David Smith, EMTM’07

"Smart People Recognize What They Don't Know"

David Smith isn't attending EMTM to move into the executive office suite. He's already in it.

A technologist, David turned to EMTM to broaden his business skills. "Any business skills I've learned have been on the job, flying by the seat of my pants," he says. David is vice president of engineering with Broadwing Corporation (NASDAQ: BWNG) and chief technology officer for the Corvis Government Solutions' Inc. division of Broadwing. He also was one of the founders of Corvis Corporation in 1997, which acquired Austin, Texas-based Broadwing in 2002. Broadwing provides telecommunications services and Corvis develops advanced optical networking equipment for corporations and the U.S. government, and established the world's first all-optical network in 2000.

"Given the state of the telecommunications industry at present, I realized it would be a very smart move to strengthen my business skills to allow me to position myself in a smaller, entrepreneurial environment," says David. "It's one thing to go into a start-up company with a good technical idea, but today that has to go hand-in-hand with good business credentials. You have to convince people that you understand how to run a business as well as technology."

Penn's EMTM program appealed to David because it integrates business training with solid exposure to a broad range of technologies. David, who has a degree in physics, says, "I wanted exposure to the key issues in emerging technologies but at a reasonable depth — without becoming a practitioner. I didn't want to become a biotech lab rat. I want to know enough about these technologies so that I can manage a company or its research and development group in those areas."

Mid-way through his first trimester, David had already begun to apply his EMTM training to Broadwing's challenges. His first technology elective, R&D Management, has helped him analyze his firm's technology direction in a new way. "We need to tie R&D activities in the company more strongly to the strategic direction of the company. This course has given me some interesting new perspectives on how to do that," says David.

When friends and colleagues ask why he's returning to school at age 50, he bounces the question back: "My personal philosophy is why not. Smart people recognize what they don't know, and if you want to learn, you should be prepared to go where you can get the information. Job security today is not being employed by a company for life. It's having skills that can keep you employed for life. It's your responsibility to take those steps to have those skills in place. That's my philosophy, and EMTM lines up with it nicely."

Another draw for Penn's program was the feasible commute by train from his home in Baltimore, as well as the program's alternate week schedule. "I get to learn from people who are among the best in the business; and I can integrate it well with my family life and present career. That's a tough combination to find. Plus it's enjoyable to be in an academic environment for a while. There's a personal enrichment side to this in addition to any career-based motive."