RIT Seeking Local Companies for Annual EMBA Capstone Project

Donald Trump has been trumped.

The truth is-Rochester Institute of Technology offered an “Apprentice” program long before the business tycoon ever made it popular on the airwaves.

But RIT called it the Capstone Project, where ambitious consultants from the College of Business Executive MBA program (EMBA) spend a 20-week period defining and analyzing a client's problems in areas such as manufacturing, finance, business strategy, marketing, human resource management and information systems.

The best part is that there's no charge for local companies to hire these RIT business “apprentices” who have helped strengthen more than 20 local businesses in the past ten years-from JML Optical Industries, Inc., and Lightnin Corporation, to DeCarolis Truck Rental and the United Way of Greater Rochester, Inc.

“We see the 'Capstone Projects' as both a service to Rochester's business community and an opportunity for our Executive MBA candidates to demonstrate their expertise,” says Don Wilson, director of graduate business programs at RIT's College of Business. “We are always reviewing applications from new organizations, trying to discover problems that will fit our program's format and challenge our EMBA students.”

The project, which involves EMBA students who have completed two demanding years of course work, is under the guidance of faculty members as well as host company executives.

Companies that wish to participate in the Capstone Project must contact RIT's Executive MBA office at 475-7435 or embamail@rit.edu before October 15.