Time has flown by this semester and I have neglected my blog. So, before the year ends I figured I better write a quick recap of some “key” events…
In early September, I visited a US Steel plant near Pittsburgh with the Tepper School of Business Operations Club. It was an amazing trip. Nothing like seeing molten metal being poured down from huge vats into slabs, and seeing these slabs glow orange as they cool down and get reshaped into all different types of shapes and coils. Needless to say it was extremely hot in the plant. The plant workers were very friendly and knowledgeable, and answered all our questions. The plant operates 24 hours a day, every day. A quick history of steel making in the U.S. as well as a discussion on the effects of globalization on US manufacturing rounded out the day’s events.
In October during our fall break, I joined the Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Club on a trek to San Francisco. There, we met with local venture capitalists, venture debt, and entrepreneurs and learned first-hand about the VC process. We met with Adams Capital, Accel Partners, Western Technology Investments, among others. The weather was perfect and it was hard to return to the east coast.
After half a week in sunny San Francisco, I boarded a plane and headed to Boston to join the Alpha Club on their trek to visit asset management firms. We met with State Street, Wellington Management, and Bank of New York Mellon Asset Management. It was interesting to see how each of the firms differed in culture, philosophy, and focus. It was also interesting to gauge their reactions to the recent market meltdown due to the subprime mortgage mess.
Back in Pittsburgh, I attended a talk organized by USA Today at Carnegie Mellon with Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of General Electric. A tall, charismatic figure, Immelt answered the moderator’s questions with ease and side-stepped key questions about the on-going writer’s strike. He said, “I hope you like reality TV, you may have Deal or No Deal five days a week!”
David Mantilla 