current students the tips and tools to turn their passions into a successful business venture. "It's a wonderful experience speaking with the students," says John. "I'm amazed by their leadership ability and passion for success at the next level. As a member of the inaugural T&M class, I'm proud to have them represent the program."

John is currently a consultant for Junction Solutions and Casey has accepted a consulting position with IBM upon his graduation from Georgia Tech.

Dr. Eric Overby:

• Received a $3,000 research grant from the Networks, Electronic Commerce, and Telecommunications (“NET”) Institute in summer 2011.
• Had a paper accepted for publication at the journal Management Science, titled “A Transaction-Level Analysis of Spatial Arbitrage: The Role of Habit, Attention, and Electronic Trading,” co-authored with finance professor Jonathan Clarke.

Dr. John Cressler:

• Appointed Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices (T-ED), beginning in January 2012. The publication has a legacy of 60-plus years and is at the heart of the technical activities conducted by the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS). The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is the largest professional society in the world, with over 400,000 members worldwide. It serves the needs of the micro/nanoelectronics and photonics communities.
• Published: J.D. Cressler, “Reflections on the Gentle Art of Effective Teaching and Mentoring,” IEEE Potentials, vol. 30, pp. 23-26, July/August issue, 2011.
• Interviewed by Webzine EEPulse. Full interview >>

Dr. Stelios Kavadias:

•  Recognized as advisor to PhD students Yannis Bellow, who won an Honorable Mention in the INFORMS Service Science Section Best Student Paper Competition. 

Denning T&M staff members Dr. Linda Oldham and Lauren Howard facilitated a workshop for Caterpillar’s Women’s Initiative Network in Griffin, Georgia. The presentation was entitled “Effective Workplace Communication: How To Be Heard” and was given to 30 Caterpillar employees. Linda, the program’s Administrative Director, and Lauren, the Communications Program Manager, gave participants communication tools and strategies to use in difficult workplace situations. Attendees were also given a communication style inventory in order to identify their own communications strengths and weaknesses.

"The workshop was a wonderful way for us to give back to Caterpillar. They have been an amazing asset to the Denning Technology & Management Program, and we were honored to be asked to present to their Women’s Initiative Network," says Lauren.

Many thanks to the Corporate Affiliate executives who spoke throughout the fall 2011 semester to Denning T&M students in Dr. Eric Overby’s Analysis of Emerging Technologies class. To add to the experience, students and executives had dinner together following the each talk.

    John Mulcahy, Georgia-Pacific
    Steve Niehaus and Erika Hamrick, Caterpillar
    Rob Stoker, Boeing
    Charly Ugorji, Caterpillar
    Connie Hensler, Interface
    Larry Schneider, Boeing