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Pari Beyzavi: Survivor’s Tale
"We came from Iran with one suitcase, my husband, my two-year-old son and myself," says psychologist Dr. Pari Beyzavi, 1993 M.A. and Ph.D. "At the University I learned life was not over. . .I could survive and be someone." At her Plymouth clinic she now helps other struggling refugees adjust. "I was born a Muslim and [this] gives them comfort," says Beyzavi. She uses her native language, Farsi, and interpreters for Hmong- and Arabic-speaking clients.
Land of Opportunity
Beyzavi encourages clients to cope with past events and move on. "Many come to me speaking no English and are illiterate, but are now successful," she says. "I tell clients to set goals, take advantage of the education. This is the land of opportunity."
John Weinel: Preservation Instinct
In 1992, a young man drowned when his snowmobile plunged through the ice on a lake near John Weinel’s suburban Minneapolis home. Weinel remembers his first reaction: "There should be an automatic flotation device for snowmobiles." A 1984 mechanical engineering graduate, he resolved to translate his concept into reality with help from the U’s Design Projects class, a hands-on course in which five engineering created a working prototype of the device.
Continuing Education
The combination of Weinel’s entrepreneurial flair and the students’ enthusiastic research provided a textbook example of the way academic/industrial partnerships should work. "I owe everything to the University," he says, adding, "I was a terrible, terrible engineering student." He hopes that his perseverance will motivate "all those guys sitting in the back row of class with nobody to tell them to keep trying."
Bob Gravier: Perseverance Pays Off
Hard work and ingenuity have meant success for a civil engineering alumnus Bob Gravier, but it didn’t happen overnight. Before graduating in 1980, he spent 11 years in academia, changing schools, changing majors, and dropping out for two years to focus on a growing landscaping business. Gravier’s current company, Allan Block, is now a leading provider of stackable concrete blocks for landscape walls, retaining walls and fences.
No Easy Path
Gravier, whose middle name is Allan, now readily lists the traits of a successful entrepreneur: "You need to be very determined, and at the same time you have to be flexible. There’s no recipe. You have to adapt to the challenges the marketplace throws at you. You also need to know how to multitask because in the beginning you’re doing everything."
Earl Bakken: Creative Impulse
In 1949, only a year after graduating from the University with a degree in electrical engineering, Earl Bakken co-founded Medtronic in a northeast Minneapolis garage. In 1957 he worked with the University to invent the world’s first reliable cardiac pacemaker. Today, Medtronic has 34,000 employees worldwide and produces a mind-boggling range of devices designed, in the words of its founder, to "rebuild people to be. . .normal."
Keeping Pace
Bakken’s focus remains resolutely on the future-as a result, he founded the Bakken Library and Museum and helped launch the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting. Both museums share the goal of fostering interest in engineering as a career. "We need so many engineers," Bakken says. "Other countries are beating. . .The Bakken and the Pavek train a lot of kids. We hope we can get some of them to [attend] the University."
Linda Rogers: Bridge Builder
From classroom volunteer to official in the state’s largest school district, Linda Rogers has worked for 20 years to bring together families, communities, and schools. One result is the Anoka-Hennepin Parent Involvement Program she directs, which manages more than 9,000 volunteers and staff in what Rogers calls "productive volunteerism." Its scope extends to the 100-plus local nonprofits affiliated with children. "We teach them how to run an effective organization," she says. "I love watching people grow."
On-Campus Treasure
Rogers, whose sons Ryan and Brennan are also alums, earned a B.S. in 1983 and completed an M.A. at the Humphrey Institute in August. "I’ll miss being in an environment where learning is the norm, the goal, and the treasure."
Jim Mishek: Model Entrepreneur
A 1974 University materials science graduate, Jim Mishek is president of Vista Technologies, a manufacturer of industrial prototypes. With the aid of state-of-the-art milling machines and other computerized production equipment, Mishek and his 27 employees transform the dreams of designers and inventors into three-dimensional working models. Last year the company, based in Vadnais Heights, Minn., celebrated its ninth anniversary by doing more than $6 million worth of business.
Real-World Application
Mishek remembers a failure-analysis course at the U, which required the students to determine the causes of real-life engineering disasters: "Everybody failed the first case study. . .[W]e all missed the most obvious fact." The lesson? "Don’t get wrapped up in theory. Look past [preconceptions]. Don’t get tunnel vision," he says.
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Brian Brockway: Engineering Success
When Brian Brockway started Transoma Medical in
1983, he was a 29-year-old electrical engineer with no real background
in business. "At that
age you think you’re invulnerable, that you can do anything," he
says. Brockway attributes his success to the breadth of his education: "[It]
really wasn’t about circuits, electronics, or semiconductor physics.
It was really about important fundamentals—how to creatively come
up with solutions to problems and how to learn things quickly."
Problem Solved
"Running a business is really all about creative problem solving," Brockway
says. "For our type of business, Minnesota is hands-down the best place
in the world to be. When technology and innovation are such a big piece
of the business, you need to be where you can hire the best people,
and there’s a great pool of talent in this area."
Susan Rani: Equal to the Task
When Susan Rani started Rani Engineering in 1993, very few women engineers were in decision-making positions. Rani was up for the challenge, having worked for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and Bechtel Power Corporation in San Francisco.
No Substitute for Doing
In addition to her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, which she completed in 1982, she also received an MBA from the Carlson School of Management in 1994. Both degrees give her credibility, but trial by fire has been the best teacher of all, she said. "As you make more and more decisions-good, bad, or indifferent-your quality of decisions improves," she said. "The worst thing you can do is to be afraid to make a decision because you think you’ll fail."
Eudald Canadell: Finding Minnesota
"Arriving from Spain," says Eudald Canadell, 1988 M.S., "I found Minneapolis a city with great art, music, cinema, and a welcoming population." Later, Canadell found the U in unexpected places. "I had a meeting with a Standard & Poors representative who held a Ph.D. from Minnesota. We immediately hit it off."
Education is a Frame of Mind
Today Canadell is director of Standard & Poors Index Service Europe and divides his time between Paris and London. "With S&P the quality of the people is amazing. It is a pleasure to work them," says Canadell. And how did the U prepare him? "The best thing I got was the frame of mind that made me capable of handling many different things."
Neil Brodin: Forging Tributes
Starting a company that specializes in memorial bronze statues for police and firefighters was a logical step for Neil Brodin, 1981 B.A. Brodin is a 20-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department. "I started the studio to help my brother Roger, an artist. Some of our designs were originally Roger’s. We restructured after his death in 1996 and began specializing in statues for fire and police departments," he says.
Walking the Walk
Brodin received the commission for the George Mikan statue at Target Center and sells art across the country. He recently relocated to Litchfield to be closer to his studio’s foundry, but business remains strong. "It’s mostly word of mouth," says Brodin. "Because we come from law enforcement, we walk the walk."
John Cheung: On His Own
For many entrepreneurs, choosing to go it alone can be difficult. For John Cheung, that hard choice came as a teen in Hong Kong. Cheung is the founder and chairman of OMAX Corporation, a manufacturer of sophisticated precision water-jet machining equipment headquartered in Kent, Wash. He took the biggest risk of all when he left his family and home for a remote place called Minnesota in order to study at a university he’d barely heard of before.
No Fear
"Leaving home as a teenager trained me to be less sensitive to what is called risk," says Cheung, who believes his early training in self-sufficiency helped him make the switch from engineering researcher to independent entrepreneur. "When [we] got the idea of [using a] water jet as a machining tool, it wasn’t a big leap of faith to say, ’We’ll do it on our own.’ "
Ken Beck: Paving a Path to Meaning
When Ken Beck, 1967 B.E.E., closed a successful career as a high-tech exec, he built another at The Crossings, a progressive learning center, meeting place, and spa in the Texas hill country outside Austin. "We focus on wellness. . .and on helping people find meaning and inspiration in their lives."
New Territory
"After 35 years with large companies, I had no experience with a start-up," says Beck. Now, The Crossings’ award-winning facilities and undulating 210-acre campus draw guests-and praise-from around world, and employ more than 100. Beck attributes his success partly to the problem-solving discipline he learned as an engineering student: "It has served me well in every position."
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