{"id":10704,"date":"2020-10-24T12:06:40","date_gmt":"2020-10-24T19:06:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=10704"},"modified":"2020-10-24T12:06:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-24T19:06:40","slug":"tmp-practical-education-for-an-evolving-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=10704","title":{"rendered":"TMP: Practical Education for an Evolving World"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Students<\/a>

Students in UCSB\u2019s Technology Management Program listen to a recent presentation on Nectir, a new system for connecting classrooms. | Credit: Courtesy<\/p><\/div>\n

Preparation meets opportunity in UCSB\u2019s Technology\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>Management Program (TMP), which\u00a0<\/strong>trained 2,400 undergraduate students last year\u00a0<\/strong>alone. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The certificate program covers subjects such as\u00a0business strategy, entrepreneurship, marketing, management,\u00a0finance, and startup business models as well\u00a0as current issues in technology, business, and society.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause UCSB doesn\u2019t have a business school, students\u00a0aren\u2019t really exposed to the basics about what it\u2019s\u00a0like to work in an organization,\u201d explained Kyle Lewis<\/a>,\u00a0TMP\u2019s chair. \u201cSo we have courses that the students\u00a0would otherwise not get.\u201d<\/p>\n

TMP is technically part of the College of Engineering,\u00a0but it\u2019s open to all students, and 80 percent who\u00a0enroll are not engineers. \u201cOften, these are very motivated\u00a0students, and they\u2019re taking our courses because\u00a0they believe it will help them get jobs, and in fact it\u00a0does,\u201d she explained. \u201cSo we have a lot of students who\u00a0have gone through the certificate who have been very,\u00a0very successful on the job market with majors that\u00a0could have made it more challenging for them to get\u00a0good jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lewis said that a primary goal is to keep students of\u00a0all backgrounds aware of how technology is changing\u00a0our world. \u201cWhat we\u2019re able to bring to the classroom\u00a0is research that we\u2019ve been doing for a long time that\u2019s\u00a0now very, very relevant,\u201d she said. \u201cHow does tech\u00a0influence human behavior and decision making? And\u00a0how do humans affect technology?\u201d<\/p>\n

The COVID pandemic is making this sort of training\u00a0all the more relevant. \u201cChange equals opportunities in\u00a0this type of environment,\u201d said Dave Adornetto<\/a>, the\u00a0executive director of TMP\u2019s entrepreneurship program.\u00a0\u201cSo there\u2019s just going to be all sorts of new problems\u00a0to solve with technology.\u201d He sees that revolutions are\u00a0particularly underway for healthcare and education.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenges, of course, are around engagement,\u201d\u00a0he explained, \u201chow to keep people engaged when they\u00a0are remote.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Curtis<\/a>, who completed his Masters of Technology\u00a0Management degree in June, is seeing these\u00a0changes firsthand in his new job as an associate project\u00a0manager at Apeel Sciences, which itself was launched\u00a0after winning TMP\u2019s New Venture Competition in 2012.\u00a0He was hired in April, right as everyone went into\u00a0full lockdown. \u201cWe had a virtual online orientation, and\u00a0it went a lot better than I was anticipating,\u201d Curtis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been very pleasantly surprised with how much of\u00a0a relationship I\u2019ve been able to build with a lot of my\u00a0coworkers. I thought that being online would be a little\u00a0weird, but I do feel like I\u2019ve been absorbed into the community\u00a0and culture of Apeel.\u201d<\/p>\n

This kind of training and connection is becoming\u00a0the new social norm. \u201cWith so much change happening\u00a0in the world right now,\u201d said Adornetto, \u201cI\u2019m excited to\u00a0see what\u2019s going to come out in terms of student creativity\u00a0and ideas, because I think natural applications will\u00a0emerge from their experiences with these technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though TMP has long been associated with startups,\u00a0that\u2019s not the program\u2019s only application. \u201cA lot of the\u00a0students are thinking about joining established firms,\u00a0and they\u2019re joining in positions where innovation is\u00a0required,\u201d said Lewis. \u201cThe skills and the learning are\u00a0absolutely portable to all kinds of organizations where\u00a0innovation has to occur constantly, and they are learning\u00a0how to do that.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0tmp.ucsb.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Tech<\/a>

Tech Talk Special Issue for Santa Barbara Independent, published October 1, 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Tech Talk Special Issue<\/a> for the Santa Barbara Independent<\/em><\/a>, originally published on October 1, 2020.<\/p>\n

To read the issue as it appeared in print, please click here, Tech Talk 768_10_01_20<\/a><\/p>\n

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