The concept, called MeTrak, collects data across many sources about a person’s fitness, health, mood, sleep patterns and productivity, and offers previously unknown insights and connections to improve the user’s life.

As the winning team of five students wrote in their business plan:
“Currently, there is no product on the market that allows a person to see all of the data they collect about their life in one place. Additionally, there is no product on the market that provides a comprehensive analysis of this data. MeTrak answers the question ‘How can I make my life better?’”

The team consists of Emily Dickinson, Suyash Jain, Robert McElmurry, Shelley Szalay, and Xin Zhou. The team won $3,000 and travel support to next-level competition on a state, regional or national level. 

The winning concept was chosen by a panel of distinguished MSU alum entrepreneurs and venture capital investors from around the nation: Matthew Growney, managing director of Rudyard Partners and CEO of Isabella Products in Boston; Anne Hiller, senior director of Ipswitch in San Francisco; Chris Sugden, managing director of Edison Venture in New Jersey; John Webb, principal of JAM–Just Add Marketing in New York; and Peter Woodford, administrator of alternative investments for the State of Michigan Retirement System.

There were seven finalists in the competition, which was geared toward putting business students on the path to becoming successful entrepreneurs. All told, the contest drew 74 MSU students in 19 teams. At the final event, Stefanie Lenway, dean of the Broad College of Business, welcomed the participants and gave the awards. Professor Zsuzsanna Fluck, director of the Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity and Entrepreneurial Finance, delivered the opening remarks and Growney gave the keynote speech. 

The second prize winner was Spartan Green Technologies and the third prize winner was Electronic Dog Leash. Spartan Green is a business plan around a new green adhesive bonding technology for automobile parts and Electronic Release is a company concept for  electronic leashes that provide a new and humane way of training dogs. 

The event was sponsored by the Center for Venture Capital, Private Equity and Entrepreneurial Finance in collaboration with the Institute of Entrepreneurship and the MBA program in the Broad College of Business.

For more details, please, visit http://ie.broad.msu.edu/centers/cvcpeef/cvcnews/.

via MSU News 

Photo caption: First place team of MBA students: (l. to r.) Xin Zhou, Robert McElmurry, Suyash Jain and Emily Dickinson. Shelley Szalay not pictured.

For links to Rolls-Royce, please see: http://www.rolls-royce.com

Supply Chain/Logistics – 2^nd

International – 13^th

Accounting – 23^rd

For the full rankings, visit http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com. (Note: A premium subscription is required for the complete “business specialties” listings.)

The U.S. News ranking is weighted by three main measures – quality assessment (what other deans and recruiters think about the program), placement success (mean starting salaries and employment rates) and student selectivity (GMAT, undergrad GPA and acceptance rates). According to U.S. News methodology, 441 AACSB-accredited business programs were considered for this year’s ranking, which – at 44 – puts the Broad College among the top 10 percent of all accredited programs.

“Our success is due to the teamwork of our students, faculty and staff,” says Eli and Edythe L. Broad Dean Stefanie Lenway. “I am very pleased with our increased ranking due to their hard work and dedication.”

There will be a special gift offered to all attendees. Visit this link to join the chat-http://connect.msu.edu/r3ijpje16oa/

The MBAA presented the Mid-Michigan Food Bank with a check for $51,266 (total for cash and food equivalents) on Feb. 13 during an MBA social. The amount nearly doubles their 2011 goal of $30,000 and the 2010 total of $28,264 thanks to the hard work and support of MBA students, faculty and staff. Meijer also continued to support MBAA and MMFB by providing a generous donation during the competition.

Betsy Rueckert, Financial Development Officer at the Mid-Michigan Food Bank, feels there is a far-reaching value of the MBAA donation. “The ongoing partnership between the Mid-Michigan Food Bank and the Broad College MBA program has resulted in a commitment not only to give back to the local community now, but it also impacts our agencies long-term through the future leadership and support of these students.”

In past years, Broad MBAs have won the friendly competition 8 out of 11 times. Totals are not in yet for all schools, but they are hoping this year is no exception. “Regardless of the competition’s outcome, we are very proud of our accomplishments this year in surpassing our fundraising goal and the resulting impact we are able to have on Mid-Michigan families through the food bank,” says Shannon Blakely, MBA Association president and second-year MBA student.

Financial Times

Result highlights include placing 1st in the U.S. and 2nd out of all business schools in the world in “placement success.” Broad has been among the top four in this category nearly every year since 2001. The program also placed 2nd in the world in “Human Resources” based on alumni responses regarding subject area teaching quality. In addition, Broad placed 29th in the U.S. and 49th globally in “alumni recommended rank.”

“This year, Financial Times ranked 150 internationally accredited business schools worldwide, so it is one indicator of our success among our global competitors,” says Karyll Shaw, associate dean for MBA and Professional Master’s Programs. “While we celebrate our achievements, we also continue our work to create quality student learning experiences that focus on value creation in the global marketplace, which is so important in business today.”

Financial Times surveys graduates three years after they complete their degree to assess the impact of the MBA on their subsequent career progression and salary growth. This year’s ranking was determined using data collected from the Class of 2008 and from business schools. Broad was not included in the Financial Times ranking process in 2011 because of insufficient information provided by the Class of 2007 (not enough of them divulged salary information in their responses to meet the publication’s minimum requirements for inclusion).

Another consistently high ranking category for the Broad College has been its “FT research rank,” which remains in the top 40 this year at a three-way tie for 38th globally. It is calculated according to the number of faculty publications in 40 academic and practitioner journals.

For the full 2012 Financial Times ranking, visit www.ft.com.