Microsoft Founder Bill Gates is quoted as saying, “Software innovation, like almost every other kind of innovation, requires the ability to collaborate and share ideas with other people, and to sit down and talk with customers and get their feedback and understand their needs.”
The Spring 2020 cohort of Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation (SMTI) is taking Gates’ words to heart. The PMBA class has 15 students, allowing Dr. Laura B. Cardinal to take a more personal, discussion-driven dive into the course material. This is more than a traditional lecture course; the class meets around a single table and everyone is encouraged to collaborate and share, just as Gates suggests.
“I’m excited to welcome each student to SMTI. We have students whose academic path is more science and technology focused, but who recognize the synergy of science, innovation and industry,” said Cardinal. “Thanks to the small class size, our dialogue from everyone is open and sharing their different academic and professional perspectives. The cohort is on fire, which makes for a great class!”
Those who enrolled in the Spring SMTI cohort expressed a common desire to gain a deeper understanding of the process of innovation in industry. Here are other notable data points about the class:
Students From
Columbia, SC – 8
Greenville, SC – 3
Charlotte, NC – 2
Myrtle Beach, SC – 1
Student Profile
PMBA Students – 12 (including one PharmD/PMBA)
PhD Candidate – 1
Professor – 1
Industries Represented
Aerospace/Aviation
Chemical
Electric Utility
Healthcare
Higher Education
Informational Technology
Manufacturing
Pharmaceutical
Printing
Professional Services
Railroad
Research Engineering
Laura B. Cardinal, the SmartState Endowed Chair for Innovation + Commercialization, will be introducing a new PMBA class, SMTI II, which takes the concepts of SMTI I a giant leap forward, in Spring 2020. The next offering of the Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation (SMTI I) PMBA class taught by Dr. Cardinal is Fall 2020.