Innovation at Hershey Foods

"Our contacts at Hershey were so impressed that they presented our work to upper management."

Rachel Iselin-Litt '13, management and French

Update: After graduation, Rachel will join The CDM Group, a pharmaceutical advertising agency, as a resident in the company's entry-level account program. An alumni connection through ILTM helped her secure the position.

"I was part of Bucknell's Institute for Technology and Management program, a two-summer program that encourages collaboration between engineers and management majors and connects students with business and industry.

"Hershey needed my team to develop metrics to measure the success of a recently-implemented Open Innovation program. Open Innovation is a new business practice in which companies ask outside sources to solve their innovation problems.

"We found ways to measure the program that Hershey hadn't considered before. We also created a rewards and incentive program to encourage Hershey employees to submit their ideas to the research and development division. Our contacts at Hershey were so impressed that they presented our work to upper management.

"Through that experience, I now realize and understand how much technology plays into business and how to I can use technology to achieve my goals."

Rachel is from Lafayette, Calif.