James W. Dennis, EMTM’07

Staying Ahead of the Curve in Technology and Business

Jim Dennis has been associated with HED International, a manufacturer of advanced thermal process systems, for 15 years. A mathematics major without formal business training, he worked in all facets of the company before becoming president. "I have a broad array of experience, but HED is always evolving and I need to see what's coming next in terms of equipment and the products we will be selling." Decades ago, HED's focus was on firms manufacturing traditional ceramics like dinnerware, but today its customers use HED kilns to produce fuel cells, microelectronics and body armor. While Jim wasn't looking to make changes in his own career, he wanted to get in touch with the technological advances and business strategies of the many industries his company now serves.

Why EMTM?

Having learned all his business skills on the job, Jim first considered enrolling in an MBA program. "I'm not an engineer, though, and I realized that I would be better served in a technology and business program where I could gain a better understanding of our products," he says. "One of the things that attracted me to EMTM in particular was that it offered cutting edge nanotechnology and advanced materials classes: That's where I live and that's the direction where I see so many industries going." Jim liked that the executive-friendly scheduling would allow him to keep up with the demands of his job while attending the program. At EMTM he also saw the opportunity to interact with a group of students from companies like GE, Boeing and Corning — a microcosm of his customer base.

Career Impact

As he anticipated, the program has given Jim exposure to new technologies and concepts, from the modeling software that helped him improve engineering efficiency to a better understanding of the next wave in advanced materials and thermal processes. "In a situation like mine when you've been in one place for 15 years, you're looking for the chance to learn in a new environment. At EMTM, you come across people with radically different experiences."

Much of what he has learned has been directly applicable to his work at HED. "I feel much more confident in areas of management, accounting, statistics and operations. I'm now using quantitative measures to evaluate whether the dollars we're spending on advertising and trade exhibitions are paying off, and I'm learning better how to implement customer relationship management tools to grow and sustain my customer base."

In Organizational Behavior he came away with strategies for motivating and rewarding his sales team. "In a small company you talk with your employees all the time but I realized we lacked those routine processes for reviewing performance and giving feedback."

Jim believes that the program's combination of technology, management and strategy are giving him critical tools for making HED a leader in the industry. "I would highly recommend EMTM to anybody working in technology. This program does it better than anybody else."

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