Easton Program News

Level 5 Leadership— Easton Keynote Speaker Ty Curry, ZS Associates

Easton organized its fifth annual keynote event on February, 20^th. Each year, Easton brings distinguished speakers to address the keynote event. Like previous years, this year’s event also focused on preparing students for future leadership positions, management knowledge and entrepreneurial disposition, to succeed in diverse technical settings— whether in small start-ups or in bigger technology corporations.

Ty Curry, Managing Principal with ZS Associates, was our featured guest speaker for the event. Ty has been instrumental in helping his clients develop and implement sales strategies to help boost overall productivity and market reach.

Ty shared Jim Collin’s perspective of Level Five leaders— leaders who lead with humility and an unwavering will, putting their team and institution before them. Many level 5 leaders are shy, gracious, quiet and self-effacing the attributes also associated with technically savvy people.

Easton Hosts FLoW (First Look West) Western Region Business Plan Competition Semi-Finals

Easton at UCLA Anderson hosted the semi-finals for FLoW on Thursday, March 28th. FLoW flow.caltech.edu is a Business Plan competition funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) in the western United States region.  It is collaboration with Caltech, UCLA, USC and UC Berkeley on the University Council. This is the second year FLoW was held. 

Fifty-three teams submitted their interest statements from the various universities in the western states and twenty-two teams participated in the semi-finals this year, around 16 teams in the Business Ready category and six in the Transformational Idea category.  The qualifying teams for the Finals at the Semi-Finals hosted by UCLA Anderson’s Easton Technology Leadership Program on March 28, 2013 will be competing for $100, 000 award prize during the finals on May 7, 2013.

Many teams comprised students from multiple universities.  Student teams were judged and given feedback by judges from organizations including Tech Cost Angels, Lux Capital Partners, DJF Frontier, Morrison & Foerster, Electron Vault, Dow Ventures, Miramar Vanture Partners, InSolar, Phoenix Venture Partners, Cleantech Open and Cleantech Incubator.

The panel for the competition was:

−        Jon Bassett

−        Christopher Buckstein

−        Anita Choi

−        Shahin Farshchi

−        Rob Ferber

−        Steve Hahn

−        Armond Hairapetian

−        Nobuyuki Kambe

−        Andrew Kim

−        Mike Panesis

−        Kevin Randoph

−        Al Schneider

−        Erik Steeb

−        Fred Walti

This event was an opportunity for the students in the Easton program, at Anderson, and at UCLA to launch their entrepreneurial ideas in the cleantech space and to form networks with students at multiple universities.

Innovation 2020— the Next World Leading Technologies, Trends and Challenges

Easton Program organized an “Innovation 2020— Next World Leading Technologies” workshop on March 6^th. The workshop themed around high-tech industry focused on the emerging technologies and need to imbibe them to stay ahead in innovation as the market keeps evolving.

Four panelists presented the current trend, challenges and future perspectives on cutting edge technologies in the areas of new media/video, cloud computing, biotechnology and clean technology.

The panelist for the workshop comprised of industry experts-

−        Terrence Allota (Senior Associate Scientist, Amgen)

−        Ben Bono (Senior Marketing Manager, Deca.tv)

−        Samba Pedapalli (Field Application Architect, Workday)

−        Michael Swords (Executive Director of Strategic Research & Global Partnerships, UCLA Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research)

Tadamitsu Nishida, a full-time MBA and an Easton Student Council member helped organize this event.

Key Successful Factors to Become an Innovative Entrepreneur

Last quarter the Easton Program hosted its first Entrepreneur Panel, “Key Successful Factors to Become an Innovative Entrepreneur”.  The talks helped address issues central to becoming an innovative entrepreneur—why some entrepreneurs flourish and some fail, business development, funding, and market creation.

Panelists included:

Brian Shedd (Technology Transfer Officer, OIP, UCLA)

Claire Cannon (Product Manager, Rexter.com)

Clark Li (Co-Founder, Rently.com)

Maki Saito (President, ASU International)

Tamra Johnson (COO, Dryad Communications; President, T. Johnson Group)

Reiko Tamura (Founder, World People USA)

The panel speakers talked about factors critical to entrepreneurial success, such as lean development, effective use of technology, great management, marketing, and a solid business idea.

Tadamitsu Nishida, the Easton Student Council member who organized this event, observed that the panelists’ past careers did not play a key role in their success as entrepreneurs. Rather, success came from their optimism in the face of obstacles, their energy, and their strong ability to communicate.

Easton’s next panel session will be held in March 2013, and will be themed around the high-tech industry. 

Design for America comes to UCLA Anderson

The Easton Program is excited to support a recently introduced Anderson student club, Design for America (DFA).

DFA is a nationwide network of studios—centers where interdisciplinary student teams, advisors, professionals, and community members come together to make an impact through the use of design thinking. The UCLA studio will join an existing network that includes Columbia, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, and several other institutions.

DFA student collaborators use human-centered design to tackle challenges within the areas of education, health, and environmental issues. They are supported throughout the design process by faculty advisors, community partners, peers, and professional design mentors.

UCLA DFA leader Remy Monteko-Sherman explains the decision to bring DFA to Anderson:

“DFA strives to be the epicenter of design and innovation at UCLA. We hope to accomplish bringing together diverse perspectives in order to fuel innovative ideas that address important social issues. We started a UCLA branch of the club because we were excited about the possibility of UCLA's diverse talent innovating together. Anderson students that get involved will be reminded that they, too, can be creative.”

If you have specific questions about UCLA Anderson DFA or would like to get involved, please contact KC Fox to join the DFA mailing list. Students interested in joining a DFA project team must attend a winter kick-off workshop—details to come. 

UCLA Anderson School of Management Receives Additional $2 Million from Easton

The Easton Program has just been the recipient of an additional gift from James and Phyllis Easton--please see below for the official press release from the UCLA Newsroom. 

UCLA Anderson School of Management Receives Additional $2 Million from James Easton

 Gift will Continue and Grow Technology Leadership Program

Los Angeles (November 6, 2012) —UCLA Anderson School of Management Dean Judy Olian announced a second $2 million gift from James Easton,  in addition to Mr. Easton’s 2008 $2 million gift that was used to set up the Easton Technology Leadership Program.  The ensuing gift will be used to continue and grow the Easton Technology Leadership Program, which focuses on the specific managerial and leadership needs of students with engineering and technology backgrounds and interests.

“The Easton Technology Leadership Program develops science, engineering and IT professionals into leaders of technical teams and organizations.  No other business school has a program tailored to address this vital need. This immensely successful program would not have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of Jim Easton, whose business experiences and vision were essential in shaping the program,” said Judy Olian, Dean of UCLA Anderson. “The second gift enables us to extend the program’s impact and scale.  Without Jim, there would be no program.”

The Easton Technology Leadership Program offers innovative elective courses and case studies that prepare MBA graduates to succeed in diverse technical environments.  The program draws heavily upon the expertise of faculty in operations and technology management, as well as upon seasoned industry professionals who bring their experiences into the classroom.  Adjunct faculty with industry backgrounds, both teach in the program and assist in its design.

“UCLA has been a big part of my life since my time as an undergraduate, and John Anderson was a personal mentor of mine, so I saw UCLA Anderson as the perfect place to help tackle the problem of raising leaders who are as savvy about science and technology as they are about business and management,” said Jim Easton.

"As we’ve started putting the pieces of the Easton Technology Leadership Program into place, we’ve realized even more how visionary Jim’s gift was. The feedback we have received, from students, and from the many industry leaders who act as mentors or speakers in the program, has been encouraging," said Charles Corbett, professor for DOTM, and faculty director for Easton. “We’re delighted that we can continue to build on the strong foundation that Jim helped us lay, and we look forward to continuing to grow the program.”

Easton received his B.S. in engineering from UCLA in 1959.  He is chairman and CEO of Jas. D. Easton, Inc., a privately owned manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of archery and other sports equipment, a member of UCLA Anderson’s Board of Visitors since 1988 and a generous benefactor to both the school and the university.  In recognition of his generosity, he was named one of the founding members of Entrepreneur’s Hall at UCLA Anderson in 2005.

About UCLA Anderson School of Management

UCLA Anderson School of Management is among the leading business schools in the world. UCLA Anderson faculty members are globally renowned for their teaching excellence and research in advancing management thinking. Each year, UCLA Anderson provides a distinctive approach to management education to more than 1,800 students enrolled in its MBA, Fully-Employed MBA, Executive MBA, Global Executive MBA for Asia Pacific, Global Executive MBA for the Americas, Master of Financial Engineering, doctoral and executive education programs. Combining selective admissions, varied and innovative learning programs, and a world-wide network of 37,000 alumni, UCLA Anderson develops and prepares global leaders. Follow UCLA Anderson on Twitter at http://twitter.com/UCLAAnderson, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/uclaanderson

Easton's inaugural San Diego area event

In response to a growing Easton Program presence in the San Diego area, our first Easton satellite event—“From Venture Start-Up to Fortune 500: Perspectives from Strategic Consultants”—was held at UC San Diego on Saturday, September 22^nd. We would like to thank Jing Shi (FEMBA 2013) and Prakash Krishnan (FEMBA 2013)—both students of the Easton Program—for organizing this event, along with the members of the San Diego Chinese Association of Science and Technology (CAST-SD) and the UCSD Chinese Students and Scholars Association (UCSD-CSSA).

 

This talk featured Dr. Wayne Huang (pictured above, in discussion with our Easton students), Management Consultant and MD/CTO at China Equity. Dr. Huang has over 20 years of management and entrepreneurship experience, particularly in operations, and gave event attendees valuable insights into the start-up scene in Southern California.

During this event, participants were able to participate in an interactive discussion with Dr. Huang and network extensively with each other. Valuable information was presented regarding startups and new businesses in California, verticals experiencing rapid growth (in San Diego, mainly biotech and healthcare), and the current venture capital ecosystem in Southern California. Our Easton students were also able to get suggestions for gaining financing and partners for their own ventures, and learn about potential career opportunities. 

Our Easton representatives with Dr. Wayne Huang

2012 Easton Fellows announced

This past school year, the Easton Program inaugurated its Easton Fellowship Award. Easton Fellows are admitted Easton students who actively meet their program requirements and excel in doing so.

After taking into account their academic achievements, leadership, and program involvement, James Shaw (FEMBA 2013) and Terang Kim (MBA 2012) were selected as this year’s Easton Fellows.

Besides the distinction of being selected from a large group of applicants, Easton Fellows also receive several benefits: a monetary award, priority enrollment in Technology Management 241A, priority in our Easton Industry Mentoring program, and priority for small group meetings with our Leadership Styles Series speakers. The Fellows distinction is highlighted on their Easton certificate and on the Easton website for the academic year.

The Easton Program extends its congratulations to James and Terang, the 2012 Easton Fellows. For their bios, please see the links below.

   

                                     James Shaw                        Terang Kim

 

Easton Program sponsors the POMS 2012 Chicago Conference

This past April, the Easton Program had the opportunity to sponsor the 2012 Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) Conference in Chicago, Illinois. This conference, themed “Socially Responsible Operations” for 2012, is one of the premier academic conferences worldwide in production and operations management, including technology management.

UCLA Anderson already has a presence within POMS—not only did many of the Anderson faculty in the DOTM area attend the conference, but our own professors Chris Tang and Kumar Rajaram were part of the POMS Planning Committee (General Chair and Program Chair, respectively).

Easton’s sponsorship of the conference gave us the opportunity to expand UCLA’s presence in this arena, and spread awareness of our program to over two thousand conference participants and representatives from forty-five countries. 

Industry Visit to Google

On April 9, 2012, a group of Easton Program students were given the opportunity to attend an industry visit to Google. We would like to extend our thanks to Tim Frank—an Easton Program alum who hosted this visit—along with Roy Zheng, who helped coordinate with our Easton students.

In addition to an informal lunch and panel discussion, our students were able to get a first-hand look at Google’s culture.  Several Easton students commented that this visit gave them valuable insights into what it would be like to work at Google on an everyday basis—a company which, from their observations, is able to retain its entrepreneurial spirit and start-up roots despite its current size. A favorite memory for many of our students was the giant, real-life version of “Angry Birds” set up on the fourth floor of Google’s office.

A group photo of our Easton students after a lunch at Google.