PHOTO OPS

ND@SXSW

A startup founded by Mendoza undergraduates Brian Cho (FIN ’19), Erikc Perez-Perez (MARK ’19), and Peter Moeckel (FIN ’20) and engineering major Christian Femrite (ND ’19), finished third in the Student Startup Madness finals at the South by Southwest festival in March. Their company, Resonado — a flat core speaker tech firm — was also one of just 25 ventures invited to pitch in the Startup of the Year finals at SXSW.

Read more about their story at mendoza.nd.edu/news.

MAN’S BEST FRIEND(S)

When Mahaffey business librarian Steve Hayes’ battle with cancer took him to Chicago for a bone marrow transplant and 100-day stay, he needed some extra help caring for his pups, Dublin and Leeavan, and cat, R.K., back in South Bend. That’s when the Mendoza community stepped in.

A trio of Notre Dame MBA students, Caroline Acton (MBA ’19), Kevin Boyle (MBA ’19, ND ’19) and Paul Stevenson (MBA ’19, ND ’19), were among those who took shifts to care for the pets. Maggie Neenan-Michel, Mendoza’s Faculty Support Center manager, coordinated the effort and filled in as needed.

BUSINESS IMPACT

“I saw firsthand the genuine power and dynamism of business.”

Associate management professor Viva Bartkus, founder of the signature Notre Dame MBA course Business on the Frontlines (BOTFL), reflecting on her time as a private sector consultant with McKinsey. BOTFL seeks to harness the transformative energy of business to support long-term peace and stability in post-conflict and impoverished settings. Read more of her story online at womenlead2019.nd.edu.

ORDER UP

Peter Clifford (FIN ’21), center, teamed up with eight others in Knott Hall, including fellow business students Brandon Moreno (FIN ’21), left, and Andrew Sharpe (MARK ’21), to run Jersey Boys Breakfast, a Sunday morning sandwich shop (“Fireball aka Hosty Special” sandwich, anyone?), out of their residence hall kitchen. Clifford, who serves as CFO, says the venture has been a great opportunity to gain experience running a business.

MBA UNCORKED

Before heading off for spring Interterm projects, Notre Dame MBA and MSM students took some time to relax together at Ironhand Wine Bar in South Bend.

The four-day Interterm experience was completely revamped in the past year. Where the course previously focused on case studies, the new Interterm connects students directly with organizational partners to tackle a real-world challenge.

FROM GINA TO 'THE MACHINE-A'

"I've learned two things," says professor Joseph Holt, who taught 2020 MBA candidate Gina Guzzardo's business ethics class and attended all three nights of the 2018 Baraka Bouts tournament that she competed in to raise money for the Congregation of Holy Cross missions in East Africa. "Never try to out-fight Gina Guzzardo. And never try to out-shout her supporters."

Guzzardo, known in the ring as "Gina the Machine-a," ended up winning her weight class in the finale less than two hours after networking with prospective internship companies. Read the full story at mendoza.nd.edu.