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Embry-Riddle: Business Education from the Ground Up
By: Martha Jercinovich
Caption: Embry-Riddle: Business Education from the Ground Up
Word Count: 1489
In today’s complex aviation and aerospace industries, a solid business education is essential. At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, we help build business skills from the ground up.

The world’s leading aerospace university offers business degrees that range from management and finance to new programs in data science and business analytics. Each degree can open the door to an unlimited future – not just in aerospace but in any industry. They also build a solid foundation for entrepreneurs who are dedicated to innovation.

Business students at Embry-Riddle benefit from meaningful internships with top employers and a global network of connections that includes fellow students, experienced faculty and alumni from top companies who regularly recruit our students.

The power of a business education at Embry-Riddle is showcased by continued student success. No matter their backgrounds, challenges or ultimate goals, Embry-Riddle business students have produced a proven track record of accomplishment and achievement.

Here are just a few examples of students who have taken their careers to the next level by earning business degrees from Embry-Riddle:
Tools for Life
Before deciding to continue her education, Treshina Smith (’21) found herself branching into business consulting for her natural hair care business clients.

After 10 years of running her business, she moved overseas after marrying her husband, who is serving in the Navy, and continued her business services at the Fleet and Family Services Center.

“I found myself giving classes on resumes and LinkedIn, organizing events, small business consulting and wellness,” said Smith.

As an Army veteran and military spouse with her own business and career goals, she was drawn toward the Embry-Riddle Worldwide Campus.

“I made the decision after meeting my academic advisor on base and reviewing Embry-Riddle’s current research, involvement with the Project Management Institute, programs offered and alumni reviews,” she said. “The M.S. in Project Management offered the global perspective and focus in data analytics that I was looking for.”

While in the program, Smith learned how to apply project management tools to her own life. Those skills also proved to be especially helpful in her first project management role at a consulting firm.

“Through Embry-Riddle, I strengthened my skillsets in building and delivering presentations, advanced Excel, and risk and data analysis, which are all foundational skills for an analyst and consultant,” said Smith.

She also had the opportunity to deepen her real-world knowledge and job-hunting skills through the courses in the program.

“I have participated in several conversations on current events and trends in tech, supply chain, economics and more with confidence because we covered many relevant topics during discussion assignments,” she said. “The capstone was immensely helpful in bringing together all that we’d learned and preparing us for the job hunt process.”

Since graduating, Smith now uses the knowledge she gained in her role as a senior consulting analyst at Accenture – an information technology and services company.

“I get a chance to develop innovative and creative service solutions for companies that extend beyond technology and delve into the truly human aspect of creation and change,” she said. “The most challenging part is staying focused and not getting distracted on so many opportunities to learn and participate.”

In the future, Smith hopes to continue on the path she started years ago as a small business entrepreneur.

She encourages fellow Eagles to set strategic goals and timelines for themselves but to stay adaptable to change.

“Be the master of your own destiny and be unafraid to chart your course,” said Smith. 
Veteran Ignites Innovation
Sensatek Propulsion Technologies founder and CEO Reamonn Soto (’18) claimed the top $25,000 prize in the 2022 PenFed Foundation Black History Month Ignition Challenge.

The challenge, now in its second year, was established by the Virginia-based nonprofit to encourage Black veterans and military-affiliated entrepreneurs with funding and mentorship. The foundation’s Veteran Entrepreneur Investment Program selected 15 national finalists.

Soto, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, was wrapping up his master’s degree through Embry-Riddle’s Worldwide Campus when he had a big idea to save gas turbine operators millions of dollars annually.

To build Sensatek Propulsion Technology, Soto took advantage of incubator space at Embry-Riddle’s Research Park in Daytona Beach, Florida, which has forged partnerships with private industry as well as local, state and federal policymakers and agencies.

The Sensatek business model — licensing patented wireless sensor technology to increase the operational reliability and performance of jet engines and high-temperature process flow applications — proved appealing to an array of investors.

Soto’s funding from all sources now stands at more than $5.5 million. His innovation, based on the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that entrepreneurs can deliver to industry, has created high-paying new jobs.

Sensatek sensors measure heat transfer data for customers in an innovative way that will advance technology for aviation, space and energy applications.

Since joining the Research Park in 2017, Soto’s team has won multiple awards, earning support from the National Science Foundation, Launch Your Venture competition, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy, Starter Studio Seed Fund Accelerator and several other organizations, including Embry-Riddle.
Taking Care of Business at Boeing
Sarah Graber (’19) landed an internship with The Boeing Company the summer before her senior year at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott, Arizona, campus. Little did she know, the opportunity would turn into the career of her dreams.

Graber began her journey with The Boeing Company as a procurement intern working to acquire parts for the Apache helicopter rotor and drivetrain systems.

With the valuable knowledge and skills gained from the Aviation Business Administration program, she made herself a strategic asset to her team and leveraged the role into a full-time position as a procurement agent.

Check out this video to learn more about Sarah’s success.

An Investment with Huge Returns	Master of Business Administration (MBA) students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's David B. O'Maley College of Business got a chance this spring to contribute to a real-world consulting project for an aviation industry leader.

The project gave students deep insight into the inner workings of a global company — for proprietary reasons, the company opted to remain anonymous — and the opportunity felt like “working alongside the professor versus for the professor,” according to student Jacques Boudreaux. 

“It was really cool to work with the client and see what their specific wants and needs were,” said Boudreaux, who earned his MBA in Aviation Management  and plans to start pilot training with the U.S. Air Force. 

The project, to explore Urban Air Mobility (UAM) — a transportation system that will use aircraft to transport passengers or cargo at lower altitudes within urban and suburban areas — as a viable market, was arranged in part by Dr. Janet Tinoco, professor of Management and Marketing. The students participated in the project in the capstone class of their graduate degree program. 

Connor Guinn (’20; ’21), another graduate of the MBA in Aviation Management program, said he enjoyed working on a project that could directly influence whether or not a real-world company takes steps to expand its reach in an emerging market. 

“The company’s interest in UAM and growth opportunities was intriguing, and helping contribute to research that will help the company in the future was fascinating,” said Guinn, who is working as a ground instructor at Endeavor Air and plans to move into a pilot role within a year. 

The students provided a range of assessments, Tinoco said, examining macro-environmental forces on the UAM market, such as government regulations and economic influences. Company positioning, as well as competitive assessments and market trends, in the United States and globally, were also analyzed.

Based on their initial assessments, the students proposed two market opportunities, in the form of potential business models, answering research questions posed by the company about barriers to market by country, viability for customers and value propositions. 

Tinoco said the unnamed firm was very happy with the results, “and we will be working again with them in the future. Discussions have already started on new projects for 2022 and beyond."

Even if aerospace is not your primary focus, Embry-Riddle business degrees can open up roles at some of the nation's largest and most successful companies, paving the way to careers that command the best positions and the salaries that come along with them.

Students have the option of learning at our campuses in Florida or Arizona as well as flexible educational opportunities online and at locations throughout the world. Find out more about the programs that can help you explore your next horizon.