Even though the current generation of undergraduate students has grown up with near-constant access to computers, smartphones, and social media, sometimes new technology and technology-driven careers can seem daunting, especially since many students have to wait until their senior year to experience real-world applications. However, if we can create positive experiences for these students earlier in their undergraduate careers, it might open up a whole new set of opportunities for them, or at the very least, help them better understand how cutting-edge technologies empower businesses. This is exactly what operations and decision technologies faculty member Taryn Malher had in mind when she developed Design Your Future Day.

Design Your Future Day was created for freshman and sophomore students in college, especially those who are underrepresented minorities in the field of business. Deepika Murugappan, a Kelley junior studying technology management, finance, and accounting, commented that she “was attracted to the event due to the ability to work with new technology in a fun way and playing a game would be a great way to learn more about it.” Malher also wanted students to be able to meet people who work in the field, so with some assistance from Alex Barsi Lopes, clinical professor of operations and decision technologies, representatives from Lilly, Deloitte, and Cummins not only attended the event but participated in the activities.

To foster new relationships, all of the participants were split into teams with two freshmen and/or sophomore participants, one female upperclassman volunteer, and one industry representative per team.The teams worked together run a business in a simulated environment with ERPsim, a training tool for real-world industry using SAP’s ERP solutions. The online simulations put all of the teams in the same market selling dairy products in Germany. The teams had to use pricing and procurement strategies while balancing their operating costs to make the most money during each of the four rounds. Since everyone on the team had a different role within the business, each was presented with different information that would inform business decisions.

According to Murugappan, good team communication was key: “We mainly made sure that we were constantly voicing what we were seeing on our [computer] screens so that the entire team could properly execute their job based on that information.” Even though Murugappan’s team didn’t make the most money at the end of the day, she said, “It was a great learning experience especially since we learned to think on our feet and learned to be comfortable with making new changes to our plan.”

The original event was so successful that it is now an annual event, with the last iteration held on February 16, 2018. The event also honored the late Linda L. Thiel, a Kelley alumna and information systems pioneer at Eli Lilly. Her husband, Dr. John E. Thiel, spoke about her legacy and recognized the current Linda L. Thiel Memorial Scholarship recipient Trinity Klein over lunch.