Student Profile- Special QSO Edition

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Article by Dathan Scott (Q18)

Editor’s Note:  Over the next few issues, QUESTPress will be having a special Student Profile column. Each month, we will be highlighting 1-2 new members of the QSO board. Enjoy! 

Welcome back, everyone! As you all should know by now, a new QSO board was elected for the new year, and we are looking to build on the successes and achievements of its predecessor, or QSO 2011 as I will call them. QSO 2011 fostered, completed, and maintained a number of great things, keeping everyone in the QUEST community informed and active in their involvement and communication with each other. Who could forget great events like QUEST Laser Tag, the QUEST Alumni Dinner, and the QUEST Barbeque with the showdown of the inflatable sumo suits! Plus, I know we all remember the start of the great tradition that is the QUEST Formal. Students, faculty, and alumni all were able to come out and have a great time at these events. Thanks to a record turnout of students at the board member elections last December, a new QSO board was chosen. So who were the selected few to carry on the torch and be known as QSO 2012?

Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the new members. Ladies and gentlemen, your QSO 2012.

President: Sara Bleistein – Cohort 19

Madame President Sara Bleistein has what it takes to lead such a great team of students. The accounting and finance major delivered a great speech during the QSO elections, highlighting the major ideas and the direction that she would like to see QSO and QUEST go. She is a proud member of the Alpha Chi Omega women’s sorority and is in the Honors Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. This may hint to what the future may hold for her; I’m thinking President and CEO, yes?

Sara has worked for Shutterbooth as a sales representative, and at Bentley’s on Route 1. Being the great young woman that she is, Sara gives a lot of credit to her two older brothers who have been her role models from a young age. She gets things done in the classroom, obviously, but something you might not have known is that she is a huge sports fan. She loves UMD sports, especially basketball, and is a diehard Orioles and Ravens fan. She plays sports like volleyball, softball, and flag football, so do not take her lightly at all.

Her goal is for QSO to have a more active role in uniting and supporting the QUEST community.  In the words of a true leader, Sarah reflects on QUEST: “Our community is full of potential because all members have so much to offer each other and the organization as a whole, and I want to work with the other members of QSO in order to aid the members of our community in reaching their full potential and, in turn, allow QUEST to reach its full potential.” She also adds that it is the job of the QSO to help improve the transparency between QSO and the entire QUEST community. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you ever need her, she’ll be happy to provide you with her number. Hit her up on Facebook or you can probably catch her at Chipotle almost every day.

BMGT490H: An Exercise in Teamwork

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Article by Ryan Murphy (Q17, of Project of the Year team “A.I.deas”)

Throughout the Fall ‘11 semester, I had the pleasure of working with Jason Felder, Jeff Jacobs, Shiran Beroukhim, and Avi Prince on an interesting 490 project dealing with artificial intelligence and, specifically, machine reading. The project itself was interesting, novel, and, initially, completely foreign to me. In fact, at first, none of us (except for Jeff, who joined the squad a few days late) really knew much about machine reading or ontologies or DARPA or any of the elements of the final project that we were going to be working with. But, that proved unimportant.

The most important element of our project was our team. Like machine reading, I knew nothing about any of our team members before the project began. I was meeting all of them, except for Shiran, for the first time when we had our initial meeting. If I had the opportunity, I would have chosen to work with friends. However, I am glad that I never had that option as this was easily the best group project experience that I’ve had. Indeed, I learned a great deal about machine reading, artificial intelligence, ontology construction, and technology research methods, but I feel that I learned much more about teamwork.

Of course, during the semester there were times when we disagreed, times when we had to stay late working, and times when we wanted to kill each other. There were many more times, as I remember, that we spent joking, making fun of each other, and making light of situations. It was this mixture of humor and hard work that ultimately made us a cohesive team. It’s this lesson that I think will stay with me for sometime to come – ‘working’ with people on something doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it. In fact, if you don’t enjoy the people that you work with, it becomes quite miserable. That being said, I think it is extremely important to go into group projects like this with an open mind and to strive to make the most of the experience. If I hadn’t adopted this attitude, I probably would have had a terrible semester, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to call the four other team members my friends.

A.I.deas, Project of the Year 2011 winning team

Introducing QUESTudo: A Proud Member of the QUEST Community

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Article by Ehson Kashfipour (Q19)

Everything we do in QUEST is team-based, from classwork to projects to designing our first inter-cohort T-shirt. The idea for a t-shirt that could be worn by all QUEST students (as opposed to the various colors of cohort shirts) was initially proposed by the QUEST Student Organization (QSO) earlier this year. Once the Quality Guild announced the need for great design ideas from QUEST members, students put their creativity to work.

Over several weeks, a number of great designs were submitted and fellow classmates offered their input on each design to make them even better. On October 10, 2011 during the QUEST Ambassador’s meeting, the renowned Reeta Francis (Q17) suggested the idea of putting our school mascot, Testudo, on a purple shirt, dubbing the name “QUESTudo”. It was from here that the design for our new shirt originated.

An original mock-up was drafted later that week, but it took more contributions from fellow QUEST students and staff to create a fun yet professional design. Of course, the idea of a polka dotted bow-tie on QUESTudo was in the mix, but eventually discarded. On October 26, the newest T-shirt design was put to the test of how many “likes” it would earn on the QUEST Facebook page. After being embraced by the entire QUEST community, the design was submitted and approved by the Quality Guild.

As a member of the youngest cohort, I, as with my fellow classmates, am honored and grateful to be a part of the QUEST community and have the desire to give back. We see contributions being made by different students, each utilizing their own expertise and prowess to enhance the QUEST experience. Having had six months of training using Adobe Photoshop as a marketing intern under my belt, I felt it was my turn to show my gratefulness and love for QUEST.

QUEST is a community and everything we do is community-based. The design and production of our new inter-cohort T-shirt resembled that both in the process as well as in the design itself. The QUESTudo design is symbolic of the individuals who make the QUEST community what it is everyday- professional, but most importantly, lots of fun. Be on the lookout for QUESTudo on campus in the very near future!

Spring Break Trip to Panama with Global Brigades

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Article by Alex Bansleben (Q18)

I know what you’re thinking. Even though we still have finals to study for and papers to write, it’s about the time of the year when you’re beginning to wonder, how can I have the best spring break possible? You have one week off of school, and you want to go somewhere warm and have the time of your life. Well, stop your worrying! I’m going to tell you how you can have the best spring break trip (and one that your parents will actually approve of)!

As many of you may know, I am currently working on planning a spring break service trip to Panama with fellow QUEST students. The trip is organized through an international service organization called Global Brigades (www.globalbrigades.org). Every year, GB sends more than 6,000 students abroad on week-long service trips related to one of nine different topics, like public health, the environment, medicine, and others. The program most related to the QUEST program is “business”, which makes this trip officially called a “Global Business Brigade”, but students of all majors are welcome to attend. Here at UMD there is already a Global Medical Brigade club, and they have done three trips to Honduras since their inception.

Because the trip is not officially hosted by the University of Maryland or by the QUEST program, we will have the liberty of designing our own itinerary for this trip. Ideally, here is what it could look like: You will get to spend your week of spring break in rural Panama. Along with other QUEST students, your time will be spent helping to empower community members in the town of Torti Abajo. Every day, you will work in groups of 4-5 people to meet with families/individuals and conduct workshops to help them sell their products and improve their financial stability. Doesn’t that sound similar to the systems thinking approach to process improvement we learn in the core QUEST classes? As a participant on this trip, you will be working with a client (490), listening to the voice of the customer (190), and developing a systems-based solution (390) to help people truly in need. Every day includes a lot of down time, and the town is only one hour east of the exciting Panama City.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough space in this article to discuss every detail of the trip. For now, I can tell that you are wondering how much this trip will cost. The cost of the actual Business Brigade is $880, and flights to Panama in March are generally in the range of $600-700, which adds up to an expected total cost of $1500. However, the fundraising we will be doing as a group could lower that cost substantially. As a trip leader with Alternative Breaks, I can tell you that this cost is lower than any of our week-long international trips.

I hope that you will consider this opportunity to spend your next spring break in Panama with fellow QUESTees! Before the end of the semester, there will be at least one more information session, so be on the lookout for an email or Facebook notification. Also feel free to email me at alex.bansleben@gmail.com for any more information. See you in Panama!

A Night to Remember

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Article by Kate Hartinger (Q17)

It was a beautiful, crisp, fall evening on November 3rd when the students from across the QUEST community came together for one night. It was a night of fun, dancing, some tasty treats and, of course, the Cupid Shuffle…it was the QUEST Formal! It all started last fall at an Ambassadors meeting: A few Cohort 17ers thought it would be awesome to have a QUEST dance. After talking to the Quality Guild, we were able to make the idea a reality. We wanted an opportunity to get the entire community together in a fun, social setting. I was so happy to find how much positive support we received from the beginning.  Sara Bleistein, from Cohort 19, volunteered to help me in planning the event even though she had been in QUEST for less than a semester. This kind of enthusiasm is what truly makes QUEST so special to me.

The event itself was incredible. The Colony Ballroom in the Stamp Student Union was transformed into a fall wonderland with various leaves and gourds for decoration. There was a wide arrangement of hors d’oeuvres from fruits and veggies to egg rolls and wings (and don’t forget the cupcakes!). We had a great turnout of over 125 people and everyone looked dapper in their QUEST Formal finest.  But dresses and snacks aside, the best part was definitely the dancing. After Kylie, one of our QUEST Graduate Assistants, requested “Cupid Shuffle,” it seemed as though no one actually sat down. I even saw Dr. Bailey learning it. After the kickoff, there were some intense dance circles that broke out. I saw the Robot, the Dougie and even some break dancing. Although I will not name names, some dancers do need to work on their “Dougie form”, and you know who you are (Marc and Steve!). We even got to enjoy some old school N*sync, which always equals a good night in my book .  Everyone at the event seemed to have a blast and got to meet more people across different cohorts. We actually had to turn the lights back on at 10 p.m. and kicked some of the last people off the dance floor (…Manas).

As a senior, I really enjoyed having time to let loose before Senior Conference crunch time and bond with the rest of the community. Having great turnout across the three cohorts as well as in the Quality Guild made the night a huge success. I wanted to thank everyone that helped make QUEST Formal happen, especially Sara Bleistein, Melanie Ashton, all ticket sellers and the set-up/clean-up crews. You all helped to make the event a truly memorable night and hopefully, the first of many to come.

QUEST Bowling: A Perfect Game

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Article by Ben Bulka (Q18)

QUEST held its annual community bowling event at TerpZone on October 20th.  The event was, as always, a rousing success, featuring QUEST’s typical combination of fun, free food, and a little friendly competition.  It also provided a chance for QUEST students and faculty to interact outside the classroom in a more relaxed environment.  “It was a lot of fun to see QUEST people in a more informal setting,” noted Cohort 19 member Aditya Sridhar.

The bowling event allowed students to meet new people within QUEST. Cohort 18 member Greg Barr said, ”I know some people in my cohort and the 190 team that I mentor, but this was a good opportunity to branch out and talk to people that I don’t see that often.” The bowling event was a particularly valuable experience for Cohort 19, as they have been together for only a few months and have not had as many opportunities to interact in a social setting.  Cohort 19 member Nelson Young said, ”It definitely helped to meet other people in our cohort who are on other teams that we don’t talk to as much.”

There was a crowded field this year vying for QUEST bowling supremacy.  With experienced Cohort 17 teams, some fresh faces from Cohort 19, and the always-formidable Quality Guild team, the competition was stiff.  However, for the second year in a row, Cohort 18 members Mike Hamilton, Jay Vogel, Garrett Wenger, and yours truly of “Team QUEST Formal?” achieved the highest collective score, with a total of 489.  The team attributed its success to its excellent chemistry.  Wenger said, “In BMGT498Q with David Ashley, we learned that chemistry is a critical component of team success, and I think that our chemistry is really good because we all lived together on the fifth floor of Denton freshman year and have been friends for a while.” Vogel added, “In addition to total pins knocked down, I think we led all teams in high fives.”

The foursome is hoping to capture a third title next year and finish its QUEST career undefeated.  If they fail, it certainly will not be due to lack of effort. “The past two years we just kind of showed up and bowled, but we plan on holding weekly practices next year before the bowling event,” Hamilton said. “It would be pretty cool to win all three of our annual QUEST bowling competitions.”

QUEST Electives- An Experienced Voice

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Article by John Walsh (Q17)

Well, QUEST students, it’s that wonderful time of year again, much like opening presents on Christmas morning, when everyone is trying to figure out what fun and exciting classes to take in the spring. Many of you are burdened with extensive requirements from your major, especially those brave souls in engineering, and you need to make sure that you fulfill those QUEST elective requirements and make them count! After collecting some outside opinions and using my own experiences (since I am currently on my 6th QUEST elective), I am here to provide to you some honest and, hopefully, helpful resources so that you can find the best class for you.

The first class that I would like to talk about is the Non-Profit Consulting class that debuted last year. The objective of this class is to give the students a feel for the consulting and service industries while working within the challenging world of non-profits. Dr. Bailey, Nicole, Melanie, and Melissa Carrier from the Center for Social Value Creation ran this class and taught many of the same tools we all learned in 190 and how to apply them to the non-profit industry. Furthermore, each student worked on a team for an actual client in order to address a problem that client was facing. The staff also brought in many important individuals within the non-profit sector to enhance our learning. This overall experience was the most important class I have taken in terms of preparing me for the rigor of 490.

The next three classes that I have had experience with are Total Quality Management (BMGT 486), Six Sigma (BMGT487) and Project Management (BMGT485). These three classes are respectively taught by Dr. Suarez, Professor Alt, and Professor Ibrahim and teach you very important tools not only for 490, but also for whatever job you are looking to pursue after graduation.

In Total Quality Management, Dr. Suarez teaches students about the usefulness of quality management ideas and how they can be applicable to everyday tasks. Furthermore, since QUEST is all about quality, it is important you know how to manage quality. Project Management is a class that is taught through extensive real-world simulations and you learn the importance of an optimized schedule and how to use the somewhat confusing Microsoft Project. Not only can this additional skill in Microsoft Project look great on a resume, but it can make your 490 experience a lot better (as I found out this semester). Lastly, Six Sigma is a great experience and allows you to understand some very useful tools and procedures for process improvement. While I had experience with the business version of this class, I would personally recommend the engineering version if you have the opportunity because in addition to getting client interaction, you also earn a Six Sigma belt classification by the end of the semester. This can be a major selling point to any future employer.

The last class that I would like to mention is the study abroad opportunity that QUEST provides each winter. I was fortunate enough to go on the China trip and while I could probably write five more articles just on that amazing experience, I am here to tell you to go on a QUEST trip if you can! This year, they are going to Brazil and next year’s trip is still being determined. The amount of learning and personal development you experience over that short time period is more pronounced than in any other class or club I have been a part of at Maryland. You not only learn about a different culture, but you learn about yourself in the process and shed light on a whole new perspective to the way you think. I could not recommend this experience highly enough.

I hope this article has been helpful. While it was somewhat skewed toward business classes, I know that you will have just as great an experience as I have had with these electives. The important thing to remember is that these classes are meant to be helpful for your future and can be very rewarding and fun at the same time. Plus, it is always great to spend more time in class with the Quality Guild!

Networking Dinner Connects Students and Alumni

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Article by Reeta Francis (Q17)

When I first signed up for the QUEST Alumni Networking Dinner, I was apprehensive about attending. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit that networking comes to me about as easily as flying comes to peacocks. Throw in the added challenge of dinner etiquette (there are three forks on this table, and one is for salad…) and the night was leading to more apprehension than joy. Walking into the Garden Restaurant at UMUC on October 3rd, I was happy to see that I would be able to network in an intimate dining setting. Most events I have attended involved mingling in a crowded room; at the dinner, alumni were seated at each table surrounded by QUEST students.

I had the pleasure of sitting with QUEST students Vikram Bhandari (Cohort 18) and Nelly Desmarattes (Cohort 17). Sitting with us was Kyle Bodt, a Senior Consultant at IBM and a member of Cohort 14. Between appetizers, main courses, and desserts we talked with Kyle about life after graduation, life as a consultant, and life after QUEST. Conversation throughout the night was engaging, informative, and entertaining; it provided professional advice with a personal touch. One of the more interesting topics that came up was the QUEST Alumni Board, of which Kyle is a member. As a soon-to-be graduate, it was interesting to hear about how alumni can still be involved in QUEST post-college.

What I liked most about this night was the fact that I was able to network with alumni and fellow QUEST students. I got to know Kyle, but I also learned a lot about Nelly and Vik. The dinner cemented the idea that QUEST is an inter-cohort community. As a member of that community, it is important to stay connected to each other. There are about as many QUEST students out there as there are endangered giant pandas on this planet. No one can appreciate what it means to be in QUEST the way QUEST students can. We pandas should try to stick together.

Entrepreneur Dr. Ivan Misner once said, “networking is not about hunting. It is about farming. It’s about cultivating relationships. Don’t engage in ‘premature solicitation’. You’ll be a better networker if you remember that.” The Alumni Dinner was a great start to building a rapport between QUEST students and alumni; we planted the seeds and now we’ll see what grows as time goes on.

A Glimpse Into 490 Projects

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Article by Phil Anderson (Q17)

The QUEST program’s capstone course, BMGT490H, gives students an opportunity to form teams and consult with a real-world company with the aim of recommending changes to current processes to accomplish various goals. While there is a modicum of structure to the course schedule involving presentation dates, rough estimates of deliverable dates, and final project deadlines, 490 isn’t your typical course. 490 is a truly unique course with unique opportunities and projects. Every group develops and follows their own project schedule, which is only part of the group’s independence. Without the fixed schedule of a normal class, groups are able to pursue ideas that are most relevant to their projects and solutions. The 490 projects also include true opportunities to make a difference, with some project successes saving their clients millions of dollars.

This semester, my group and I have the wonderful opportunity to work with Bowles Fluidics Corporation towards a goal of sustainable and more efficient internal shipping processes. Bowles Fluidics is an established manufacturer of automotive washer nozzles, among other fluidics components (think: sprinklers, shower heads, and Jacuzzis). A pioneer in their field, Bowles has over 250 patents and a large market share; 85% of US-made vehicles use Bowles’ solutions. Currently, Bowles manufactures their parts in Columbia, MD, and then ships them south to Fresnillo, Mexico for final assembly. To reduce waste and save on packaging costs, our team, H2Optimized, is looking into reusable packaging solutions to replace Bowles’ current packaging.

Our project with Bowles holds a number of interesting aspects and learning opportunities. As a team, we have the opportunity to gain familiarity with supply chain management, a complex field where hands-on experience can be a tremendous advantage. Understanding Bowles’ current process and the design criteria that went into building it is not only key to our team’s success, but also very valuable for anyone’s future involving supply chain management. As Bowles undergoes both manufacturing and external shipping changes, our team is able to give our innovative input into the restructuring of the internal shipping process.

We’re also fortunate to have the opportunity to research how waste reduction and environmental issues go hand-in-hand. This includes researching tax incentives, energy credits, and government subsidization. A fast-paced and exciting topic in today’s society, waste reduction is a factor of growing importance in manufacturing processes. It is refreshing to know that large companies care about this from an environmental perspective, and working with Bowles towards this goal has already taught our team so much.

The most important lesson our capstone course teaches, however, is independence and responsibility as a consultant. In all of the projects, both the clients and advisors very much treat the students as peers, resulting in all of the teams working with real responsibility and real consequences. With this will come a level of satisfaction at the end of the semester that we have made a difference and really accomplished something. H2Optimized is excited to come to an ultimate solution and to make this difference, but, before this, we’re simply excited to learn and take in the experiences along the way.

The Family That Eats Together Stays Together

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Weekly QUEST Family Dinners encourage friendships outside of the classroom

Article by Meenu Singh (Q19)

Wednesday is one of the most daunting days of the week. Though not quite as agonizing as a dreary Monday may be, Wednesday is the day when homework piles up and stress levels run high.  It’s those days when we wish for the comfort of people we love– what better way to relax then to chow down and spend QUALITY time with your QUEST family?

Enter:  QUEST Family Dinner.

Every Wednesday at 6 pm, QUEST students from all cohorts are invited to meet in the South Campus Diner to eat dinner, meet other QUEST students, and enjoy each other’s company in a casual, relaxed atmosphere.

The idea for QUEST Family Dinner originated from running into other hungry Q19 friends at the South Campus Diner each week while grabbing dinner before BMGT/ENES190H class.  The next question automatically came to mind:  If we all have to eat, why not eat as a group?

The most important part about QUEST Family Dinner is the informal, flexible atmosphere; students can purchase food from the South Campus Diner, bring their own food, or not eat at all and just hang out.  Students can multi-task while socializing if they please.  Though the unofficial start time is 6 pm, students can drop in at whatever time they are available.

QUEST Family Dinner is a great opportunity for QUEST students to bond outside of class and make connections that do not exclusively revolve around class work and team meetings. “It was cool to meet new people and learn more about everyone there,” said Q19’s Josh Taylor, who recently attended his first Family Dinner.

To reiterate, though QUEST Family Dinner takes place before Q19’s BMGT/ENES190H course, it is open to all members of QUEST. “Though we all seem to wear the QUEST label, or magnetic nametag, really, QUEST students often identify first with their cohort when interacting with each other,” said Q18’s Manas Kulkarni.  “Inter-cohort cohesion is just as important as intra-cohort cohesion, and I think the QUEST Family Dinner is a step in the right direction.”

Though recent turnouts have been modest, the hope is that ultimately, QUEST Family Dinners become an anticipated part of students’ weekly schedules and are widely attended by the entire QUEST community.  We’re all one big happy QUEST family; let’s eat together like one, too.  See you on Wednesday!