Ryan Finvarb
Hometown:
Miami Beach, FL
M&TSI Year:
2017
WHY DID YOU APPLY TO TAKE PART IN M&TSI?
Over the past few years I’ve become interested in a variety of businesses, especially in the high-tech industry. In addition, I developed an affinity for how engineering applies mathematics to virtually any real-world situation. Therefore, the M&TSI program was an ideal option for me as it integrates both business and management principles with many different engineering specialties. When compared to other summer programs, M&TSI was the perfect fit for me as it melded both disciplines, something no other summer programs provided.
HOW DID M&TSI HELP YOU IDENTIFY FUTURE ACADEMIC OR CAREER GOALS?
Although I had never participated in a conventional business class and had limited exposure to engineering, M&TSI crystallized my views on what I would like to study in college and pursue in my career. Through the many lectures from esteemed faculty, exposure to outside speakers, and real-world visits to major companies, M&TSI allowed me, a 17-year-old, to truly see how both management and technology intersect in our daily lives from different perspectives. This exposure to the mindset of entrepreneurs, inventors, bankers, and consumers offered me tremendous insight into how the business world operates and what I am most interested in doing.
This program solidified my passion for business, engineering, and the combination of these two disciplines. It has furthered my desire to study and pursue a career that integrates these two fields, whether my path takes me to investment banking, hi-tech entrepreneurship or anywhere in-between.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE M&TSI EXPERIENCE?
My favorite part of the M&TSI experience was collaborating with so many different people from around the world that share similar interests and various ways to explore them. Our three weeks were filled with many fascinating discussions. Being able to engage in dialogue with my innovative peers made it clear to me that these are the type of people I want to surround myself with in college and beyond. Our common interests and goals as M&TSI students is what fueled us to motivate each other to work hard through the taxing assignments, while also making the best of the little time we had together. In addition to the on-campus experience at Penn, I also enjoyed our trip to New York. Visiting Morgan Stanley and R/GA allowed us to gain valuable insight into the world of business.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY UP TO?
As soon as I returned from M&TSI I immediately began reading The Lean Startup, a book recommended by our professors for people interested in learning how modern entrepreneurs implement innovation in an effort to effectively generate successful businesses. I plan to also read Customer Centricity: Focus on the Right Customers for Strategic Advantage, written by Pete Fader, a Wharton marketing professor. His presentation during M&TSI opened my eyes to the fact that statistics and calculus can be strategically applied to a variety of situations in business to help make accurate predictions based off past data.
In addition, I’m also preparing for the upcoming school year as Vice-President of Student Government by helping organize the first few days of the school year. I have also invested a lot of my time in developing a website and blog where I showcase my personal collection of photographs of natural landscapes throughout the world to build awareness of our current global/environmental issues. I believe that by sharing photos of our earth’s beauty I can encourage my viewers to support efforts to protect our environment. I have also spent a lot of time practicing and training for lacrosse club season, which begins in just a few weeks.