The Business School Holds Competitive MBA Capstone Event

Webster's defines a capstone as, “the high point; a crowning achievement.” The Capstone in the MBA Program at The WPI Business School is where students apply all their program learning to a team-based competition. This past fall, 25 students were part of 5 unique business efforts. Their journey began during the previous semester in a pre-capstone effort to vet their selected businesses in preparation for the development of a business plan and supporting pitch to a panel of judges. The judges were charged with critically evaluating their business proposals and determining who would receive bragging rights for ‘Best in Show and ‘Honorable Mention.’

The final class provided the student teams each with an hour to pitch their business plans to the judges. The student teams made it a difficult decision for the panel, but Best in Show was awarded to Reclaim with Delorean Optics as Honorable Mention. In follow up discussions with capstone participants, it became clear that the program had a meaningful impact on the students.

Justin Deveau from the winning Reclaim team mentioned, “I was drawn to WPI as an alumnus because it’s near and dear to my heart, but also because I was familiar with the project-based values of the school. You’re given a lot of freedom to come up with your own innovative ideas. The blended approach was also a value-add, given where my family is based.” He added, “The competitive, albeit friendly, nature of these projects has brought out the best in all of us. We never wanted to stop. And you’re going to get that in the real working world. That helped us dig deep with these projects and get a lot more out of them.”

Tempo's Heath Oikle added, “There’s a lot of value in building relationships inside and outside the MBA program. It only helps growth and development later. [This program] has reminded me to be open to other perspectives. I’ve worked with people in careers ranging from finance, to rocket science, to utilities. It’s really valuable seeing how different people approach the same problem.”

The Business School wishes to thank judges Dr. Wally Towner and Professor Emeritus Dr. Chick Kasouf of WPI, and WPI Alums Professor Don Foster of UMass Dartmouth and Dr. Shari Worthington of Suffolk University.

Teams and Their Businesses

Delorean Optics 

Mode One - Prescription Glasses with One Tap Electronic Control

Megan Pajonas, Jackie Amico, Jonathan Zwirko, Nick Cappabianca

Tempo

An AI driven corporate day planner that uses machine learning to optimize calendars for individuals in a hybrid environment.

Casey Godzyk, Matt Greenough, Heath Oikle, Julia White, Lauren Gonynor

Reclaim

Eliminating Water Waste through the Application of Pharmaceutical Grade Water Filtration in the Hotel Laundry Grey Water Space

Chris Dunn, Justin Deveau, Tyler Gibbs, Alex Witkin, Tim Ellsworth

SunBuddy

A phone application that aids in providing users with both preventative and corrective action to take care of their skin.

MacKenzie Brandes, Andrew Doucette, Charlie Koutsogiane, Nu Pham, Kayla Shippee

StoreExplore  

An online application that leverages the value of retailers’ private label brands by serving as a direct channel for retailers to introduce their private label portfolios to shoppers, assisting them in identifying which private label products best fit user preferences.

Courtney Murphy, Mike Clark, Ken Amaral, Gent Rrudho, Tim Roberts