Rob Einterz is a runner. The second-year MBA student competed in cross-country during his undergraduate days at Hanover College. He has taken part in several triathlons to quench his competitive thirst, and would eventually like to work up to Ironman competitions. Thanks to a program at Purdue, he’s been able to do some of his running on the other side of the globe.
Einterz became involved last summer in the Global Business Project (GBP) through the university’s Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), which is located in the Krannert School of Management. The GBP puts teams of four-to-six students from cross-functional areas and different universities on a consulting project.
Einterz and his teammates from the University of North Carolina and Kansas University were teamed with SciSyn Pharmaceuticals, a start-up company in Taizhou, China. “We got our assignment in January, formed our team charter in March, and worked for the next few months on a marketing and strategic plan for the company,” Einterz says.
The project culminated with a two-week trip to the company in China. Learning enough of the native language to get by, the Zionsville, Indiana, native also sampled some of the country’s cuisine, including duck neck, bone soup, and pigs feet. “Since I didn’t understand the language enough, I usually didn’t know until afterward what I ate. It was probably better for me that way,” he admits.
Einterz made an impression during his work on the project. He was the only team member to receive a job offer from SciSyn, and he is working part-time for the company during the school year, helping to start and build the company’s business development and marketing initiatives in the United States. According to adjunct faculty member Roger Stewart, he also received one of the highest grades out of all the students involved in the Global Business Project.
Einterz worked for three years at Quadraspec, a life sciences start-up, before enrolling in the Krannert School. He’s looking for a position in marketing in a biomedical or sporting goods firm upon graduation. “Start-up or big firm…it really doesn’t matter to me,” Einterz says. “I’m looking forward to my next challenge.”
For more about Purdue’s CIBER program, click here. More on Purdue’s MBA program can be found here.