Chronicles of an LGO girl

How can LGO help you with your internship

2011-10-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

As some of you may be preparing now you application, I remember that one of my concerns about LGO was this long 6 months internship.
Many unknowns with this process. Where? What company? How can you make something within 6 months? are you going to be alone there? Life always has surprises for you and things just work out
One thing to know is that there is plenty of support during this experience:
MIT Advisors - Each intern, has 2 faculty advisors during the internship. One from Sloan and one from Engineering. You can reach out with any academic questions and they come on- site at least once to meet your supervisors and discuss your project.
LGO Alumni - These partner companies have LGO Alums that really care about your project. We have an LGO mentor in the company that we meet on a regular base and can discuss out project, get advice and learn more about the company.
Supervisors - The long relationship with LGO allows many people know about the program and think highly of it. There are several people across the organization that have an interest in my project and guide me through it.
LGO Staff - Going away for a long period, moving you stuff, moving back, coming back to Boston for a week in September for Mid-stream and then in November for recruiting requires a lot of logistics. The LGO staff has been extremely supportive in answering questions, helping with reimbursements and preparing us for recruiting week ( we see how that goes this week). Also, while looking at my internship from the 3 lens analysis, I realized there are many challenges and I wanted to discuss it with an outsider. I reached out to our Leadership Prof. ans she took the time to listen to me and give me advice on how to move forward.
MY LGO roommates and classmates - Yes, I was very lucky to be on my internship with another classmate. In addition, our 3rd roommate is an LGO11. Let's start with the fact that we are having an awesome time together but in addition, we share with each other our internship experiences and give each other advice since we all understand the culture of where we're at. They also made a mission to themselves to teach me about American culture - for Halloween, we carved punkins (my first).

I miss the rest of my class and we try to be in touch since we are each going through the same experience and many of our projects are similar even if they are in different industries.
Today I am leaving to Boston, for recruiting week. I am not sure what I am more nervous about. Snow in Boston or interviews...
Wish me luck

-Limor

Things you do in Austin

2011-06-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

As a semi tourist in Austin, here are some things I have observed

Temperature - it's hot here, no doubt about it. Last week, every day was more than 100 degrees. But this is just an excuse to have lots of water activities. This weekend Dell organized a boat cruise to all the interns in Lake Austin. Two hours of sailing along the lake, watching the beautiful houses on the side of the lake. After that some of us went to Barton Springs. The pool is fed from under ground springs and is on average 68 degrees year round. Jumping to that pool was exactly what you need after a few hours in the sun. On Saturday, a couple of us went to another boat cruise. This time it was in Lake Travis. 4 hours on a party barge. The lake is beautiful but unfortunately like other water resources around the world, it's water level is decreasing.

Alamo Draft house - after two time that I have been there, I can say it's the best way to watch a movie. You can order food and beer before and during the movie, there are some cool independent short movies / animations before the screening and it's only $7.

Driving - Yes, I was used to driving back in Israel, but not to this extent. I can't seem to get anywhere without a car. Next to all the big Texan trucks, our small 1995 Toyota Camry ( with 250,000 Miles) does not look all that fancy. But hey, it drives and if it lasts till December I will be fine.

Tacos - Seems that every hour of the day you can get here tacos. Beef, fish, breakfast, vegetarian etc. Too bad I need to always be careful it may be too spicy for me.

Tattoos - I don't know what's the deal on this one. It doesn't look that different from some ancient tribal life. Everybody here has a least one. There are dozens of tattoos stores. I used to think those are a sign of some individualism but if everyone has one maybe it's a way for some people to belong. Maybe I should get an LGO tattoo.

Hi y'all! I'm in Austin

2011-06-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Last week I arrived to Austin, Texas to start my internship at Dell. Being out here in the heart of America is for sure a different experience from Cambridge. I may end up with a southern accent by the end of 6 months.
My internship topic is for sure an exciting one. Demand Planning in the Retail Channel. It's been only a week and I have already been exposed to various parts of the organization. Everyone has been very friendly and open to give me a clear understanding of the processes that I am set to improve. This project will allow me to gain a better perspective of the market, the challenges that surround it and also a way to practice what I have learned at MIT for the past year.

After a year being in Cambridge with the LGO class, it is strange to away from everyone and communicating only by random emails, but I am sure we would all get a chance to explore the rest of the country visiting other classmates.

I am lucky to be here in Austin with one other classmate Bryan Drake since I know no one else out here. We hope to get acquainted with other MBA's who are doing their internship here as well as LGO alums. Last night we had our first event with the other interns. we went to see a concert " Earth, Wind and fire" - a first of many other concerts I hope to see here in the LIVE music city. This week we are also scheduled to have lunch with the LGO Alums so I eager to hear their experiences at Dell and LGO. We also each have an LGO mentor to guide us here through our internship so it's good to know we have all the support we may need.

Meanwhile, I am trying to catch up on my tan here ( It's 36 degrees Celsius! ) ans also familiarize with the area. I have already understood why the call Austin weird. We went out to the Bike Rally the other day and I was in for a cultural shock:)

Hope to update more on my adventures in Texas.

The Adventures of International Plant Trek South America

2011-03-30T14:27:00.000-07:00

36 LGO students (first years and second year), 5 SO's and 2 faculty members just got back from International Plant Trek that took place in South America. We were in Sao Paulo for business and Rio De Janeiro and Buenos Aires for Pleasure.
I was the chair of the committee that organized this trip and although we had quite a few challenges along the way, it was a great experience to lead a group to somewhere I've never been before. I had wonderful help from the entire committee and this trip made me appreciate LGO even more. The opportunity to organize such a tour on behalf of a prestigious school to your classmate and friends and visit unique facilities is once in a lifetime. Everywhere we went, we were greeted warmly and I can say for myself that I have learned much about manufacturing that occur in other parts of the world.
Day 1: arrived in Rio De Janeiro 9:00 am, after a 1 hour wait for luggage realizing that time is a relative measure here. Headed straight to the beach where dozens of vendors "Attacked" us as they saw a group of 30 Americans. Later, the whole group went to a Brazilian BBQ where we had all you can eat meat.. Wow, I certainly caught up on my vitamin B consumption.

Day 2: Started a day with tour that was planned for 9am - 3 pm but ended up 4 hours later since we believed the queuing theory of our Brazilian guide. We did end up reaching the top of Sugarloaf but by the time we reached Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer ) it was very foggy. Sources told us that Obama didn't get to see the view as well.

Day 3: A day to relax in Rio de Janeiro before our flight to Sao Paulo. Arrived late to Sao Paulo and discovered the meaning of nothing is open Sunday evenings.

Day 4: Our first plant tour to Embraer - the third largest commercial aircraft company in the world that produces commercial, military, and executive aircraft and provides aeronautical services. Altough our bus was an hour late, we were hosted very kindly and apparently an MIT graduate helped build Embraer back in the 50's. Seeing another aircraft manufacturer build in a different process was fascinating and we could learn from the observed differences.
Once we got dinner in Sao Paulo, we realized that it is one fo the most expensive cities in the world..

Day 5 : The group split up between Flextronics and Dell. My group went to Dell where we saw a facility that manufactured Laptops, Desktops and Servers. That fast pace of the facility raised interesting questions about manufacturing in Brazil, benefits and constraints. That evening we all went to eat Brazlian Pizza where we met also an LGO Alum who has been living in Brazil for several years.

Day 6: Early in the morning we headed towards Caterpillar. It was hard core manufacturing! Metal sheets turning into a large man made machine. I was amazed to see how much manual labor went into the process, producing in a high pace and delivering across the globe. I walked around with a smile as I observed what mankind have accomplished. Later that evening we all went to a Brazilian soccer game. Even though it wasn't the most popular game, the fans were wild.
Day 7: Our last day in Sao Paulo started with a tour at GM. Although we have seen GM during domestic plant trek, this was completely different. We were lucky to see the entire process from stamping, welding, painting to assembly. The production rate of that facility is higher than I expected and I was surprised to discover that the plant exists for more than 80 years. The entire team were engaged to the tour and I felt like GM cares deeply about the relationship with LGO and MIT.
Straight after GM tour, we were on our way to the airport for our final destination: Buenos Aires! Arriving to Buenos Aires late at night, we got full exposure to the nightlife. I had the best steak I had in a while at midnight and then we went out to party.

Day 8: Another car manufacturer visit at VW. I never knew car manufacturers can be so different. This plant was heavily automated and each machine was more impressive than the other.
After the tour, we went to visit La Boca,. La Boca is the oldest, most colorful, and most authentic neighborhood in Buenos Aires. We sat there for lunch, listened to some good music when the news came.....
Our flight back home was canceled. From this moment, maybe my classmates can share more about Buenos Aires. The committee was trying to find everyone a different flight and luckily we all made it back to Boston.

Spring Time

2011-02-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

Waking up from my blogging hibernation....
It's spring semester and much have happened. You can check some of my friend's blogs to hear about Domestic Plant Trek or InternshipFest.
For me, after 16 interviews in 3 days, 20 minutes each, I know I am going to Dell in Austin, Texas this June for my internship.
I had a wonderful time but as you can see from my posts frequency, I didn't have much time free time.

These days, I am organizing the LGO International Plant Trek. Every Spring Break LGO is going somewhere around the globe to visit plants. This year, are going for the first time to South America. We will be visiting Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. Thanks to the great LGO Alumni network, we have great plants visits lined up: Embraer, Dell, Flextronics, Caterpillar, GM and Volkswagen. Since it's still is vacation, we are also planning to tour around, rest on the beach, eat some good Brazilian/ Argentinian meat and Tango. It's been a challenge organizing a trip to somewhere I've never been before, but with the great committee we have this year, I hope everyone will enjoy it.

I also wanted to congratulate the Class of 2013!! I hope you are enjoying the moment, it's a great thrill to hear of the acceptance and realize that the efforts of applying have paid off. And now you have less than months to organize your life and come to Cambridge. I strongly encourage you to come to Open House weekend. For me, it was a great weekend where I got to know my classmates, understand what awaits for me in the next 2 years and find my apartment in Cambridge.
This is Mary (LGO 12), Liron (LGO 11) and me from our 3- class party at Open House last year.

Then Comes December

2010-11-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

With 2 and a half weeks left to the semester, reflection time is necessary. Or perhaps it's the American Holiday season that affects me.

For Thanksgiving, a few of us were left in cold Boston away from our families. Luckily, Rick, a classmate of mine invited us over and provided me the experience of a first ever Thanksgiving dinner. There were some debates whether you can call it dinner if it is at 4pm, but it lasted long enough to qualify. I'll admit that it made me feel like I have family here at LGO as well.
The last 2 weeks of the semester are going to be intense. Starting with a presentation for our communication class about our Organizational Processes Project. It may be a challenge presenting in a team of 7. In addition, we have final homework sets due in every course, and 2 more cases left. I have a presentation in Power and negotiation Class where my team and I are presenting the China- Taiwan Trade agreements and study for 4 exams. I am sure I forgot something...

These days, we are also planning our Spring semester schedule. In the spring, all classes are electives at Sloan with some mandatory engineering classes. It is a difficult decision to make since we have only 24 hours a day and 2 semesters left. I am considering taking courses that will involve me doing projects for a real live organizations. For example Operations Lab - where teams, consisting of 3-5 students, act as "consultants" on business and operations engagements in small to medium sized Boston area organizations, or Innovation Teams where Students work in teams to develop commercialization strategies for innovative research projects generated in MIT laboratories.

But the bright side of it all, is that right after my last final, I'm on my way to Israel after 7 months!

It's In The Little Things

2010-11-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

Last year, around this time I was writing my applications for the LGO program. I know there were many things I tried to find out more about Sloan and LGO before I applied so thought of sharing some of it here.

Sloan Clubs - Like any business school, there are many student driven clubs for about any topic you can imagine. These clubs are useful to gain more information about specific industries, hear speakers or go to recruiting events that are targeted for the industry. As an LGO student, it is hard to take a leadership role, but some actually do. I am involved with the Sales Club, the Media Tech club and the Sloan Women in Business club (SWIM).
As part of the Sales club, there is a 3 session sales training where we get to hear Jeff Hoffman who is a leader in sales training and he shares his tips on how to write effective emails that get read by executives and get you a response.
SWIM - The Sloan Women in Management Club brings many opportunities for women. They host women speakers from different industries and hold information events for women only.

Off Cycles Internships - As part of the LGO program, an 6.5 internship in one of the partnership companies is guaranteed. Most of the class will do their internship June - December. But around 25% of the students will do an off cycle internship. This means that they will go to their internships February - August. It is sad that some of our class will not be with us during Spring Semester, but there are some advantages. You can take the G-lab (Global Entrepreneurship Lab) in which you get to go to am emerging market outside the U.S for a mini -consulting project. This is another real world experience that you can gain here at Sloan. In addition, some companies only offer off cycle internship like Amazon.

C- Functions and Social events - Almost every Thursday there is a cultural event at Sloan that includes food, performance and costumes. These C- functions are great because you get to see the amazing diversity that exists in Sloan. As an Israeli, I can't wait for ours that is scheduled for March. In addition, we had Oktoberfest in mid October where we had great food and beer, Fall Ball last week where we got to take all our pretty cloths out the closet and in a few weeks we will have a Thanksgiving Dinner.

Limor

A Breath of Fresh Air

2010-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

It's been hard to find a moment to write since fall semester has begun. So much has been happening, and I cannot believe that midterms have already passed ( 3 out of 5 at least).

I think I will try and write shorter posts and share every time a different aspect of the fall semester ( maybe this way I would post more frequently and get to talk about everything)

This week is SIP week (Sloan Innovation Period). During this week we don't have regular classes but instead we attend workshops on different topics. This year all first years were requires to take "Ethics, Values and Voice" where we discussed Ethical Dilemmas in the Business world; BP spill, The financial Crisis and Biases in the workplace.

My most enjoyable time during the weeks that passed was the leadership seminar I am taking. The first 3 sessions, we discussed the roles of a leader , the traits and the mantras to be a successful leader in our lives. Since then and till the end of the semester, a different speaker joins us ( usually an LGO alumni) and we discuss life post LGO. How to follow your passion, How to perceive ourselves and help bring opportunities closer to our door and how to balance work/ Life. These discussions are refreshing because we have the chance to talk on a personal level with people that have followed their dreams, have reached greatness and faced the basic questions each one of us has.The picture is from the first seminar when Ruthie Davis came along with the shoes she designed.

If you are thinking of applying to LGO, I strongly recommend you join the Ambassador Day, October 25th. It's a good opportunity to learn about the program, meet the people and get the great atmosphere that is all around. http://lgo-blog.mit.edu/2010/09/lgo-ambassador-day-and-information.html

Hoping that next time will be sooner than later

Embrace the cheese

2010-09-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

Warning: It's a sticky one

September is here and I think it's my favorite time of the year. The scent of new beginnings is all around. A new year is approaching and it's a time for reflection on yourself, what have you done, where are you heading, what have you learned and where your beloveds are. If I were in Israel, people would great each other with Happy new years and wish for a better year than the previous one.

It so happens that this year Rosh Rashana ( the Jewish New Year) falls on the day I am officially starting my MBA classes at Sloan. I admit I have the same excitement I had when I was a kid as school started. Getting to know new people, not knowing where this fall will lead me and trying to gain as many possibilities as I can from being in one the most innovated and advanced institutes around the world.

So here is what I do know...

After spending the summer with 47 LGO classmates, all of us were divided to 6 different cohorts, and mixed up in to new teams with other MBA students. From now on, we will be taking the majority of our classes in these cohorts. All of a sudden we are interacting with people who are not engineers.... (my classmate Chris describes it well ). The rest of the classes are different for each student depending on their engineering departments

The classes I am taking at this Fall are:
Analysis for Business Decisions, Communication for Leaders, Organizational Processes, Financial Accounting and Finance Theory.
I am taking another elective called Power and negotiation, one engineering course Logistics system and 2 seminars: Proseminar in Manufacturing and one more Leadership Seminar.

Other that than that there are many uncertainties.

For this new year I wish myself to get out of my comfort zone, experience challenges, meet new people and try to learn as much as I can from them, help others where my expertise lies, manage my time efficiently, make the most of every situation and grow as a person, a friend and a leader.

I wish everyone a great sweet new year. Make the most of every day, dare and challenge yourself. I wish health, love, contentment, happiness, and if I am getting this corny, peace.

Shana Tova

Limor

Summer is Almost Over

2010-08-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

Last week of classes and as the assignments are handed in, it's that bitter sweet feeling of a great summer that is about to end.

I still have an exam on Monday and a 5 min presentation of our successful factory simulation (we came in second after we monitored it every 4 hours including 2am and 6am) to work on but the end of summer parties are just about to start.

Next Tuesday I am going on a break of 10 days till Sloan Orientation week.
I am starting to miss home but my rational engineer self decided it is better to push back the visit to December. Luckily, my LGO roommate and friend, Annie, invited me to spend time in San Diego at her home. It's been 15 years since I last visited California, so I am excited!

I wanted to share some pictures from our Statistics Project. We built helicopters and based on experiments we chose it's measures so it will have a high hang time and hit as closest as possible to the target.

Busy times

2010-07-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Entering the 9th week of this summer, things are getting busy...

So the big question is why am I so busy?

Last Friday, we went to Camp Edwards to participate in a Leadership Reaction Course. It's a military base where we had to demonstrate our leadership in new teams while performing physical challenges together. It's part of our leadership course for the summer.

Leadership course? Yeah, I doubted it myself at first. But as the semester progresses, I find it one of the more interesting courses we have this summer. We analyze different leadership figures, discuss various types of leaderships, the traits one needs, and how to make changes in an organization. I admit it makes you reflect on your own abilities, style and values. This past weekend we had a to prepare a paper about What leadership means to me and build my own leadership plan for the next 2 years. You can imagine how not trivial that is.

I'll share some more courses we are taking this summer...

Introduction to Operations Management - I think this is my favorite course this summer. We are introduced with concepts and techniques related to maneging both manufacturing and service operations. This past week we had factory simulation where each team had to monitor a factory process, 24 hours a day and decide based on the performance on buying machines and change queuing priorities.

High Velocity Organizations - The course focuses on processes and continuous improvements that define successful organizations. Last week, as part of this course, we had to interview a front line worker. During class, some classmates presented their interview. It was refreshing to hear about the work of a bottle collector, a food truck vendor and a museum guard. By the end of the summer, we have to choose a process from our previous work experience and by methodology, recommend improvements.

Special Module in Lean/Six Sigma Methods - We learnt the basic lean tools such as 5S, value stream mapping, capacity, queuing and WIP control. The fun part of this course was a simulation workshop where for 3 hours, we simulated our own factory, we processed a live product ( a sheet of paper with stickers on it).

System Optimization and Analysis - I'd say my most challenging course for the summer. We are studying Different optimization models, simulations and real managerial issues that go along with it. It's a very analytical course and the HW were diffecult to me ( I don't know if it's the language barrier or just me). Our major assigment is to indetify, formualte and build a live application for a decision making tool.

Engineering Probability ans Statistics - Just looking at the name, you can understand it all. It's a necessity but never fun. We had a midterm and there is one final exam.

I hope I didn't exhaust you with details. In general, I find the summer very interesting and challenging. The teaching methods are far different from what I know. The biggest surprise for me is how much you can get done in one day. The amount of acticities and studies forces you to learn to manage your time.

I'm sad the summer is almost over..

New Beginings

2010-07-21T20:38:00.000-07:00

How do I begin to share the most meaningful change I have ever done in my life?

After 2.5 months away from home, I think I am ready to share some of my experiences here at LGO.

There are a few moments in your life that you know that from that moment on, life will never be the same. May 13Th was one of these days - I left my home country, Israel, to an unknown length of time, letting the opportunities lead me. Saying goodbye to my family and friends, quitting work, moving out of one of the best cities, in the world, selling my car - As hard as it is, I know it's one of my best decisions ever.

So, What is LGO?

LGO ( Leaders for Global Operations) is a dual degree in MBA and Masters in Engineering program at MIT. By the name, it's easy to spot it's a program focused in operations but what does it really mean? I hope I can help you understand that in my future postings.

On June 1st, I met my 47 classmates for the next 2 years and hopefully they will remain my friends for life. We broke into our summer teams, 6 at each team, and had an orientation week to get to know one another. At that point, we didn't fully understand what summer teams mean. It was a bit too abstract to me what we were going to do together, but I discovered that pretty fast.

When I was in the military, we used to say that everyday passes slowly but the weeks fly by. 9 years later, I feel the exact same way. I can't believe half the summer already went by.

Days are very busy, studying as early as 8am (it's quite hard for me, as I am far from the morning type person) till late afternoon. Afterwards, we usually meet with our teams and do group projects, homework or case studies. The day is not over because we usually have individual work and then we need to read and read and read..

But don't think I am complaining. I am enjoying every minute of it. School has never been more interesting. And the best part is that somehow, we manage to find time to do some fun class activities. I can start by saying that I had many first American traditions: Baseball game, 4Th of July, Monday's 10 wings for $1, pub crawls ( we don't that in Israel) and many more.

There is so much more going on, I can't even grasp it. I will try to cover more in my next post