QUEST Logo Redesign

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Question Man

Wednesday at 9 a.m

Drinking my first cup of coffee for the day, I peruse through my email. Read, reply, archive– repeat. The QUESTLab is still empty, so I skim through relatively quickly. All I have left is “3.25.2014_QUEST_Logo_ReviewDeck” from Rachel George. I click on the email and examine the latest developments of QUEST’s logo redesign effort. Taking another sip of coffee, I catch the glance of a green mermaid grinning on my cup and wonder, “What will the future of QUEST look like?”

The Team, The Mission

Today, the logo is an essential element of any major brand. Logos have assumed an organization defining role, and no one understands this paradigm better than the creator of QUEST’s 20th Anniversary logo, Vidya Sathyamoorthy. Feeling QUEST’s logo was starting to look dated, Vidya wanted to “come up with a new logo that was more modern, streamlined, and reflected the current vision of QUEST.” Vidya, in collaboration with Kylie and Dr. Bailey, assembled a logo redesign task force that has now evolved into the QUEST Marketing Team (QMT).

Brought together by their mutual interest in design and passion for the QUEST brand, the team of Vidya Sathyamoorthy (Q16), Max Cooper (Q19), Eric Hamel (Q19), and Rachel George (Q21) combined their talents to redefine the face of QUEST. When asked about his logo redesign experience Eric Hamel noted, “the logo redesign effort was a unique opportunity to apply all the tools we learn in QUEST with students from different cohorts, alumni, and faculty.” Over the course of a semester QMT worked tirelessly to create a new and exciting brand for the QUEST community.

 

The Logo

The end product, based on my exposure to previous iterations, is sure to be stellar. When asked about the character of the new logo, QMT mentioned, “clean lines, a bold look, symbolism, representation from the three schools, timelessness, forward motion, fluidity, customizability, and a resonance with the QUEST community.” However, the most prominent change to the QUEST community will probably be the change from purple to Maryland colors (red, black, and yellow).

Max Cooper addressed the change in a discussion I had with him when writing this article. As a former Scoping TA, Max worked intimately with and pitched corporate partners on sponsorship for QUEST’s Consulting Practicum course (490).

By bringing Maryland colors into the logo we add a subtle reminder that QUEST is an academic program affiliated with a top-tier institution, even among those who have never heard of us before. My vision for a successful logo redesign is that a couple weeks after a scoping presentation, someone that sat in on our meeting could be cleaning off their desk, find the QUEST marketing materials, see the logo, and then remember that we are a University of Maryland honors program that fosters collaboration between three academic backgrounds toward continuous improvement.

While QMT believes we can build equity by improving cross-branding between QUEST and the University of Maryland, the team has a grander vision for marketing in QUEST. In fact, this logo redesign is the first of many for our program. QMT intends to create new logos for all of the QUEST teams– QUESTPress, QSO, Curriculum Review Committee, and QUEST Recruiting.

The Evolution of the QUESTLab

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QuestLab1 1-1

An exciting change is coming to the Quest community next semester. The program will be moving the Quest Lab and faculty offices to the first floor of Van Munching Hall, replacing the Smith Store, SUSA offices, and other miscellaneous offices in the area. The Smith School will complete the construction over the summer, with the new Quest lab and offices open for Fall 2014.

The concept was initially proposed by Quest faculty to a group of 190H mentors in Fall 2013 as a project scope for their mentor class. The team strove to design an innovative, improved interior design to the Quest lab to facilitate more student collaboration, engagement, and efficiency while working and relaxing in the lab. They proposed their ideas to Smith Operations and the University to provide inspiration and ideas for the final decision makers.

The new lab will provide value to the program in three key ways. First, the new lab will be bigger and better. There will be space for printing, team brainstorming, and food consumption. It will be much larger than the current lab, and will be designed more intuitively to teamwork, student relaxation, and student study. The move will help build a greater sense of community between faculty and students, as the offices will be on the same floor as the Quest lab. Students will be able to more easily and effortlessly drop by Quest faculty offices to discuss a project idea, ask a question, or just talk. Finally, it will help make the program more visible and recognizable within the business school by having a lab and offices on the first floor where most classes are taught and student traffic occurs.
The current Quest lab will no longer be used by the program and will be taken by Smith operations, likely for storage.

From Interviewee to Interviewer

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Interview Pic

Two years ago I was in the same position many of the applicants were in last week. I desperately wanted to be in QUEST, but I knew how competitive it was. I spent so much time perfecting my application and thinking about what kind of questions they may ask. How would I exude confidence and leadership while simultaneously being a team player? Where was the line between taking initiative by answering questions first and seeming too overpowering? ….I might have overthought the interview a bit…

Honestly, the actual interview didn’t help my nerves. I thought I did well but I also thought the people in my group were so extremely impressive. How was I to compete?! I was right about that first part, everyone in my group was accepted into QUEST and I still find them to be incredibly impressive. But, turns out I was impressive enough too and made it into QUEST. I didn’t fully know what was ahead but I knew I was excited. I couldn’t wait to begin my journey with QUEST.

Fast forward two years and now I am on the other side of the interview. I knew a few people applying and could see the same thoughts in my head two years ago running through theirs. I was so excited for them. Being an interviewer, I got to understand how QUEST evaluates the applicants and all the behind the scenes work. As I conducted the interview I remembered to be impartial and accurate but also fair and compassionate. I was incredibly worried going into the interview, so I imagine many of them were too. Maybe they were worried about seeming too aggressive so they toned it down for the interview to the point where their ideas weren’t heard as much. Maybe they were just plain nervous.

I really enjoy that QUEST allows current students to take part in the interview. I think it is really important that the whole community gets to provide input of the future of the program. This year’s pool of candidates were impressive (maybe even more so than years past). With each new cohort, I keep seeing the program grow and grow. Not just in obvious size, but in talent, drive, and creativity. It is really rewarding to be a part of this always improving program. I highly recommend that students get involved in this process next year.

I can’t wait to welcome all the new members of cohort 23 and 24. The QUEST program is already amazing and the new students will only add to it.

Bulgeria – An Internship Abroad

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Picture of Bulgerian Landscape

There’s something that a well-traveled friend of mine likes to call “travel glitter.” According to him, one thing you’ll notice as you travel more is that in certain places you are much “shinier” than you are in others. For example, as a tall man of Arabic decent with light skin and dark features, he received plenty of stares in rural Iceland. I too received this treatment once I stepped off the plane at Sofia, Bulgaria: as an obvious foreigner you are regarded with a benign curiosity. It is as if their eyes are questioning, “Who are you, what do you do, why are you here?” There aren’t many reasons for travelers to visit, other than business.

As I reached out to locals and formed relationships I noticed the many similarities and differences between the American and Bulgarian mindsets, culture, and gestures. The most humorous of them has to be the contagious “head bobble.” Bulgarians shake their head for yes and nod up and down for no, so when dealing with a person from the U.S., they switch at the last second to accommodate. The result is a bobble-head movement that became hard for me to shake!

The internship itself was a unique opportunity because it gave me the privilege of working with local Bulgarians, U.S. agents, and other foreign agents. The culture of the workplace itself is unusual because of this and the fact that many employees both work and live together. The result is close ties between staff members: the Embassy is its own community.

My experience abroad was ideal and I must once again thank Mrs. Kylie Goodell for her recommendation. My advice for all QUEST students is that if you ever get a chance to spend extended time overseas, do it. It’ll change you for the better and you won’t forget your experiences any time soon.

Daniel-Jason Minzie

Philosopher
Cohort 20

190: A Mentor’s Perspective

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The mentors of 190 (Spring - 2014)

By Nicole Blahut

As a mentor for Cohort 22, I get to experience 190 all over again but in a much different way. Going from mentee to mentor has been a fun and rewarding experience. Last year in fall, as a student of Cohort 20, I was in their shoes. But things have changed; the class has developed and grown. With the new two cohort model came a new structure to the introduction course. So while I have completed this course, it is not the same class I once experienced. Based on the feedback from students and the success of all the teams I would definitely say this course is continuously improving. When I was a mentee and gave our first presentation all the mentors said that we had presentations and ideas way better than they had. Dr. Bailey would say that every year the cohort gets better and better. I thought this was said simply as a nice thing to say, but now being on the other side of the presentations I can confidently say that it is true. Cohort 22’s presentations were outstanding. I was blown away about how much better they were than when I was in their place. It is rewarding to see the program grow and improve with each year.

Being a mentor, I get the opportunity to see a team from the other side. We get to see their development and team dynamic unfold. Being a mentor is all about understanding your team and their needs. Not every team functions in the same way. Two completely successful teams may have completely different team dynamics and styles. There is no one correct formula. So in the mentor class we learn how we can best support and facilitate our teams based on how they have organically formed.

One of the biggest takeaways from being a mentor so far is wanting your mentees to do well without you. Not being needed may feel like I am not being a good mentor but actually it illustrates that as a mentor I have supported my team and provided them with enough tools for them to be self-sufficient. I cannot always be there for my team, so it would in fact be a negative if they needed me all the time. I think as leaders often times we almost don’t want our teams to not need us. Through mentoring I have learned that the most successful leaders are those that can sustain progress and success even after they have gone.

Mentoring has been a great experience and I look forward to seeing my team grow. I highly recommend any member of Cohort 21 and 22 to consider being a mentor. It is such a unique learning experience.

QUEST Recruiting

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QUEST Recruiting Picture

By Drew Stasak

In the quest for new students to fill cohorts 23 and 24, the QUEST Recruiting team has been hard at work promoting the program and encouraging students to apply. Recruiting utilized three main tactics: word of mouth, tabling, and info sessions. Word of mouth was our primary focus and it was how 43% of the applicants heard about QUEST. Tabling sessions consisted of QRecruiting members stationed in high traffic areas to reach Clark, CMNS, and Smith students. We handed out flyers to interested students and encouraged them to come to the information sessions to learn more. This year we completely redesigned our presentation for the info session. At the info sessions, we met a lot of awesome people, and with the help of some QUEST ambassadors, gave these prospective students their first design challenge. After tasking them to innovate the Ramen noodle eating experience and improve the biking experience on campus, we received some amazing responses, ranging from a noodle cooling fan to a bike lock stored in the handlebars of normal bikes! We can say with confidence that the applicants of Q23 and Q24 will not disappoint. The recruiting efforts were a complete success with over 200 applications submitted for the program!

Many don’t know but QUEST Recruiting does more than just promote QUEST. Currently there is only a showcase of the work students have put in for 490, so we are creating one to celebrate all of the best accomplishments from QUEST in the past year, including class projects, the student groups in QUEST, and more. We are very excited about this event, and will keep you updated on it’s progress In addition, QUEST Recruiting will be making new videos to inform corporate sponsors, prospective students, and the general community about the benefits of the QUEST Program. We will need help from a lot of people with the video, so if you are interested in helping, please e-mail Drew. We are confident that the future of QUEST Recruiting will be a bright one. Thanks to everyone for all of their help this year!

Student Spotlight: Kyle King – 4K For Cancer

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Kyle King biking on his 4K

Cancer can be life-changing, career-ending, and dream-ending. However, it doesn’t have to be like that.

The Ulman Cancer Fund (UCF) envisions “a world in which all young adults affected by cancer will have access to the resources necessary to thrive.” They work specifically to help young adults overcome cancer through their Navigator program, which provides guidance to young adults on how to get the support they need.

I am seeking to help further the UCF cause by biking across the country with the 4K for Cancer Program. As a team of 35 riders, we will be riding from Baltimore, MD to Seattle, WA from June 1st to August 9th. By riding, we will be able to impact cancer patients and their families by awarding college scholarships, hosting fundraiser dinners, and conducting other service activities. This support is what helps keep the Navigator program functioning.

I need your help. After two months of fundraising, I have raised just over $3,200 of my $6,000 goal. Please support this cause by making a personal donation at: http://bikingagainstcancer.com/ and/or supporting us at one of our events on the UMD campus this spring (see the website for more info).

Thank you in advance for your support of this important cause.

Winter Reading List from The Quality Guild

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Winter Reading

           Often, the pleasure of picking up a good book seems just out of reach. September through November our schedules are packed with classes, meetings, and a long list of other obligations. However, during the holiday season we often find time to pick up our favorite novel or explore the pages of an acclaimed bestseller. Indeed, books are a rare treat from the chaos of everyday life. So while we still have the opportunity, I figured it was about time that QUESTPress published a winter reading list with selections from our very own Quality Guild.

           We have selections from Dr. Herrmann, Dr. Bailey, and Kylie in this article, with a brief description of why they chose their book below:

Dr. Herrmann
“Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers who Turned the Tide in the Second World War” by Paul Kennedy

This book is about operations researchers, engineers, and political and military leaders who solved extremely important logistical and technical problems to help defeat the Axis powers in World War II. It discusses protecting convoys, winning control of the air, stopping the blitzkrieg, amphibious landings, and deciding how to regain the vast Pacific. The solutions combined technological, logistical, and organizational innovations. It covers the difficult decisions that were made and gives enough historical background to understand why the problem was important and difficult. I chose it because studying cases of decision-making and problem-solving in the past can help us design systems and improve processes today.

Dr. Bailey
“Creative Confidence” by Tom & David Kelley

This book was given to me by Grace Zhang earlier this semester and I really enjoyed it! Students may know one of my favorite sayings, “while it is easier to criticize than to create, you should create anyway.” Well, this book is great because it describes how every one of us is creative and we shouldn’t just leave the creative arts up to “artists.” If we don’t think we’re creative, it might just be because we haven’t found our best medium. For QUEST students, our medium may be money, numbers, material, or code. While these media are quite different than canvas and plaster, they are still the elements of creativity that we can use every day to express our inner creative “artist.”

Kylie Goodell
“The Happiness Hypothesis” by Jonathan Haidt

This book combines information from a number of areas of research in an interesting and meaningful way. It is witty, insightful, and not too “fluffy”. Reading The Happiness Hypothesis can help you to center yourself after, or in the midst of, the craziness of finals and the holidays!

QUEST’s Newest Addition: 3D Printing

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3D Printer

          As 2013 drew to a close, retrospective articles about the past year began to pop up. Now I usually avoid reading these articles because they never quite cover everything that happened in the past year, but I took exception to one such article in the Washington Post. This article listed the top eight innovations of the past year and one particular innovation took steps to solve global food problems by using 3D printing to print hamburgers. The plan behind this was to input thin sheets of cells into a 3D printer, which would then lay down small layers of these sheets to form the burger. Though I’ve seen people eat some questionable things at the diner I was skeptical about this idea. I began to do some research and found out that NASA is also experimenting with printing food for astronauts in space and that a bio-printing company from San Diego is planning to 3D print a functional liver this year. I figured if 3D printing is doing this much in changing the way we produce food and maybe organs, then it definitely would change the QUEST program.

          This past year QUEST purchased a 3D printer for the QUEST offices in Van Munching. I talked to Dr. Bailey about this new addition to the QUEST family and how it would change the QUEST program. He responded by saying that, “[incorporating 3D printing into a] curriculum is similar to the chicken or the egg. Design the curriculum and then incorporate the tool or have the tool and design the curriculum around it.” It wasn’t the answer I was expecting; however, it forced me to look at the QUEST program as a process of learning, and the possible impact a 3D printer would have on that process.

          Seeking more information about 3D printing, I was introduced to Quest Cohort 1 alumni Steve Kutchi. Mr. Kutchi works for Thales Defense & Security as a Manager for the Mechanical Design Department. Thales does a lot of work with both subtractive and additive manufacturing (which is just another word for 3D printing) for prototyping and finishing part designs. One such printer is the OBJET350 CONNEX which can print over 100 different materials and offers 16-miron high resolution layers that precisely match the image on CAD drawings (Here’s a video of this printer. Check out the different materials used in the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eWOlP9-Ngc). I asked Mr. Kutchi about what 3D printing has done to change the way Thales approaches the process of prototyping and this was his answer:

“3D printing allows product designs to iterate much more quickly and get in front of business/marketing and customers for comment and evaluation earlier in the design process. This speeds and enhances concept development and leads to a better understanding and integration of the customer/marketing/business voice to the product. Since the parts/product can be touched and can made to be as realistic as needed there is little left to imagination so the feedback we get is more appropriate…This helps to facilitate our case understanding and expose potential design flaws while we are early in the design, where the costs to change the design are relatively low. This has helped us to put higher quality and more user friendly production products in the field much more quickly compared to a traditional development cycle.”

          In 190 last semester, one of the concepts that Dr. Bailey continued to emphasize was the voice of the customer and its impact on our innovations. Each team used various tools that included surveys, interviews, and focus groups to determine possible improvements they could make to their design; however, such tools can fail if the product is hard to visualize or comprehend. Looking at the positive impact 3D printing had on Thales’ design process, a 3D printer could enhance the effectiveness of tools like surveys, interviews, and focus groups. 3D printing provides a detailed, tangible product that will enable teams to receive more helpful feedback from their customers about the specific features of their product and then make iterations based off those recommendations. Though 3D printing can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 48 hours, depending on the size of the product, it still allows teams to make a quick turn-around on a design and develop a product of greater quality. With 3D printing becoming such a crucial component of the design cycle, it is an important tool for students in QUEST to understand.

Special Thanks to Mr. Steve Kutchi, and Dr. Joe Bailey

QUEST Graduating Seniors: Graduation Plans

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QUEST Graduating Seniors: Graduation Plans

Untitled

           As a current sophomore and member of Cohort 22, the thought of graduation seems absolutely improbable. Not only is it difficult to comprehend that in three years I will either be in graduate school or have a job, it is also somewhat intimidating. Current QUEST seniors are currently going through the process of transitioning from undergraduates to professional adults and they all have interesting stories to tell.

           Because QUEST prepares us so well for life after college, QUEST students already have real world experience either through internships or QUEST classes themselves. Classes like Scoping (see last month’s QUESTpress!), Introduction to Design and Quality, and Systems Thinking for Managerial Decision Making give students opportunities to observe different types of professional companies. This is what some of cohort 19 has to say about their plans after graduation, the influence of QUEST, and their last year in College Park!

 

Paul Kelly

“I start work at Telephone and Data Systems in Madison Wisconsin on January 6th, working on SAP application development and support as a Business Systems Analyst for their logistics and Supply Chain Management team. I liked this position a lot because it is somewhere halfway between the functional and technical side of the business; I get to work with the functional side to determine system requirements, and then with the programmers to actually build a solution. QUEST helped me develop a lot of the confidence and communication tools that I used in my internship last summer (as it was very multidisciplinary), which ultimately led to this position.”

Nelson Young

“I start my full-time job with GE Capital’s Financial Management Program (FMP) in Connecticut in mid-July. Before starting work, I’ll be studying abroad in Milan at Bocconi University. I have already completed all my degree requirements, so my semester study abroad is mainly for international experience. QUEST has encouraged me to work in a corporate environment that encourages teamwork to solve problems. My internship over the summer with GE Capital frequently reminded me of the concepts I learned in QUEST and I was glad to have had the experiences I learned from QUEST to apply it to my work. I may not have been given a full-time offer if I had not learned the QUEST ideas and values. BMGT390H [Systems Thinking for Managerial Decision Making] will likely help me the most during my post-grad life as it helps me to approach problems in different ways. For instance, I have used implication wheels now multiple times when making on tough decisions.”

Danny Laurence

“After graduation I will be working in Northern Virginia at a Company named Dante Inc. (https://www.danteinc.com/store/danteinc/Home). QUEST influenced not necessarily my career path, but where I ended up. I had a few offers on the table at bigger companies, and they all seemed great. Dante was the only offer I received from a smaller company, but after interviewing with them, I realized that they were the only ones who seemed to embody what QUEST is about; an entrepreneurial spirit, teamwork, trust, and rapid prototyping were among the things that Dante had that I learned in QUEST. As far as classes are concerned, for me teaching the web development course was the class that prepared me most for my life after graduation. There is a lot, however, to be said about simply being in this community that has guided me in my career choice.”

Margaret Zheng

“I’ll be taking Becker CPA courses and the exams until July. After that I’ll start at Deloitte as an auditor. QUEST has helped to polish me into a young professional and someone who is confident to lead. I’ve always known that I wanted to be in the accounting field but QUEST helped provide the resources to support all my other coursework and the recruiting process. Personally, 190 [Introduction to Design and Quality] was the most helpful because that’s where we learned about Total Quality Tools – it was a foundation for not only the rest of QUEST but also the rest of college and my internship experiences.”