Alumni Come Back for More

George Huhn, president of Data Machines, is honing his IT Strategy knowledge. Diana Cano, an executive director at the Educational Testing Service, is looking for supply chain management pointers for a current project. And Leon Gorbaty, founder of The Engineering Essentials Company, is aiming for some marketing know-how for his startup.

These technology executives all have two things in common: They’re alumni of the Executive Master’s in Technology Management program at the University of Pennsylvania, and they’re continuing their education to manage real-world projects and business issues.

For a nominal fee, EMTM graduates can continue to take classes to further their knowledge. Alumni say these classes enhance their skills, provide networking opportunities and keep them up to date on the latest technologies and management strategies.

Here’s a look at three alumni, the courses they’re taking and the benefits of continuing education in the EMTM program:

George Huhn, EMTM’98

Courses taken: Huhn is a continuing education veteran and has taken nine courses since graduating from EMTM. Huhn’s courses between 2005 and 2009 include: R&D Management, Enterprise Software Development, Creating Value Through R&D, Data Mining, New Venture Initiation, Computational Finance, IT Strategy, Human Computer Interaction, and Security and Privacy.

How these courses apply to your career? As president of Data Machines, an independent software vendor that makes project and portfolio management tools, Huhn said his additional coursework has helped him as an entrepreneur, consultant, and software developer. “Key ideas from the Data Mining, Enterprise Software Development, Human Computer Interaction, and Security and Privacy courses have all been directly integrated into our project portfolio management application, Optsee®,” said Huhn.

Huhn said returning to EMTM after graduation keeps him ahead of the curve. “After graduating from the program, I recognized that much of what we had learned was on the cutting-edge of the business-technology interface,” he said. “Taking these courses as an alumnus has been a great opportunity to stay at the cutting-edge and peek into the future.”

On networking: Huhn said networking opportunities from these additonal courses are also a big benefit and that it’s helpful listen to and bounce ideas off executives in different fields.

Diana Cano, EMTM’00

Courses taken: Cano is making her first return to EMTM since graduation, taking Supply Chain Management.

How these courses apply to your career? Cano, executive director of technology enabled assessments at the Educational Testing Service, is currently in the middle of a project where supply chain management know-how is a big help. “The class in supply chain management is relevant to the work I do now,” she said.

Heading back to the EMTM program also keeps Cano current, she said. For instance, a recent Supply Chain Management lecture started off with an e-reader case study of Barnes & Noble’s nook vs. Amazon’s Kindle. The lecture centered on a recent Wall Street Journal story that Cano had missed. “When you see how the current economic climate impacts the supply chain, you realize why you are doing this” explained Cano. “I could have read that in a book, but would have missed the discussion.”

Cano also attends the occasional EMTM lecture, including a recent one on social networking and how it impacts management. That knowledge applied directly to an open source project, said Cano. “It definitely helped the project I was working on,” she said.

On networking: Cano said she wasn’t heading back to EMTM for networking per se, but did note that it’s “always good to meet people in adjacent fields.”

Leon Gorbaty, EMTM’03

Courses taken: Gorbaty is currently taking Quantitative Marketing Analysis and New Venture Initiation.

How these courses apply to your career? For Gorbaty, the learnings from EMTM’s course directly apply to his startup, The Engineering Essentials Company (TEEC). TEEC specializes in software that makes engineering projects more manageable by integrating and standardizing codes, standards and specifications.

Both courses are very timely, explains Gorbaty, who adds that “I trust that these courses will help and I am planning to apply the content immediately” to TEEC. Specifically, class projects in marketing and starting a business can be leveraged in the real world. Gorbaty plans to use what he learned in marketing analysis to focus TEEC’s strategy.

On networking: “I found EMTM valuable from the outset,” said Gorbaty. Gorbaty commutes twice a month from Houston to Philadelphia for the courses. “It’s worth the commute for the price and convenience of the EMTM program,” he said. “I’m not alone, since there are a few long distance commuters.” “Going back to EMTM is great for support, getting advice and tapping into the ideas of fellow students.”

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