Study Abroad!

For most people, college is the time to explore the world because it is when they have the opportunity to do so. Yes, it seems like a cliche to say that it will give people a global perspective or that it will give you a competitive edge when applying for a job, but truthfully, it really is. I have been to a few Study Abroad Information Sessions on campus, and surprisingly only about 1% of college students study abroad. Of course you will stand out from the rest from having this extra experience on your resume.

I have also read that the Business Department at San Jose State, especially for International Business Majors, will be required to study abroad as part of their degree requirements in the future. I am not sure when, but it seems great for them to do so since as the world globalizes, we will be working in an ever so diverse environment. Having that international experience will not longer just be a good resume filler or a fun experience, but will actually be needed.

That is why I think joining a study abroad program is a good way to not only expand your cultural experience, but really a way to have a very very long vacation!

Take this opportunity of a life time to study abroad, and find more information at the SJSU Study Abroad Department.

Finally...Cheaper Ink!

Kodak is making a comeback by introducing new inkjet printers. The good thing is, the ink is much more affordable than other competitive brands such as Epson, Canon, HP, Lexmark, or Dell. It will be offering its new line of inkjet printers between $149 and $300. It averages about $50 more than the competitors' price but the ink prices ranges from $10 for black ink to $15 for color ink. Average ink price for the inkjet printer is said to be around $25 as opposed to the whopping $60 to $80 for other photo ink cartridges. Kodak said it will even include more ink in their cartridges than competitors. Apparently, ink manufacturers have never lowered their prices or engaged in price wars, but hopefully Kodak will change all this and be able to force the price of ink down for consumers' sake. This strategy may attract more buyers to their new printers as they will realize it will pay for itself in a year.

From personal experience, the ink can sometimes cost nearly as much as the printer if not more. One time, my friend wanted to buy replacement ink for his printer at home. So we went to Fry's Electronics in Sunnyvale. After checking the price that he will have to spend on replacing all the cartridges, it seemed logical to check out printer prices instead. For the price he had to pay for the ink, we thought, why don't we just buy a new printer? We checked for printer prices that, for $10-15 dollars more, he could get a new printer that came with a brand new set of ink. He finally settled for a refurbished Epson photo inkjet printer with an LCD screen, which cost only about $10 more than the cost of ink for his old printer. Quality was much better than the one he owned and even some of the new ones in the store. It came with a set of brand new ink as well. We adopted a new strategy of buying a new printer than replacing all the ink. Better deal for the pocket but very wasteful. We didn't really adopt that approach, but it truly was a good idea. Well, at least Kodak is introducing cheap ink, but it will be up to the consumers' who will judge its quality.

Articles From: USA Today and New York Times.

Surfboards Made of Nuclear Warhead Foam

I stumbled upon an article recently talking about Clark Foam, the world's leading manufacturer of "blanks,"foam cores for surfboards. Having any industry leading business to suddenly go out like that, is never good, but it opens up possibilities for others to take the place and become the world leader. LeRoy Whinney, a chemist for Sandia National Laboratories knew of a replacement material that could be adapted to make the foam blanks, TufFoam. However, the material is unusual in that it is used for protecting sensitive electronics in bombs. Nonetheless, the lab has created a series of samples that have been found to be comparable to the best boards and seems to outperform compression and crack-resistance tests as opposed to other alternatives. Executives of the lab which is run by Lockheed Martin, says the revenue would be used to fund other research.

It is interesting to know there are always alternatives to a problem. In this case, it really benefited the new company that will be supplying the new material to make surfboards. As in all business aspects, it is important to stay aware of you surroundings especially the market place. The particular chemist was able to look beyond his own industry of designing products for the Defense Department, and use his skill to apply it to something entirely different, surfboards. There are many opportunities out there and is also important to be able to adapt and change in order to capture these opportunities, especially as managers.

Article and Picture from Wired. Picture by Ilan Rubin.