Best 2019 MOT Capstone Awards
We are pleased to announce the Finalists and Winner(s) of the 2019 Best Capstone Award for TLI’s M.S. in Management of Technology (MOT) program.
First, here are our finalists (now all alumni, having just graduated in May!) and their capstone titles:
- Chris Eriksen, Emerson Automation Solutions, “New Technology Opportunities for the Liquid Analysis Industry”
- Jonathan Highness, U.S. Navy, “Agile Policy: Improving Key Performance Indicators Through an Agile Stage-Gate Policy Development Process”
- Eric Kramlinger, U.S. Bank (formerly at Daugherty Business Solutions), “Skills Inventory: A Tool for Connecting Employees”
- Amrit Supriya, Cummins, “Rethinking the Small Desk for Homes Using a New Startup Methodology”
- Faizal Wardana, Telkom Indonesia, “Expanding Telkom Indonesia’s Business Portfolio with an Integrated Agriculture Service”
We had additional high-quality capstones as well, so narrowing down this list was difficult. However, the capstone instructors felt that these five were a notch above the rest.
And if deciding on the Finalists was hard, determining whom to select as the winner(s) was even harder. The Capstone Award Committee reviewed all of these five and, after deliberation, we agreed to give two awards, one each for an entrepreneurial and an “intrapreneurial” project. The winners are Amrit Supriya and Faizal Wardana!
Amrit Supriya’s capstone is a tour de force. His idea was born from a personal need to address back pain while reading and it led to his developing a new design for a small desk for the home. Not satisfied with just the design activity, he built prototypes, one of which he wheeled into his capstone defense. Perhaps more importantly, he also developed and deployed a new startup methodology, identifying numerous MOT tools that can be employed at various stages of an entrepreneurial innovation. Amrit is continuing to refine his product and has filed for intellectual property protection with the help of the UMN Office of Technology Commercialization. Amrit, who already had an M.S. in Electrical Engineering: Systems from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, refers to MOT as “the best academic program I have pursued in my career.”
The second winner is the first MOT international student to have been awarded the Best Capstone Award! Faizal Wardana joined the MOT program as a Fulbright Scholar from Indonesia. He has worked for Telkom Indonesia, an ICT (information and communication technology) company for several years and he sought a capstone topic that would benefit his company. His capstone develops a plan for e-agriculture offerings for Indonesia’s farmers that can help them with obtaining the information and services they need to improve their production and profitability. Faizal also made extensive use of MOT tools, and he included detailed program plans and financial analyses. Faizal plans to return to Indonesia and help realize the smart agriculture business and technology plan he has developed so thoroughly. Faizal graciously thanks his MOT professors and the TLI staff for “making the whole experience wonderful and memorable” (winters aside, we presume).
Join us in congratulating Mr. Surpiya and Mr. Wardana, as well as the other finalists!
About the Author
Tariq Samad, PhD
- Honeywell/W.R. Sweatt Chair in Technology Management
- Senior Fellow
- Director of Graduate Studies - MOT
- MDI Faculty
Honeywell/W.R. Sweatt Chair in Technology Management
Dr. Tariq Samad brings more than 30 years of professional experience, leadership and expertise to TLI. His corporate career was spent at Honeywell, where he focused on technology strategy and management, encompassing the end-to-end concept-to-commercialization pathway. He also has substantial experience in research and innovation globally, and works with TLI to pursue research interests in areas such as clean energy, advanced manufacturing and smart cities. Dr. Samad serves as the director of graduate studies for the Master of Science in Management of Technology degree program at TLI.