Silicon Valley Innovation Immersion Experience
The innovation immersion experience provides a valuable opportunity for direct exposure to companies that have significantly changed their industry landscape through the implementation of innovative management strategies that allowed them to build a sustained competitive advantage.
The course is designed to help students make connections between academic theory and real-world practice. The course helps students integrate concepts from previous courses and gain valuable field experience. This course benefits students by providing a dynamic learning environment that merge traditional education with practical experience. The experience often leads to valuable networking, and it is possible that some of you may end up working at the companies visited. The course involves some extensive interactions with a significant number of executives, entrepreneurs, and venture partners (many sessions are led by successful UMD alumni).
Past company visits have included Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tesla, Adidas, Nike, Electronic Arts, Cisco, Microsoft, eBay, Alaska Airlines, Flextronics, Twitter, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Pixar, Salesforce.com, Intel, and Boeing. In addition, small companies have participated such as Zoosk, Cube, Accelops, WePay, and LaunchSquad. Students have also been exposed to venture capital funds such as Greylock Partners and Mayfield Fund.
The value of this experience is that students will be able to meet working professionals in organizations that have dominated their industry for a sustained period of time. The experience often leads to valuable networking opportunities. Students come away with newfound energy, inspiration, important business contacts and ideas to enhance your future career.
Most of the time for the course is spent in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is widely regarded as the ultimate success as an incubator of start-ups and entrepreneurship. More than 40 percent of all venture capital investments in the United States come from Silicon Valley firms.
The course takes students behind the scenes to reveal the factors underlying the remarkable success of Silicon Valley. Students enrolled in the innovation immersion experience learn about: 1) How Silicon Valley adapts through continuous cycles of innovation; 2) Why the high tolerance for risk, as well as failure, is a huge competitive advantage; 3) How the Silicon Valley business model, including generous and flexible employee benefits, contributes to the robustness of the industries based there; 4) Why venture capital swelled so magnificently in Silicon Valley, while languishing in other major metropolitan cities; 5) What traits set the Silicon Valley entrepreneur apart from others; 6) How to create a quality of life that attracts and retains the best talent in the world.
Along with visiting Silicon Valley, the students have visited Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas the students have participated in the world’s largest annual innovation event (Consumer Electronics Show) that showcases the latest innovations. The show is considered the “Global Stage for Innovation.” CES attracts more than 150,000 industry professionals and more than 3,000 exhibitors introducing over 20,000 new products across a range of product lines.
Past speakers have included Marc Greenberg, Vice President of Finance & Strategy at Pixar, Jeff Markowitz, Partner at Greylock, Howard White, Vice President of the Jordan Brand at Nike, Vinod Paris, Vice President, Engineering at Cisco Systems Inc; Michael George, Vice President of Apps, Games, and Cloud Drive at Amazon, Alex Mehr Co-Founder & President at Zoosk and Brad Margolis, Ph.D., Director, Executive Development & Organizational Effectiveness, More than 100 students have participated in the innovation immersion experience.
After students complete the Silicon Valley trip they complete a program reflection. Below are examples of past student reflections.
The course is designed to help students make connections between academic theory and real-world practice. The course helps students integrate concepts from previous courses and gain valuable field experience. This course benefits students by providing a dynamic learning environment that merge traditional education with practical experience. The experience often leads to valuable networking, and it is possible that some of you may end up working at the companies visited. The course involves some extensive interactions with a significant number of executives, entrepreneurs, and venture partners (many sessions are led by successful UMD alumni).
Past company visits have included Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tesla, Adidas, Nike, Electronic Arts, Cisco, Microsoft, eBay, Alaska Airlines, Flextronics, Twitter, Starbucks, LinkedIn, Pixar, Salesforce.com, Intel, and Boeing. In addition, small companies have participated such as Zoosk, Cube, Accelops, WePay, and LaunchSquad. Students have also been exposed to venture capital funds such as Greylock Partners and Mayfield Fund.
The value of this experience is that students will be able to meet working professionals in organizations that have dominated their industry for a sustained period of time. The experience often leads to valuable networking opportunities. Students come away with newfound energy, inspiration, important business contacts and ideas to enhance your future career.
Most of the time for the course is spent in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is widely regarded as the ultimate success as an incubator of start-ups and entrepreneurship. More than 40 percent of all venture capital investments in the United States come from Silicon Valley firms.
The course takes students behind the scenes to reveal the factors underlying the remarkable success of Silicon Valley. Students enrolled in the innovation immersion experience learn about: 1) How Silicon Valley adapts through continuous cycles of innovation; 2) Why the high tolerance for risk, as well as failure, is a huge competitive advantage; 3) How the Silicon Valley business model, including generous and flexible employee benefits, contributes to the robustness of the industries based there; 4) Why venture capital swelled so magnificently in Silicon Valley, while languishing in other major metropolitan cities; 5) What traits set the Silicon Valley entrepreneur apart from others; 6) How to create a quality of life that attracts and retains the best talent in the world.
Along with visiting Silicon Valley, the students have visited Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas. While in Las Vegas the students have participated in the world’s largest annual innovation event (Consumer Electronics Show) that showcases the latest innovations. The show is considered the “Global Stage for Innovation.” CES attracts more than 150,000 industry professionals and more than 3,000 exhibitors introducing over 20,000 new products across a range of product lines.
Past speakers have included Marc Greenberg, Vice President of Finance & Strategy at Pixar, Jeff Markowitz, Partner at Greylock, Howard White, Vice President of the Jordan Brand at Nike, Vinod Paris, Vice President, Engineering at Cisco Systems Inc; Michael George, Vice President of Apps, Games, and Cloud Drive at Amazon, Alex Mehr Co-Founder & President at Zoosk and Brad Margolis, Ph.D., Director, Executive Development & Organizational Effectiveness, More than 100 students have participated in the innovation immersion experience.
After students complete the Silicon Valley trip they complete a program reflection. Below are examples of past student reflections.
Hershey Park
Can you recall the last time you consumed a Hershey’s Kiss, a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, or a Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar? As you enjoyed it, did you stop to consider the achievements and failures of the entrepreneur who made it possible to buy those products?
Freshman students who are members of the BSE program from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business traveled to Hershey, Pa., to learn not only about the Hershey company, but about Milton Hershey – the man, the entrepreneur and the philanthropist – whose contributions created a sustainable, mutually beneficial social contract between business and community.
The day-long field trip on Sept. 20, 2015, was structured by BSE Director Mark Wellman, clinical professor of management and organization, as a team learning adventure. Students were challenged to gain insight about the keys to innovation by exploring the work of Mr. Hershey at the Hershey Story Museum, the Milton Hershey School, and lastly, at Hershey Park.
The town itself is unique. Some of the people in the city still feel a strong connection to Mr. Hershey, even long after his death in 1945. People who never met him ask, “What would Mr. Hershey do?” as if he is a spiritual figure. Unlike many of his wealthier contemporaries, such as Henry Ford, Hershey did not just make a fortune and reshape the American economy and society. Hershey dedicated this fortune to creating a perfect town and school.
The students are expected to bring back the ideas, insight, and evidence collected throughout the day for the semester’s final deliverable, their personal creativity reflection (PCR).
Freshman students who are members of the BSE program from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business traveled to Hershey, Pa., to learn not only about the Hershey company, but about Milton Hershey – the man, the entrepreneur and the philanthropist – whose contributions created a sustainable, mutually beneficial social contract between business and community.
The day-long field trip on Sept. 20, 2015, was structured by BSE Director Mark Wellman, clinical professor of management and organization, as a team learning adventure. Students were challenged to gain insight about the keys to innovation by exploring the work of Mr. Hershey at the Hershey Story Museum, the Milton Hershey School, and lastly, at Hershey Park.
The town itself is unique. Some of the people in the city still feel a strong connection to Mr. Hershey, even long after his death in 1945. People who never met him ask, “What would Mr. Hershey do?” as if he is a spiritual figure. Unlike many of his wealthier contemporaries, such as Henry Ford, Hershey did not just make a fortune and reshape the American economy and society. Hershey dedicated this fortune to creating a perfect town and school.
The students are expected to bring back the ideas, insight, and evidence collected throughout the day for the semester’s final deliverable, their personal creativity reflection (PCR).
SUSA NYC Trip
Each year, undergraduate students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business travel to New York City to explore potential careers and visit with UMD-Smith alumni. The BSE Scholars Program offers their own track in which students have previously visited companies that include Evercore, Google, IDEO, and Goldman Sachs.