Students, in particular, gain substantially from working on BTC projects, Daugherty says. They get to apply classroom concepts to actual business problems, and the interactions with clients are good opportunities for polishing interpersonal and communication skills. Most remarkably, perhaps, students get individual instruction in how to think about and tackle a complex assignment; over the semester, Daugherty provides one-on-one guidance and feedback in weekly meetings with each student, which can well serve as a personal course in methods.
BTC's recent young employees have not only been management, marketing, and finance majors, but have also included undergraduates in biochemistry, mechanical and electrical and computer engineering, as well as an M.B.A. student with a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics.
Among the students who worked on BTC projects this past year were Anita Hernandez (mechanical engineering '06) and M.B.A. student Karim Damak.
"Dr. Daugherty was incredibly helpful in answering questions and giving us a clear project description and materials to start from," says Hernandez, adding that she truly enjoyed her assignment. "Working on a project that is going to produce results and have an impact on the world is very exciting. In classes, you are given a 'real-world' problem that someone has previously solved and are asked to replicate the results. It is not nearly as motivating to do this as it is to be the first one to accomplish something that will be used to benefit a company or individual."
Hernandez, who pursued the biomedical track in her major, worked on a project for Biomedical Implant Technology, a client of VT KnowledgeWorks in Virginia Tech's Corporate Research Center. She was in charge of contacting FDA-approved and -registered companies that manufacture dental implant devices. "My job included compiling a report of these companies, their contact information, pictures and descriptions of the device, and responses I received from the companies."
The project expanded her understanding of the business world, notes Hernandez. "The legalities and paperwork involved with any company or product are not the general focus of most mechanical engineering classes. Most of the time, one focuses on the product, its components and their cost, how it works, ways to make it better -- the mechanical/cost analysis." She adds that it was good "to see the other work involved and to be part of it."
Damak, who earned an undergraduate degree in management at Institut National des Télécommunications near Paris, conducted a market-opportunity assessment study for Appomattox River Manufacturing, a Keysville,Va.-based supplier of high-quality wood components to furniture manufacturers. The study was aimed at helping the company evaluate demand and opportunity for different furniture market segments and decide where