Alumni Profile: Tanya Dragan '00

Education prior to MMM:
Bach. of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, 1994, Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Employment prior to MMM:
Operations Leadership Development Program at Lockheed Martin Co (1994-96); Operations Program Manager at Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Co (1996-98)

Position(s) after MMM:

Sun Microsystems, Inc, Program Manager (10/00 - 9/01)
Lead the US development and implementation of new "Break Through Supply Chain" initiative, using i2 scheduling tools.
Lead cross-functional team to derive future business requirements and implement them as automated material and factory scheduling systems.
Sun Microsystems, Inc, Asset Recovery Manager (10/01 - present)
Responsible for dispositioning all end-of-life (EOL) and scrap material for Sun-US, via sales, recycling, and proprietary intellectual capital destruction.
Manage tier 1 suppliers for warehousing, logistics, recycling and scraping.
Lead on-going business case analyses for channel conflicts for EOL products.

Why I chose MMM:
Educated as an engineer and with experience as a manufacturing manager, four years into my post-college career, I came to the realization that I understood only a portion of the complete business cycle. How are these products marketed? Why is there so often a gully between marketing and engineering and manufacturing? The successful mentors I had met and read about were ones who were able to understand every aspect of their businesses and bridge every gap, and so I began looking for a business school that where I could expand my manufacturing management skill set in the context of real-world business management.

I chose the MMM program because there is no other program in the world that provides such a seamless interlacing of the world of manufacturing and the world of business.

The MMM program takes the best of Kellogg and McCormick and brings it all together, using a teaching method that I can take to each of my future jobs: working with teams, solving real-world business problems (and access to the industry leaders who present these problems), all in an atmosphere which, without a doubt, is the most engaging, entertaining, fun you'll ever have in school!

Now, having completed the program, I base each of my decisions on a wider set of criteria, one which managers from marketing, engineering and finance can all understand and which is better for the business as a whole. I can also talk to manufacturing groups as a marketer, to strategy groups as an engineer, since the MMM program trained me to work in each of those positions equally. Since I understand each side's position, it helps me bring them closer to a common goal.

With Kellogg's general management curriculum and McCormick's honing of my manufacturing management skills, the MMM program prepared me to do any job I choose with confidence.

It was also the best two years of my life!

kgrounds of MMM students are very diverse. Taking a finance, or marketing, or strategy class with traditional electrical engineers (for example) is very stimulating since those students think non-traditionally! My brain was stretched farther every day, and my capabilities and intellect are now serving me well in a high-responsibility and high-pressure role at a fast-paced medical device company. I am over-taxed and always under stress, but that fits with my personality, since I wouldn't have it any other way!

The friends that I developed within the MMM program are counted as among the best I have ever made. �The faculty are outstanding, and my experience was top-notch. Attending Northwestern for the MMM program was the best decision that I have made thus far in my career.

Last updated on October 25, 2004 9:01 AM

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