Why an Mba?

1. What has been your most significant professional achievement? What has been your toughest professional challenge and how did you address it? (500 words)

In July 19994, when I first walked into ABC Spring Corporate office, I noticed that most of the design engineering work was conducted by using old fashioned tools. Some engineers were using charts to solve specialized engineering equations. They were using drafting tools such as T-square for sketching concepts and creating blueprints for manufacturing.

During that time, the US economy was still struggling to come out of a recession. Jobs were tough to find, especially for international students who were required to be sponsored for work visas. During my interview with the VP of Engineering, I presented my skills and ideas on how technology can be used to improve design and manufacturing processes. By convincing him that Peterson American Corporation would tremendously benefit by my skills in the area of Computer-Aided-Engineering, I was able to obtain a job offer. Having accepted the offer, I faced the following challenges:

a). To prove to the executive committee and upper management that the investment they were about to make in computer-aided-engineering tools, was going to payoff; and

b). To convince the engineering group to adopt to the new tools and adapt to the change.

My approach to these challenges was to lead by example. I figured that showing results would be best way to pursuade the engineering group to embrace this change. I targeted two specific projects that I thought would give us the ‘biggest bang for our buck’:

1. Introduce a new analysis software (DaDisp) for data acquisition in the engine lab.

* Measurable and benefits: Reduction in steps involved in producing a test report and hence 300% time savings.

2. Computerize all drafting and blueprint generation by introducing AutoCAD for product development and prototype manufacture.

* Benefits: Dramatic reduction...