Business Plan

After completing my ENGR 407 business plan project, I think I may have finally acquired a grasp as to how starting a business can be done. A project that i thought would be rather simple to complete with a group of 5, this project got difficult quickly. I got the same feeling as the presenter from Lionmenus, who came into our class earlier in the semester. It is difficult to get several people to agree on one thing, even if what we are looking at is very small details of the pricing structure. We worked well after we finally carved out the basic principles of the plan, but the process to get there took a great deal of time and gave me a little more respect for those who have to deal with business plans on a regular basis.

Recycling

Living on a college campus, where recycling is broken down at almost every trash area to plastic, different kinds of glass, paper, and aluminum cans, I tend to think that most people will take the time to recycle. Unfortunately, this process is not available to everyone in the country, and it shows in a recent study by the EPA. I guess you might be wondering, like I did, what product is recycled most. Well, sadly it is not the aluminum cans or plastic bottles that seem to flood the stores as the primary devices to transport beverages. To my surprise, lead acid batteries are the most recycled products in the country. In fact, 99 percent of these batteries end up being recycled. This number is so high because battery retailers are required to take the used car batteries from customers who purchase new ones. This number is great for the country, but the numbers for aluminum cans and office paper are not quite as high. Only half of all aluminum and 70% of office paper is recycled today. These numbers are way to low, and like excessive drug usage, can only be bettered if recycling is pushed on the next generation of americans from the time they start school. For the older generations, the only way that we can ensure that recyclable products are saved from the trash is for people to get incentives for recycling. This process is already established in many states with cash deposits for recycling, but I believe that the companies that sell products in recyclable containers should be responsible for ensuring that their products do not get thrown in the trash can.

Citywide Wi-fi

Just yesterday, the major cable companies in New York City: Comcast, Time Warner, and Cablevision have agreed to combine their wi-fi networks throughout the city to make a citywide wi-fi. Before this deal, customers had to either stay in their area of coverage or rely on internet service from cellphone companies. Although this deal seems to be a rather simple task, I feel as though it may allow a new market for computing in the city. Under this system, the internet connection that people already pay for to use at their home can be used anywhere in the city and allow companies to market products or "apps" like GPS, that can add functionality to wi-fi devices. As wi-fi technology becomes more sophisticated, it may be another market for tech companies to look into.

Decision Making

While in the process of choosing a topic for the Innovation Expo, I came to realize just how hard it can be for a group of people to come across a topic that satisfies everyone. It seems to me like many people jump into groups with their own agendas and often are very hard to convince. It is understandable to me that not everyone shares the same ideas, but I think that people should jump into a group project without any predisposed opinions in a effort to allow the group to move forward without having to waste a large amount of time turning people off of their ideas to join the rest of the group.

A College Guarantee

In light of the job insecurities that are plaguing recent graduates across the country, a college out of Michigan is making a guarantee that its graduates will get jobs. Lansing Community College is jumping out as the first school to offer refunds if its graduates are unable to get jobs within a year after finishing one of their programs. I understand that this school is only at the community college level, but I can see policies like this changing the landscape of colleges. I cannot see why someone would choose to go to another school if they are given a refund guarantee on their education. I can only hope that other schools step up and take a share of the difficulty to find a job in todays market and take some of the insecurities away from the recent graduates.

The Future of NASA

The space shuttle program, which NASA launched in 1981 is about to turn 30 next year and the future of the agency is up in the air with all of the budget turmoil in washington. From the billions, possibly trillions of dollars poured into the project, we have gotten a few nice results like the International Space Station, the Hubble telescope, as well as a few other major satellites, but the cost seems to could the results. With the unemployment issues and lack of funding for the country's infrastructure, I think the US government should pull back a little on the program and look for a way of launching robots or at least lower cost vessels to space. Our government needs to stop feeding the never ending pit that NASA has become in terms of funding and look for private industry or possibly other countries to create a sustainable space exploration system.

Taxing the Internet??

According to an article out of the Washington Post, the FCC's National Broadband Plan released last week includes a nationwide tax on Internet goods and services. Surely a blow to the industry, this plan claims to increase the beneficial use of the internet - for e-commerce and new business models - while hurting the future of entrepreneurs. This new tax seems to me to be just another waste of time and effort on the part of our government. Currently, goods purchased online include state sales taxes and shipping charges which are common for any good, whether purchased online or not. I think that by levying this type of tax on the consumers, it will only discourage sales and hurt the industry. I believe that the limited tax freedom of the internet has been a large reason for the growth of the industry, something that has not been equally true for other industries which are loaded with taxes, like healthcare and the automobile industry. I say we should leave the internet alone and treat purchases on it as we would any other purchase.

MPG Changes

One of the most important technological improvements that must be made in the next decade is an improvement in automobile fuel efficiency. Because car companies can make money by producing the largest cars and the biggest/baddest engines possible, many companies feel that good fuel efficiency is not always necessary to be able to compete in the market. Dodge, for example, has been pushing muscle cars like the charger and camero, which satisfy their target market, but consume gasoline at a very high rate. Last thursday the Obama administration unveiled a plan to bump up the US mpg average up to 35.5 mpg by 2016. I am hoping that this plan will help to push an industry to "wake up an smell the coffee" when it comes to producing cars. I feel as though we got a brief experience of the issues that result from the high cost of gas guzzlers when the gas prices rose to all time highs a few summers ago, but there needs to be more action to push the industry to make changes. I am hoping that this policy at least forces companies to be more environmentally responsible and help fund research to find future sources of energy in automobiles. From the mindset of a chemical engineering student, this issue will be paramount for the industry until it is solved.

The Future of the Laptop

On the day of the introduction of the Ipad and maybe the beginning of a shift of the computer market, I am beginning to wonder what is in store for the future of the laptop market. It has not been long since Apple changed the smart phone market with their app friendly Iphone. It seems to me that Apple seems to have a leg up on the competition in terms of innovation and the Ipad, although eerily similar to an Iphone, may just have the potential to change a market that has been pretty consistent for the last decade. Besides the shrunk down laptops, or "netbooks," which have been on the market for the last few years, laptops have all contained a material keyboard and monitor. The Ipad is trying to integrate the two and make a user friendly computing device that you can stash away in your briefcase. I like the idea of a touch screen computer, but I think that market share that apple will get on the laptop market will be rather small with this device. I see it as a useful computer for viewing textbooks and surfing the web on the go, but only as somewhat of a novelty. I cannot picture students in the next few years trying to type up term papers on an on screen keyboard.

The Electric Car

I just finished reading up on the new Nissan Leaf, which is expected to hit dealers later this year. After reading about the ability to only drive 100 miles on the tank, I cannot help but wonder if the $32,000 price tag is actually worth it. Granted, the US government has established a $7,500 rebate on the purchase of the car, but I cannot see the car being worth the extra expense. If you average about $1200 a year on gasoline, which is pretty common for a daily commute, you would have to drive an equivalent nissan versa (which is the base that the Leaf is designed around) for nearly 8 years. Mind you, that is 8 years that you would run the risk of having to purchase a new battery for the leaf and have to consider the fact that electricity, although cheap, is still going to cost you in order to power the car. I like the idea that nissan and other car companies have with producing all electric cars, but I do not believe we are at the point where these kinds of cars are economical, and everyone knows how important money is these days. I wish Nissan luck, but a car where you can only go 100 miles a day (which would prevent you from taking any road trips) just does not seem to fit in this economy.

The Movies

Sure, everyone loves to go to the movies and see their new "favorite" flick on the big screen. I cannot see any drawbacks of taking some time out to enjoy the best that the industry has to offer on a screen that can truly handle the special effects and sound. Well, that was until I got a look at the price on the ticket that I had to purchase to get into the theatre. Maybe its because I remember just 10 years ago saying that 6 dollars was high, but my 13 dollar ticket to see Avatar in 3D was approaching my breaking point. I had the pleasure of reading an article in USA today this past week and I have to say, I do not see the industry stopping at the price that i just paid. When I can now purchase the movie on DVD from a legitimate outlet - as opposed to just downloading the movie from the internet like I have heard of happening far too often this decade - for just 2 more dollars, I am having trouble rationalizing the pricing. I understand that the theatre has an awe about it with the surround sound and HD quality picture, but I would almost rather put up a few bucks for my own surround sound and just enjoy the movies on my own time. I think it is time the movie industry wakes up and realizes that people have a breaking point on movie pricing, and that constant price increases are keeping people from enjoying all of the theatrical greatness that is out there today.

Start of a new month

Hey,

Now that January has concluded and the groundhog has informed us of the 6 more weeks of winter that are ahead I am starting to look more and more forward to the promise of spring. Idk about you, but this cold weather is getting old. Spending a decent chunk of the last few weeks selling hot chocolate for ENGR 407 has driven me to look forward to summer. What is better than the sound of a baseball cracking through the air off of the bat of Ryan Howard?? With all of the promise of the 2010 Phillies season - acquiring Roy Halladay, Placido Polanco, and locking up a majority of the core through next year - I cannot wait until april 5th. In the mean time, I am going to have to deal with the cold and hope for some warm days here and there to quench my desire.