The Business of Green

It’s the little idea that could.  Last year, Vice Dean Linda Krzykowski pulled together the first annual G3 MBA project - shorthand for Going Green Globally - on a shoestring, begging and borrowing what she needed to create the program.  This year, fueled by a UAlbany Instructional Innovation Grant of $5,000, G3 can really take off.  Though with the high fuel prices, they’d best be investigating using alternative fuels.

Krzykowski said, “Paul Miesing and I had an idea to provide integration and globalization concepts for our full time MBA program.  We debated lots of ideas but chose renewable energy as the focus because it was topical and tied into the campus book project (the UAlbany 2007 Campus Reading Project: “Field Notes from a Catastrophe” by Elizabeth Kolbert) and sounded like it would lend itself to what we wanted to accomplish. Once we began, it seemed to take on a life of its own.  We had no funding but we did the best we could ... we asked for favors, people donated time. It was successful beyond our wildest dreams.”

For years, the MBA program offered Global, an intense five week end-of-term class that tested students’ intelligence, worked their nerves and galvanized their teams. Students evaluated companies based on finance, human resources, information technology management and marketing, and then made recommendations for future success.

Students, faculty and staff of Going Green Globally 2007

G3 brings an environmental focus, but the concept remains the same: evaluate a company and present  the results to judges who rival Simon Cowell in criticism.  Instead of the five weeks that Global ran, G3 finishes in only 8 days. Though the program is shorter, there are additions.  One is Pradeep Haldar, who heads the Nanoengineering Constellation of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. Last year, Vice Dean Linda Krzykowski invited Haldar to present to the students. The nanotechnology professor, who holds an MBA as well as a Ph.D. in materials science, enjoyed working with the MBA students so much, he volunteered to help evaluate the initial presentations and attend final presentations.  John Delano, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Sciences participated as well.

This year Haldar is bringing his own students into the project. A group of nanotechnology students will complete an analysis of the various renewable energy sectors and present their findings to MBA students who will use this information to choose emerging companies to evaluate.   Take your PhD/Student to Lunch will bring the MBA and nano teams together to share business and engineering/scientific ideas. Business faculty will evaluate nano PhD student presentations and Dr. Haldar will again present to the MBAs and officially evaluate their work.

Another expert, Jim Mahoney, former CEO of Dayton Power and Light, was drawn into the project by Krzykowski last year.  Mahoney offered to help develop G3 through email, but quickly was drawn into the project and agreed to be a “life line" for student teams as they worked on their projects. Mahoney flew into Albany on his own expense, coached teams in the final afternoon of the project and stayed to hear final presentations the following day. 

This year, Mahoney will expand his involvement to a weeklong experience, is requesting help from the Battelle Institute, the largest Department of Energy research contractor, and is lining up science support life lines for each team. The students will visit the New York Independent System Operator, the entity that operates New York State’s bulk energy grid.

Besides outside experts, we’ve dug into our own treasure trove of expertise.  Associate Professor Paul Miesing played an integral role last year, helping to develop the G3 concept with Krzykowski.  This year eight faculty members requested involvement and will be working closely with the MBA teams. Final presentations will be held on May 14.