Students to work on real-world business challenges this summer
Each summer, students in the M.S. in Engineering Management and M.S. in Innovation & Management programs have the opportunity to apply their classroom learnings to a real-world consulting project. With strategic guidance from faculty advisers, student teams work on projects that address business challenges for a variety of organizations, from startups to well-established corporations, to nonprofits.
Below is a list of projects that students will be completing this summer:
American Roots Wear, Portland, ME
The team will provide recommendations to the manufacturing startup as they grow, including how to smoothly translate sales to the production floor, how to structure and improve production, and to how to build a billion-dollar consumer brand in 10 years.
Cabot Corporation, Boston, MA
The team will conduct an evaluation for Cabot, a leading global specialty chemicals and performance materials company, of existing tools used for tracking deviations from internal standards and expectations for reinforcing carbon blacks – the principal material used in applications such as tires, hoses, belts and molded goods. The project team will recommend whether it makes sense for the company to continue operating with a plethora of internal solutions or to develop a common tool.
Corning Life Sciences, Tewksbury, MA
The student team will analyze current trends associated with Human Microbiome research and identify technical challenges and potential areas that Corning may help address. Human Microbiome plays essential roles in metabolism, body response to drug, immune response, and mental health.
dotIOT, Medford, MA
The project will examine the issues and pros/cons of utilizing Blockchain with the Internet of Things (IoT). The student team will conduct an examination of the IoT industrial/enterprise and consumer use cases and verticals where blockchain solutions (or others) could be used.
Draper, Cambridge, MA
The team will conduct a market analysis for Draper’s new technology, based on machine learning algorithms that perform automatic detection and repair of security vulnerabilities in software. Draper aims to identify transition partners for the technology, including those who could be early adopters of the technology.
Fore River Brewing, Portland, ME
The team will provide recommendations for the microbrewer as it grows, including helping configure the brewery, structuring its operating and financing strategy, and thinking about how to fulfill, profitably, demand in and outside of Maine for its differentiated microbrew.
GlobalSign, Portsmouth, MA
GlobalSign’s Internet of Things business unit recently established an R&D organization to look at implementing Blockchain-based technology to solve IoT security problems. The student team will work on a market analysis and come up with the market, business and product strategy.
Ionic Materials, Woburn, MA
Ionic Material is developing a polymer electrolyte that can enable solid state battery solutions. The big question is: what are consumers willing to pay to have safe solid state batteries in place of their conventional Li-Ion batteries? The student team will conduct a thorough market analysis for batteries both in consumer electronics and in electric vehicles.
Keurig, Burlington, MA
The pod development team at Keurig is currently working on developing a pod technology roadmap that looks ahead to the next 3-5 years. The student team will work on this roadmap by researching and understanding pod and packaging market trends and innovations that would add value to the consumer, reduce costs to Keurig, or help capture an increased market share through new pod components.
The MITRE Corporation, Bedford, MA
The student team will recommend innovative and transformational approaches to organizational structures and changes in operations geared at establishing a more streamlined approach to work that spans 10 internal Technical Centers at MITRE (e.g. IoT, Cloud Computing). The team will explore non-traditional organizational constructs that present an opportunity to increase agility and performance.
Rejuvenate Bio, Boston, MA
Rejuvenate Bio is looking to develop and market combination gene therapies based upon genes modifications that have been shown to extend life in mice up to 30%. The student team will look for alternative methods of payment and at the viability of insurance and financing models for high-end therapies.
Rockwell Automation (Group 1), Chelmsford, MA
Rockwell Automation has been providing presence sensing devices for industrial automation, including inductive, capacitive and ultrasonic proximity sensors. To continue to grow the business, the proximity and photoelectric sensors product lines need a strategy for growing and retaining market share. The student team will research the innovation space in presence sensing, carry out a competitive analysis of leading technologies, and work with engineering to understand feasibility and resources required.
Rockwell Automation (Group 2), Chelmsford, MA
Rockwell Automation is a leading supplier of factory automation solutions built around the Connected Enterprise, where Smart Manufacturing drives the fusion of the physical and cyber worlds. The student team will analyze the challenges faced by targeted industry verticals (e.g., Life Science, Food & Beverage, and Auto/Tire) to implement “Track and Trace” solutions. They will propose solutions that bridge across different industry verticals and build a more effective ecosystem.
Schlumberger, Cambridge, MA
Schlumberger has recently launched a digital platform, DELFI, in the oil and gas (O&G) market aimed ultimately at federating O&G operators and their partners around a cognitive platform. The student team will conduct research and analyze the subject of digital platforms and their potential advantages for the company.
SharkNinja, Needham, MA
The student team will evaluate the current product strategy for home floor care products and research how SharkNinja can integrate newer and better building blocks into its products to maintain a competitive edge. The team will research outside industries and make recommendations around commercialization, partnerships and market strategy.
Tufts Sustainable Water Management Program, Medford MA
Tufts recently established a Masters in Sustainable Water Management (SWM) to address the worldwide lack of access to water and the prevalence of waterborne diseases. The student team will map out the ecosystem of existing institutional players in global water, and identify how the program can attract students, funding, and institutional support.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA
The student team will develop a business plan for a start-up company based out of the Institution, which has developed several technologies to advance the development of small autonomous underwater vehicles.