The professors in the Information Systems department spend the school year teaching and mentoring students to help them prepare for the professional world. But, when students leave town for internships and full-time job offers, how do the faculty spend their time? Here are just a few of the exciting places that were explored during the summer of 2019.
Cancun, Mexico
Seven faculty members had the chance to attend AMCIS (the Americas Conference on Information Systems) in Cancun, Mexico. There they presented their research and prepared for hosting AMCIS 2020 in Salt Lake City.
AMCIS is held annually and is “one of the leading conferences for presenting [the] broadest variety of research done by and for IS/IT academicians.” At this conference workshops are held for faculty in all different stages of their career and doctorate students. Papers are shared and there are many opportunities for networking. Recognition in this conference is prestigious as papers “are selected from over 700 submissions.” [1]
Dr. Tom Meservy presented research about social media while he was at the conference. He has been researching why people use social media, how they use it, and the reasons why people produce and consume products using social media. Dr. Jeff Jenkins along with IS student, Hailey Roberts, presented a paper about measuring compassion through how people interact with computers. The presentation went well, and they were invited to fast track the paper to a journal.
Other faculty members attended to observe the conference and be trained in the roles they will take in the upcoming conference. Dr. James Gaskin helped mentor junior faculty at the conference, and he said that he learned what he should and shouldn’t do when he helps host the early career faculty consortium at AMCIS in the upcoming year.
In Salt Lake 2020, Dr. Bonnie Anderson, current IS department chair, will co-chair the conference with Dr. Jason Thatcher from the University of Alabama and Dr. Rayman Meservy (who retired from the BYU IS department in 2019) as an honorary co-chair. Other conference committee members from the IS department include Dr. James Gaskin, Dr. Degan Kettles, Dr. Tom Meservy, Dr. Mark Keith, Dr. Greg Anderson, Dr. Steve Liddle, and Dr. Jeff Jenkins.
Amidst all the work and networking, the faculty had a bit of fun. Dr. Gaskin said that the highlight of his trip was going to dinner and having the mariachi band play “Despacito” at their table. Dr. Tom Meservy enjoyed bringing his family down to Mexico with him and watching his kids swim in the cenotes after he presented.
India, United Arab Emirates & Jordan
Dr. Bonnie Anderson took EMBA students on a trip to India, the UAE (United Arab Emirates), and Jordan. They visited businesses such as Proctor and Gamble, Emirates Aire, Aramex, and Tata Consultancy and charities such as Jaipur Foot, an organization making prosthetic legs and feet from high-density polyethylene pipes (HDPE), and the Saint Theresa Charity. Some highlights of the trip included seeing the Taj Mahal, the elephant caves, the sand dunes, the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world), and Petra.
Cleveland, Ohio
Dr. James Gaskin spent some time in Cleveland, Ohio where taught executives how to think like scientists. He said he enjoyed “seeing the cogs work and churn in the heads of people with twice [his] experience who were learning new ways of thinking.” The analytic skills that researchers use can be applied to many fields of work.
San Fransisco, California
Dr. Jeff Jenkins took a trip to San Francisco to meet with potential employers for students in the program. He met with many big names including Google, Apple, Workday, and others. He also met with alumni of the IS program at a BYU event. He is excited about the support he received from the companies and enjoyed meeting with our amazing alumni.
China, Thailand & Cambodia
Dr. Tom Meservy and Dr. Mark Keith toured Asia – including China, Hong Kong, and Cambodia – with EMBA students. They visited a medical device manufacturers in Beijing, electronic factories in Shenzhen, financial service firm in Hong Kong, and social ventures in Cambodia. One highlight was going to Huaqiangbei (the world’s biggest electronics market) in Shenzhen that has almost every electronic part imaginable. They were also humbled as they observed the humble and phenomenal people of Cambodia and learned about the rats trained to detect landmines and unexploded bombs leftover from previous conflicts.
Other highlights include:
- Dr. Tom Meservy in Washington DC doing training for the department of homeland security about cybersecurity and interoperability.
- Dr. Tom Meservy recorded new videos for the IS 515 course that he recently took over from Dr. Rayman Meservy.
- Dr. James Gaskin continued research including augmented reality, curriculum development, corruption research, robotics, and AI. All of these projects are progressing, and he mainly has students pushing them forward as he manages and directs them. Their research on AI received quite a bit of attention and he was on several news outlets and the radio with graduate student Nate Burton.
- Dr. Bonnie Anderson attended academic conferences at Harvard and also in Sweden.
- Dr. Jeff Jenkins visited Deloitte University in Dallas to discuss all the biggest cybersecurity issues. He was one of 10-15 professors invited and thought it was fascinating.