Operations Management Night will focus on current sophomores

The Maryland professor organizing Operations Management Night said Wednesday he has a new goal in mind for the annual event occurring Nov. 17, 2010 from 6-8 p.m. in the Executive Dining Room on the second floor of Van Munching Hall.

Dr. Kazim Ruhi, a Tyser Teaching Fellow at the Smith School of Business, said Operations Management Night would be focused on Maryland sophomores considering a major in operations management.

"Second-year students have to take a major here [in the Smith School of Business] when they go to junior year," Ruhi said. "This night, the main target is … the sophomore students."

Ruhi said the event, which he expects about 100 students to attend, would give juniors and seniors majoring in operations management, as well as students considering it, a better understanding of the business.

Five companies, including consumer products manufacturer Unilever, automobile company Volvo, retail giant Target, accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and research organization Concurrent Technologies Corporation, will send multiple representatives to the event, said Ruhi.

Under the agenda Ruhi outlined, the lead representative for each company will give a 10-minute presentation about his or her role and responsibilities as well as how operations management pertains to that company.

All representatives, Ruhi said, will mingle with students during an hour-long dinner. The event will be subdivided into a first hour of presentations and a second hour of eating and informal roundtable discussions.

Ruhi said he hopes students will come away with a clear idea of operations management, which he described as a lucrative field.

"This is one of the high-pay majors in here," said Ruhi, adding that the operations management and finance majors have traded the top ranking for expected salary of a Maryland degree-holder for the past few years.

"If you don't want to stay in the cubicle … your whole life, you will have to do the operations management [major]," said Ruhi.

Last year, Ruhi recalled, one representative was so impressed with Operations Management Night attendees that he hired two for a summer internship.

That representative, Michael Conrey, will return to talk about operations management at Volvo, Ruhi noted.

Every student interested in learning more about operations management should come to the event, Ruhi said.

"Always, I recommend [to] students, ‘You need to attend this kind of event'," Ruhi said. "At that time, you will make [up] your mind clearly."

The event is free and open to Maryland students. The dinner menu includes sandwiches, cheese platters and fruit. The flyer advises students to dress in business casual attire.