Introducing the IBE Alumni Spotlight Series!
Meet Alisa Noll. She graduated from Ohio State this past December and will be working full time at Boston Consulting Group.
Major: Industrial Engineering // Minor: Business
Hometown: Columbus, OH. When Alisa was training for a half marathon, she would run home and back to campus as her workout routine! Both her parents, aunts, and uncles went to OSU, so she’s lifelong Buckeye.
Previous Internships/Co-Ops: Alisa has a wide range of experience in multiple industries. Her internships are as follow:
General Electric — Manufacturing
Eaton — Technical Sales
Webber Associates — Data Analytics/Consulting
IBM (Summer and Fall) — Data Science Consulting
Kalypso — Consulting
Drive Capital — Data Science in a venture capital firm
OSU Involvements:
Big Data and Analytics Association — Executive Vice President
Ascent Microfinance (Non-Profit) — Previous CEO and now Board Member
Society of Women Engineers- Active Member
Buckeye Undergraduate Consulting Club — Analyst
Pi Beta Phi, Homecoming Court
How did you hear about the IBE program and why did you choose it?
Alisa’s cohort was not told about the IBE program until the middle of their Freshman year. They were sent an initial email explaining the program in order to gage interest. From there, she met with Dr. Rogers, one of the program heads, to discover more about it. She says, “The selling point for me was the design project that occurs second semester freshman year. Building a product that you have to find a need for, design, and market felt extremely applicable. Eventually, I got to work with a team of amazing and smart individuals who came from such different backgrounds. When I went into the program, I wasn’t expecting the other benefits, such as bonding with your cohort. This just became an extra plus point.”
Please explain a specific instance you felt what you learned in IBE was really making an impact.
There were multiple instances during Alisa’s time at OSU where she felt she was really applying the skills developed through IBE. However, she notes that the mindset she gained through IBE was as valuable as the hard skills. Specifically, in her consulting internships, she felt she was “approaching complex problems from a more creative mindset.” Alisa not only understood the technical requirements but also thought about the “biggest business picture.”
What’s your favorite class you took because of IBE?
Alisa found the CERN Project Course to be her favorite IBE class. During her Junior year, Alisa’s cohort and the cohort below her got the opportunity to be the first American undergraduate students to work at the consumer based innovation sector of CERN Lab in Switzerland. Before her and her classmates could head abroad, they worked remotely for an entire semester, coming up with ways they could use CERN’s intellectual property in the real world. They eventually focused on how food waste could be minimized. At the lab, her team created a functional container that would light up when the food inside of it was spoiled. This not only reduced the waste but also prevented people from eating rotting food. In order to best approach this project, Alisa had to learn divergent thinking. She stated that she “constantly used design thinking. However, I had to learn this new mindset in order to consider every possible perspective of a problem to eventually get the best solution. When we thought we found a solution, we had to evaluate it and sometimes go straight back to the drawing board. Overall, it was an incredible experience filled with extremely intelligent individuals.”
What is your favorite IBE moment/memory?
Besides the CERN Project, Alisa did not have a specific favorite memory. However, she felt the bond she formed with her fellow cohort members to be one of the things she will never forget about IBE. Her team members for the Freshman Design Project included some of the same people she worked with on her Senior Capstone Project. Without IBE, she says she “never would have met such amazing individuals from such different backgrounds.” Alisa stated that these people not only became her classmates but also her friends. To her, the most exciting part was seeing every individual in her cohort grow as a student and a person.
What are your after graduation plans?
Alisa just finished up an internship with Drive Capital, a venture capital firm in Columbus, OH. Before starting at Boston Consulting Group and sitting on the board of directors for Ascent, she will be embarking on an Asia trip.
How did IBE help you secure this position?/What do you plan on applying that you learned in IBE in your job?
To Alisa, the two MBA level business courses required in the IBE curriculum ended up being extremely impactful courses and eventually helped her in internship and full time position interviews. She stated they were “very hard at first. However, I then realized how amazing it was having an MBA level professor teaching me business skills. Without this knowledge I developed and constantly being surrounded by business students with a different perspective than me, I would not be in consulting today. I’m very thankful for the class and the coursework.”
What kind of impact do you see IBE making in the future?
“The people that I graduated with are the first example of IBE students but of that group already, they’re really going out to tackle the hardest problems. They’re getting recruited by the best companies in the country, ones that usually don’t recruit at OSU. This eventually transforms the possibilities that future OSU students will have.”
What’s something you want to say to IBE underclassmen?
“Pretty much every company is going to be a tech company. regardless of what the industry is. IBE gives you skills and experiences that make you an extremely well rounded individual, which is amazing. This is something you can’t beat in any other circumstance and makes you one of the top students at this school. Don’t let the small stuff turn you away from IBE. Work hard and all the way through.”
