BAL22

One Year Later: Creative Collaborations at Rustandy

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 15:00:00 +0000

One Year Later: Creative Collaborations at Rustandy Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 09:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

New first-year students and their families enjoy the weather outside the Rustandy Building at the fall 2022 Leeds Launch.

When the Rustandy Building opened its doors in 2021, we knew that the fusion of the engineering and business schools would ignite exceptional opportunities for students. One year later, we wanted to see what that looked like. Like a fly on the wall, we watched as stories unfolded and futures took flight. Here are a few that caught our eye.

The Rustandy Building is beautiful. Is it actually sparking collaborations between business and engineering?

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Interdisciplinary Education: Vitro3D

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 13:00:00 +0000

Interdisciplinary Education: Vitro3D Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 07:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

Camila Uzcategui, left, and Johnny Hergert make adjustments to a laser in their east campus lab as they work on a 3D-printed dental aligner. The PhD graduates co-founded Vitro3D, which 3D prints implants and aligners, below, that could soon be rapidly created in a dentist's office.

When Camila Uzcategui (MMatSci'18; PhD'21) pitched an industry-changing idea for dentistry at ��Ƶ's New Venture Challenge Finals, the engineering student said "it was the most rewarding experience of my PhD."

She and Johnny Hergert (MMatSci'18; PhD'21) founded Vitro3D in their New Venture Launch class, taught by Leeds professor Jeff York, where business and engineering students turn innovative technologies into viable businesses; the unique class was made possible through a gift from the Robert and Kathleen Dobbin Intuitive Foundation. For Vitro3D, the founders benefited from the business acumen of teammate Jennifer Howard (MBA'22).

The company, which is grounded in Uzcategui and Hergert's research in materials science, plans to bring 3D printers directly to dental offices to produce retainers, aligners and mouthguard quickly and inexpensively. Last spring, the team won second place at NVC, with a cash prize of $33,500.

Next, Vitro3D intends to use volumetric 3D printing that mimics the materials inside the human body to help with life-saving medical procedures.

More creative collaborations: Taylor Bata | Doha Shahba | Julie Gentile | Diego Alvarez

Business at Leeds magazine Deming Center for Entrepreneurship Engage with Leeds

The New Venture Launch class prepared Vitro3D for a key pivot.

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Better by Degrees: MBA Alumni are Adapting in a Fast-Changing World

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 10:48:11 +0000

Better by Degrees: MBA Alumni are Adapting in a Fast-Changing World Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 04:48

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

When it came to building networks that could launch their careers, Harrison GreenMaki, left, and Michael Mendoza both felt the Leeds MBA was the way to go. The two veterans met through the program and are now both in real estate—and hoping to find ways to work together, exploring career paths the way they love to explore hiking trails.

The skills and perspective needed to lead in business keep changing. Leeds continues to evolve its MBA portfolio to stay on the cutting edge.

Colette Crouse has worn a lot of hats in the world of sustainability, including director-level roles in the technology and real estate sectors.

Prior to her MBA from Leeds, her roles were mainly in communications and engagement, including with the City of Boulder’s climate initiatives department. At Leeds, she sought to expand her skillset and perspective, with the goal of repositioning herself as a change agent and leader in the corporate sector.

“For me, the Leeds MBA was the ticket to working in a more strategic, analytical role in the private sector,” Crouse (MBA’18) said. “I wanted to bring more quantitative rigor to what I was doing, to be able to understand the data and use it to make better decisions.”

Crouse is now director of carbon services at Stok, which offers integrated sustainability and high-performance building services.

“My role draws heavily on both my communications and business skills, which I love,” she said. “For many clients, we quantify climate impacts while also supporting communications and reporting, stakeholder engagement and financial planning.”

Faces of Leeds: Meet Colette Crouse

She’s using the skills she gained from her MBA to advise companies globally recognized as corporate climate leaders, as well as those “that understand the value of climate work, but are relatively new to it,” she said. “Among other services, we provide value to clients by offering guidance in a complex space that’s quickly evolving.”

And it’s not just sustainability that’s changing. Work across industries is quickly evolving, as advances in technology, changes wrought by the pandemic, geopolitical instability and other forces require agility, flexibility and creativity, as well as leadership skills and business acumen.

That’s true of MBA programs, as well.

Confronting the challenges of change

In the digital age, the MBA has found itself challenged by competing offerings—from MOOCs (massive open online courses) like EdX and Coursera, to LinkedIn Learning and even YouTube. At Leeds, however, faculty have leveraged their close connections to industry to offer a more versatile credential that’s designed to encourage success throughout a career. That’s taken the form of heightened emphasis on guest lectures as well as aggressively updated course content.

MORE: How graduate scholarships create career-defining opportunities

“Organizations have such a need for thinkers who have both breadth and depth in business expertise,” said Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for graduate programs at Leeds and special assistant to the dean for faculty diversity, equity and inclusion. “In redesigning our curricula, we met with 60-plus corporate partners, who told us about their long-term needs and how we could help meet them. The overarching theme was one of wanting students who are able to flex—who are experienced enough to be confident when they’re pushed in a new direction.”

“In redesigning our curricula, we met with 60-plus corporate partners ... the overarching theme was one of wanting students who are able to flex.”

Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for graduate programs and special assistant to the dean for faculty DEI

Learning how to think critically about problems, faculty and alumni said, is a major advantage of the MBA. Whereas online programs focus mainly on skill development, Leeds classes—and the co-curricular components, like guest lectures, cases, networking events, consulting opportunities and competitions—emphasize the combination of skills and knowledge in ways that mimic the challenges students will face as leaders.

MORE: Which MBA is the best fit for me?

“Leeds is known for entrepreneurship, so a lot of people who want to start businesses flock to our programs,” Ryujin said. “But whether you become an entrepreneur or not, there’s so much value in being able to look at a problem and figure out how to solve it in a creative and open-ended way, where you’re not constrained by the limits of a big organization. That kind of direction is just as important to a Fortune 100 as it is to a startup.”

From Marines to MBA

Why an MBA?

For many, the MBA experience is far preferred to online alternatives or self-guided upskilling programs. Alumni share their top reasons for choosing an MBA.

New directions are why Michael Mendoza (MBA’22) chose an MBA instead of a different upskilling opportunity. Mendoza separated from the U.S. Marine Corps after nearly six years, ending his time as a captain stationed in Savannah, Georgia. He relocated to Colorado and began the Leeds MBA while transitioning out of the military.

“For me, the MBA represented a way to transition back into civilian life while also polishing my business skills,” said Mendoza, who won a nationwide case competition as a student and now serves as a partner at Philadelphia-based Forterra Investment Partners, founded by Daniel Markee (Fin’80). “My MBA has made me more confident in starting this next chapter with the new skills learned and projects worked on, first tested at my internship as a student. It’s refreshing to see that a lot of what I’ve learned in the classroom, I’ve been able to apply in the real world.”

Crouse and Mendoza both completed the full-time MBA program, but as digital alternatives have sprung up and virtual work has become more mainstream, Leeds has added to its MBA portfolio. The school added hybrid and executive versions of the program last year to go with its full-time and evening programs.

While the hybrid MBA is designed to offer the ultimate in flexibility, it still includes on-campus components, including in-person sessions on select Saturdays.

“Going to classes in person helps me create that network ... those Saturday sessions are pivotal in building lasting relationships. ”

Jennifer Jamieson (MBA’23), co-owner, Personal Touch Landscape & Gardening

“An important part of the experience is the relationships you develop—not only your business network, but friendships,” Ryujin said. “We see students who share career opportunities with one another, but who are also in each other’s weddings. You can’t build relationships of such depth and meaning if you’re just watching a how-to video.”

That’s exactly what brought Jennifer Jamieson (MBA’23) to the hybrid program. She started at Leeds after her husband, a former military pilot, completed his own MBA. She didn’t want the fully virtual experience he had after COVID moved all his classes online, but when the couple bought a landscaping business—with an eye on future acquisitions—Jamieson wanted the perspectives and network that only an MBA can offer.

The hybrid MBA was the perfect solution, especially as the couple live in Colorado Springs with their four children, making regular commutes to Boulder impractical.

“It’s easier to maintain relationships online than it is to start them,” she said. “Going to classes in person helps me create that network, and even though 99% of our interactions are online or over the phone, those Saturday sessions are pivotal in building lasting relationships.”

Colette Crouse stands on the roof of Stok’s downtown Denver office. ‘The Leeds MBA was the ticket to working in a more strategic, analytical role in the private sector,’ she says.

Beyond relationships between peers, an MBA affords students relationships with mentors who offer invaluable guidance about how to leverage their academic work in securing jobs, but also in how to advocate for a promotion or negotiate salary at a new job. Crouse has stayed in touch with her mentor—in fact, they were residential and professional neighbors who often rode the bus to Denver together.

“I continue to reach out to her when I’m struggling with difficult decisions, or looking for strategic input,” said Crouse, now an MBA mentor herself. “I want to be that person for others—someone who can offer practical career or industry advice. It’s also important to me that I leverage my experience and position to support individuals from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in advancing their careers in the corporate sustainability space, which hasn’t traditionally been diverse or inclusive.”

Business at Leeds magazine Leeds MBA programs Engage with Leeds

Breadth Meets Depth

Part of the MBA’s versatility comes from the breadth of business knowledge the program covers—from accounting and strategy, to marketing and finance—but Leeds students also often seek industry depth to give them a head start on either a career transition or greater leadership responsibilities in their chosen field when they graduate.

The Leeds MBA offers a series of concentrations—called pathways—that combine coursework with co-curricular programs, clubs and other exploratory avenues, ensuring that graduates speak the language of the industry they’re entering and have a strong network of professionals they can tap in seeking opportunities and advice on the job.

At Leeds, MBA students can choose from pathways in clean energy and natural and organic products—both Boulder-area mainstays—as well as high-growth ventures and real estate.

“What makes the pathways so valuable is how we’ve built them alongside our industry partners,” said Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for graduate programs. “This benefits our students no matter what they do, because it further challenges them to apply their classroom learning in new ways and helps them forge important relationships.

Leeds continues to evolve its MBA portfolio in response to dramatic changes in the way business gets done.

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Interdisciplinary Education: Diego Alvarez

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Interdisciplinary Education: Diego Alvarez Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 00:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

Diego Alvarez stands in lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center. He took advantage of Leeds resources to further his passion for quantitative finance.

Diego Alvarez (Math, Econ’22) didn’t major in business or engineering—but he works in both areas now. Back in fifth grade, his fascination with quantum physics evolved into a lifelong passion for quantitative finance—a mix of business and science.

While at ��Ƶ Boulder, he used what he learned from elective math courses at the College of Engineering and Applied Science in his work at the Bloomberg Lab and Leeds’ Burridge Center for Finance. There, he joined the Leeds Investment Trading Group and started ��Ƶ Quants, a group for quantitative people interested in finance.

Now living in New York City, he’s found an ideal balance between the disciplines as a data scientist at a hedge fund.

“Almost everything I learned in the Stochastic Finance course at the engineering school, I use in my work today,” he said.

More creative collaborations: Vitro3D | Taylor Bata | Doha Shahba | Julie Gentile

Business at Leeds magazine Burridge Center for Finance Engage with Leeds

The chance to work in the Bloomberg Lab helped a math student explore quantitative finance.

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Interdisciplinary Education: Julie Gentile

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Interdisciplinary Education: Julie Gentile Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 00:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

Julie Gentile (EnvEngr'24) rests beside a creek on a hiking trail. 'There needs to be collaboration with business' to limit the impact of industrialization on the environment, she says.

Julie Gentile, an environmental engineering student with a focus on energy, is committed to helping solve climate change.

She was among the women chosen for the BE Women in Tech program, made up of 25 business and 25 engineering students. It provides tech training, leadership development, mentorship and an empowering community for future female leaders.

In the program, she learned that leaders who specialize in one discipline, but are knowledgeable in another, are vital to the success of any company looking to bring forth something new.

“I plan to develop products and systems that reverse or lessen the negative effects our industrial society has on the environment—but there needs to be collaboration with business for success,” she said.

More creative collaborations: Vitro3D | Taylor Bata | Doha Shahba | Diego Alvarez

Business at Leeds magazine Women in Technology Engage with Leeds

An environmentalist is keen on business' role in solving climate change.

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Interdisciplinary Education: Doha Shahba

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Interdisciplinary Education: Doha Shahba Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 00:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

Doha Shahba, center, runs a meeting with her peers. She's majoring in business, but is also studying engineering to become 'a powerhouse of problem-solving capability.'

Engineering and business need each other, said Doha Shahba (Bus’24), a student in the BE Women in Tech scholars program. Though she’s a business major, she’s quick to point out that engineering is a common undergraduate degree among CEOs—it makes her eager to add those skills to her toolbox.

Someday, she hopes to help build a better society through entrepreneurial solutions based on technology. In the meantime, she wants to build a skillset in finance, accounting and data analytics that she can use to solve important problems in the future.

“Combining a business mindset with the inherent creativity of engineering creates a powerhouse of problem-solving capability,” Shahba said.

More creative collaborations: Vitro3D | Taylor Bata | Julie Gentile | Diego Alvarez

Business at Leeds magazine Women in Technology Engage with Leeds

Engineering is a common degree among CEOs, which is why Doha is intent in studying it alongside business.

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Interdisciplinary Education: Taylor Bata

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Interdisciplinary Education: Taylor Bata Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 00:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

Taylor Bata at a satellite field. She hopes business skills, combined with her aerospace engineering studies, help her become a more strategic professional.

Taylor Bata (AeroEngr’24) recently became interested in satellites with sensors that can be used for imaging. As an aerospace engineering student currently pursuing a business minor, she dreams of working on remote sensors at an engineering firm, then moving into leadership planning where she can use her business knowledge to make strategic decisions.

Having participated in BE Women in Tech, she thinks women of all STEM and business backgrounds should broaden their skillsets if women are to establish equity in these worlds.

“BE Women in Tech helped me form connections with women from key companies, so I could develop an informed outlook of what real industry is like, and how I could see myself fitting into that space,” Bata said.

More creative collaborations: Vitro3D | Doha Shahba | Julie Gentile | Diego Alvarez

Business at Leeds magazine Women in Technology Engage with Leeds

An aerospace engineering student wants a business background to help her become a leader.

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Entrepreneurship: Trinidad Waffle Co.

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Entrepreneurship: Trinidad Waffle Co. Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 00:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

James Fogerty biting into one of his waffle creations in his kitchen. His fusion waffles include dishes like spicy chicken, banana split and short rib.

Rural entrepreneurship

Meet some other founders who've benefited from Leeds' traveling entrepreneurship road show:
The Cycle Effect
Alluvia Packraft

At Trinidad Waffle Co., waffles aren’t just for maple syrup—or breakfast.

“The waffle iron is a piece of technology with multiple planes—a grid that creates a lot of surface area compared to a flat surface, and the nooks and crannies create perfect pockets for caramelization to happen,” said James Fogerty, who opened his waffle shop two months ago in Trinidad.

James serves fusion-style waffles to go, including spicy chicken, banana split, and a smoked, local short rib on a twice-baked potato waffle. With an extensive background in fine dining—he worked under a two-Michelin star chef—he aims to create culinary masterpieces and revolutionize how waffles are enjoyed.

To help get his vision off the ground, he attended the Startup to Scaleup workshop when it came to town last year. Despite being a self-proclaimed “fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants person,” he gained some valuable takeaways to apply to his business.

And he seems to be on the right track: After just a few months, much of his business is being driven by repeat customers. He plans to expand the business to event catering and use the space as an incubator kitchen for supplying mobile, satellite waffle stands and off-site pop-ups.

Business at Leeds magazine Deming Center for Entrepreneurship Rural Colorado Workshop Series Engage with Leeds

Waffles aren't just for breakfast. Just ask an entrepreneur and accomplished chef.

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Entrepreneurship: Alluvia Packraft

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Entrepreneurship: Alluvia Packraft Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 00:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

Mariana Cevallos, right, with her husband and co-counder, Mike. The pair saw an opportunity to introduce urban explorers and outdoors hobbyists to packrafting; because of the small size of the equipment, city dwellers in small apartments can easily make space for a packraft.

Rural entrepreneurship

Meet some other founders who've benefited from Leeds' traveling entrepreneurship road show:
The Cycle Effect
Trinidad Waffle Co.

Before she moved from Lima, Peru, to Vail, Mariana Cevallos described herself as an “urban explorer” without much outdoors experience. But like so many transplants who arrive in the Rockies, she quickly became an outdoors enthusiast—one with a budding passion for packrafting.

But while enjoying her new hobby, she began to notice a disturbing trend: a serious lack of people of color participating in outdoor recreation.

“By 2046, people of color will be the majority of the population of the United States, yet we represent less than 15% of outdoor enthusiasts,” Cevallos said.

“Getting to know other entrepreneurs who face similar challenges provided a network of support I didn’t have before.”

Mariana Cevallos, co-founder, Alluvia Packraft

Around the same time, she had a second revelation: “There was a huge gap in the market for casual paddlers who want to get out on the water.” Most packraft companies were targeting “outdoor experts” who go on multisport backcountry adventures. But what about urban explorers and people just wanting to do day floats?

That’s when she and her husband decided to make the outdoors more accessible to everyone. In 2021, they co-founded Alluvia Packraft. Set at affordable price points, their packrafts were promoted to urban and suburban users who faced barriers of entry to the outdoors, such as not having a car. Their durable, lightweight and packable products are much easier to transport, even on a bike or a bus.

In their first year of operations, Cevallos attended the Startup to Scaleup workshops of the Demystifying Entrepreneurship series in Norwood and Vail. She gained a holistic view of her business and left with actionable takeaways.

The most valuable aspect, she said, was the network.

“There’s not a lot of big networking events outside the big cities; it’s a completely different pace here. Getting to know other entrepreneurs who face similar challenges provided a network of support I didn’t have before,” she said.

Alluvia sets aside 3% of every sale toward making the outdoors a more inclusive, diverse and safe space for everyone. As CEO and co-founder, Cevallos hopes she will inspire other people of color, especially women. “I want them to see me running this business and think, ‘I could do that, too,’” she said.

Business at Leeds magazine Deming Center for Entrepreneurship Rural Colorado Workshop Series Engage with Leeds

How a workshop series brought perspective to packrafting.

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Entrepreneurship: The Cycle Effect

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Entrepreneurship: The Cycle Effect Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/04/2022 - 00:00

From Business at Leeds 2022 | Full issue

Brett Donelson leads a group of cyclists on a ride. The rural entrepreneurship series helped give him the confidence to establish, and now grow, The Cycle Effect, which Donelson launched with his wife in 2013.

“The bicycle has done more for women than any one thing in the world—it gives her a feeling of self-reliance and independence the moment she takes her seat,” civil rights activist Susan B. Anthony said in 1896.

Today, women still ride bikes for the physical and psychological benefits, which can sometimes be life-changing. But not as many as one would think.

Brett Donelsen and his wife see the opportunity to change that every day. Inspired to help young women, they launched The Cycle Effect, in 2013, an Eagle County nonprofit that emboldens underprivileged girls to develop self-esteem and healthy lifestyles through biking.

“We had no business experience, but just kept saying ‘yes’ to opportunities instead of focusing on the 99 ‘no’s’ we got,” Donelsen said.

The program provides girls with bikes, training—and an escape from the stresses of high school. As they learn to ride and compete as a team, they not only improve their overall wellness, but they learn to work together and overcome obstacles.

Rural entrepreneurship

Meet some other founders who've benefited from Leeds' traveling entrepreneurship road show:
Alluvia Packraft
Trinidad Waffle Co.

None of them start with any prior mountain biking experience—but all of them end up becoming passionate about it. “We’re not super-focused on competition. We’re a bike team, but really a mentorship program that uses the bike as a tool,” he said. “I’ve never been part of a sport where you learn so many lessons that are metaphorical for life,” like the struggle to get up a hill, the freedom of letting go and the confidence to plunge ahead without fear.

Many of those same lessons also apply to him as he builds his nonprofit. A few years after its launch, he attended two Demystifying Entrepreneurship workshops in Vail.

“Being an entrepreneur is very lonely, because it feels like you’re making decisions with the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

Brett Donelson, founder, The Cycle Effect

“The workshops reassured me that I’m not completely lost. I could ask questions and realize I’m not crazy,” he said.

“The best things I got were confidence and networking; sitting in a room with like-minded people was so valuable. I had thought partners—I wasn’t alone.”

These days, he’s focused on developing outreach programs and expanding to new locations across Colorado. Ten years from now, his goal is to be working with thousands of kids.

“I love what I’m doing. I love learning about starting things—and now that I’ve done it once, the second and third time would be a lot easier,” he said.

Business at Leeds magazine Deming Center for Entrepreneurship Rural Colorado Workshop Series Engage with Leeds

Like a lot of founders, “we had no business experience, but just kept saying ‘yes’ to opportunities,” said the founder of Cycle Effect.

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