International Technological University
Volume II, Issue 4, Fall 2012
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.“ ~Nelson Mandela
Workshop On Six Sigma ITU Professors Ramesh Konda and John Flaig presented a workshop on Six Sigma in August, 2012. They provided an overview of Six Sigma principles with case studies. They also shared information about Green Belt/Black Belt certification.
Define
Control
By: Professor Patricia Wiggin In July, Randy Fujishin visited ITU to speak to my Business Communication class--we studied his book “Creating Communication: Exploring and Expanding your Fundamental Communication Skills.” Randy is the Chair of the Language Arts Division for West Valley College (in Saratoga, California), author of seven books, a family and child counselor, and active as a conference speaker. During the class Randy challenged us to intentionally speak so our words help others. He offered an acronym to remember this: Ask questions to show interest, Mirror what others say by paraphrasing, Encourage and not judge, Nurture by spending regular time with friends. We couldn’t help but be motivated by Randy’s group activities, and to learn how our words can heal, restore and energize relationships.
DMAIC Measure
Improve
Author Visits ITU Communications Class
Analyze The Six Sigma “DMAIC” model
The Define step describes the problem in operational terms. The Measure step records relationships between input and outputs. The Analyze step conducts a thorough study of defects/errors, to identify the root cause. Collected data develops mathematical and statistical models. The Improve step creates and tests a solution. In the Control step, standard operating procedures and proactive monitoring maintain expected results. Many successful companies utilize the principles of Six Sigma to survive and excel in today’s competitive marketplace. Author Randy Fujishin presenting to ITU graduate students.
DBA In Your Future By Frank Aguilera, phd
Consider a Doctorate Business Adminstration (DBA) from ITU. Your DBA would focus on the application of theory, rather than the theoretical or field research approach of a PhD. This focus is evident during your dissertation development.
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Developing a Mobile World By Hubert Chang
“Like 100 million others in the US (www.bgr. com), I own a smartphone. I have a Motorola RAZR that runs the Android OS developed by Google. Four years ago I saw it as a superfluous expenditure. Now, I couldn’t drive from point A to point B without it.”
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My Favorite Writing Projects By Professor Barbara Arnoldussen
“My time on the editorial board of the ITU Journal triggers good memories of my previous publications. My five favorites include 2 books, a newspaper article, a newsletter and a website.”
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Volume II, Issue 4, Fall 2012
team Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Amal Mougharbel Manager: Hubert Chang Editorial Board: Barbara Arnoldussen Patricia Wiggin Coordinator: Charitha Valluri Chinese Reviewer: Dr. May Huang Contributors: Dr. Frank Aguilera Dr. Barbara Hecker Dr. Ramesh Konda Anthony Chau Ahmad Shaar Marketing & Distribution: Cindy Dinh Suman Bhargava Designer: Kathia Rubi
International Technological University “Global Development through Silicon Valley Education” 355 W San Fernando Street San Jose, CA 95113
http://itu.edu Contact: newsletter@itu.edu
The views expressed in articles are those of the writers only and not of ITU or the ITU Journal. ITU Journal is not responsible for accuracy of information cited in the news and events. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit submissions, with contributions capped at 300 words. Plagiarized submissions will be discarded.
Hi-Tech Expert Joins ITU: John Flaig, PhD ITU welcomes Dr, John J. Flaig. In his first MBA course, he will teach our graduate students about Six Sigma. He has joined our Industry Advisory Board (IAB). Both positions make good use of his hightech background, spanning more than forty years. He was employed in everything from small startup operations to some of the largest companies in the world, such as Apple, Applied Materials, and Hewlett-Packard. Currently, he is managing director of Applied Technology, a consulting, training, and publishing company. He also acts as Analytics Advisor to 1Factory, and as VP of Analytics and Professional Services for ActiveMiner, two startup companies. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). In addition, he is the Chair of their Statistics and Reliability Group, their Scholarship and Awards Program, and their Education Program. Dr. Flaig has published over twenty peer-reviewed research papers. He holds a doctorate in engineering and technology management from California Southern University, a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of California, and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics from California State Polytechnic University.
Student Voices Heard Through Focus Group By Amal Mougharbel, PhD and Charitha Valluri In July 2012, the Business Department conducted a focus group on students’ likes and dislikes about ITU’s courses and programs. After the groups met, the Department Chair of Business Administration conducted an open discussion about their feedback, to prioritize the results. POSITIVE RESPONSES: The results showed that the students like the weekend classes, which help students on Curricular Practical Training (CPT). The CPT gives the students an opportunity to work and gain practical experience. Students also like having job-related courses, such as ERP/SAP. Students like the flexibility to take home assignments, supported by videotaped lectures posted on the website. The students voiced that the curriculum helps them improve their interpersonal skills and gives them opportunity to work while studying. They expressed appreciation for the freedom to express their opinions directly to the Department Chair. STUDENT REQUESTS: The results showed that the students want to be informed earlier of the upcoming course schedule on the website. In addition, they would prefer multiple sessions of the same course. Also, students expect the university to have defined plagiarism prevention guidelines. They would like to see class submissions screened using Turnitin software to avoid plagiarism. Some students were concerned about the different grading standards among various courses. They suggested not limiting the number of students in each course. Students would like the university to provide e-books and discounts on textbooks.
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Volume II, Issue 4, Fall 2012
Meet Barbara Hecker, PhD: ITU’s Rockstar University of Maryland. She completed her Ph.D. in Computer Science at Nova Southeastern University. She plans to receive a JD degree by 2014. Dr. Hecker served as the Director of Information Systems at Flat Rate Communications in Danville, CA. As a co-founder of Flat Rate, she was proud when Viatel, Inc., a Western European long distance telecommunications com-
Barbara Hecker, PhD is a native northern Californian. She received a B.S. in Business Administration, with a minor in Psychology from San Jose State University. She holds an M.S. in Computer Information Systems, and Telecommunications Management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and an
pany, purchased it for $8 million. Barbara maintains a YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/bjhecker. It offers tutorials on computer science and software engineering topics, as well as other personal interests, such as guitar playing.
M.S. in Software Engineering from the
Developing a Mobile World By Hubert Chang
Continued from Page 1 From 2010 to 2011, mobile applications had an increase of 20 billion downloads (http://mobithinking.com/). Imagine that number today! In parallel with this growing trend, Dr. Barbara Hecker, Department Chair of Engineering Management, offered two full-day sumer workshops teaching Android development and fundamentals of iOS. The first workshop covered mobile app development for Android phones. Attendees left with three applications utilizing Android’s
GPS Mapping, SMS and Database features – all for the price of …
Did You Know? Digital Media Apps Production ITU’s Digital Arts department offered three workshops on how to design and develop a mobile app, based on various digital art techniques. The first two sessions covered the fundamentals of “digital arts”. The series culminated by assigning students to utilize these fundamentals to design and develop a working application using Apple’s Xcode.
Joint Research in Business and EE Departments The ITU Business Research and Development Center (BRDC) and the Electrical Engineering (EE) Departments are working together on a medical device project. The research project includes designing chips that can track, measure and control health changes and activities in the body. Market research looked at the latest innovative thoughts, current technologies and designs for wearable devices. Various data on nanotechnology was collected on the wearable devices industry related to health & wellness, fitness, blood pressure, heart rates, diabetes and cholesterol tracking.
FREE!
Information Night Summary
The second workshop focused on
The very first ‘ITU Info Night’ was conducted on August 23rd. This event was open to prospective students looking to get more information of Fall semester programs, speak personally with ITU faculty and learn more about ITU student life and campus culture.
iOS development for the iPhone/ iPad. Over 60 people attended to learn how to use the latest version of Xcode. In September 2012, Dr. Hecker presented another free workshop on “Mobile App Development for Web Developers”. She offered hands-on training to move from website development to mobile app development. Check out http://itu.edu/appdev for how you can participate next time.
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Our Alumni... Our Pride ITU not only provides the best of Silicon Valley Education, but many of our students find work at ITU after graduation. Additionally, part of ITU’s purpose is to encourage students to affiliate and intern with local Silicon Valley companies. We are proud to say that many of our alumni have found full-time positions at top companies such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Kaiser Permanente, Samsung, NetApp and EBay.
Volume II, Issue 4, Fall 2012
Notable Events
My Favorite Writing Projects By Professor Barbara Arnoldussen Continued from Page 1 1. My first book, “What I Wish I’d Known My First 100 Days: Wisdom,
Tips, and Warnings from Experienced Nurses.” I created this gift book for nursing students, describing the challenges of their future workplaces. I surveyed hundreds of nurses all over the country, adding my own observations. My iPad now carries its electronic version! 2. A Michigan newspaper’s feature page was devoted to my reporting about anthropologist Margaret Mead’s last public appearance. My picture showed her iconic wooden walking stick. My sidebar of her quotes was picked up by the national wire services.
1. July - August: Digital Arts Workshops 2. August 23 & September 12: Info Nights 3. September 20: Academic Talk 4. September 21: Advisory Board Meeting
3. The quarterly newsletter I edited for NASA, as consultant to their national Patient Safety Reporting System. Not as newsworthy as landing on Mars, but each printed launch was exciting.
mIRRORS: tAJ MAHAL
4. My rewrite of my second book, “RN Medication Flashcards.” The original format was horizontal, like a 5” by 7” index card. To make the text fit mobile devices, I switched to a vertical format, using shorter words!
By Charitha Valluri
5. My complete redesign of the Stanford Center for Integrative Medicine’s website. To my surprise and delight, my changes have endured online.
DBA In Your Future By Frank Aguilera, PhD Continued from Page 1
Do you have a Master’s degree? Are you interested in the Business Administration field? We offer a DBA where you will be guided by senior level faculty with years of theoretical and applied experience in their respective fields. You will enjoy networking with other DBA candidates, and entrepreneurial, industrial, and technical experts from Silicon Valley. India is a rich land of diversified cultures and traditions. Indian cultural history spans more than 4,500 years with many historic monuments built across the country. The Taj Mahal, one of the 7 wonders of the world, is situated on the banks of river Yamuna in Agra. The Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan built it in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Construction took almost 22 years, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen and more than 1,000 elephants to carry construction materials. The Taj Mahal incorporates Persian and Mughal design traditions. At different times of the day, Taj Mahal appears to be a different color. In the moonlight it shines. So, if you are in India, don’t miss your golden opportunity to be carried away by the beauty of the Taj Mahal.
To earn your DBA, you will be required to complete a dissertation in the subject matter of your interest, building upon your speciality. Your applied research project will contribute to the body of knowledge in business administration. On the way to earning your DBA, you will have the opportunity in the ITU Journal Club to present, debate and defend your businessrelated research, prior to possible publication or conference contributions. See the ITU business website (http://business.itu.edu) for more information on the DBA Program. To find out more about ITU, visit www.itu.edu.
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ISSN: 2161-8054