Senior Capstone Project

After several months working towards my cumulative senior project, I have finally completed what I set out to do. I wanted to take a look at the solar panel industry and identify opportunities for exploitation.  After many first hand interviews and research with companies and local governments in  Massachusetts, the project was chartered as a Flexible Analytic Framework; basically a comparative study of the local solar panel industry.  The project took a look at the myriad of variables influencing the industry today, and learned a great deal by focusing on the unique Massachusetts market.  My partner, Eric Power, and myself created a snapshot of the industry; looking at all factors while mitigating the haze created by endless details and exceptions.  Wanting to effectively convey the opportunities the solar Panel Industry provides, we focused heavily on the communications aspect of this project.  We identified areas for processes improvement targeted at policy makers, that would increase market growth and economic opportunities.  A great deal was learned, and many connections were made during this in-depth project . Project planning, project coordination,  communications, and working with designers were all skills I improved while working on this project.

Please take a look at my project by following these links:

Flexible Analytic Framework: A Snapshot of the Massachusetts Photovoltaic Solar Panel Industry

Presentation – Flexible Analytic Framework: The Massachusetts Solar Panel Industry

Academic Conference

Attending the  Association for Authentic, Experiential and Evidence-Based Learning  (AAEBL) conference at the Boston Seaport World Trade Center was a very interesting experience as a student approaching graduation from Wentworth Institute of Technology.  After having worked for several semesters to build an online portfolio to showcase my work with professor Cindy Stevens, she asked that I come along and join her at the AAEEBL conference to learn more about electronic portfolios.  The conference widened my depth of knowledge about electronic portfolios; I learned effective ways to use Electronic Portfolios as educational tools and also realized their real world potential from a business management perspective.  Being exposed to a conference environment was a great educational opportunity in and of itself to prepare myself for future responsibilities.  Not only did I benefit from being surrounded by tech oriented professionals, but they too learned from my feedback about my student experiences while using an electronic portfolio for self-assessment.  In the future I will continue to update my personal electronic portfolio to track my accomplishments and showcase my work, I also plan to encourage others to adopt the new technology.  I am appreciative of the grant I received from the school which made it possible for me to attend the AAEEBL conference; Wentworth cares about its students’ educational processes and strives to take a holistic approach to learning.

Accomplishment Rocognition

With great pride and gratitude I have recently received the Edward T. Kirkpatrick Cooperative Education Award. This prestigious honer is given to students for their motivation and professionalism as well as enthusiastic and positive attitude toward their co-op experience. Recognition has always motivated me to push harder; with the culmination my my undergrad program coming to close I intend to keep working working to achieve my goals.

All five of the recipients of the Wentworth Edward T. Kirkpatrick Cooperative Education Award with President Pantic

A great article entitled “A Little Bit of Everything” was written outlining my co-op experience and what I learned along the way. It was an honor when I saw the article featured on Wentworth’s main homepage. It can now be viewed here on the school’s webpage.

Up and Running

My ECP is now up and running,  just in time for peer review from other students in the management program at Wentworth.  Please let me know if you find any inconsistencies in my web site.  There may be some missing data or duplication; I plan to add more content and rearrange the layout depending on your feedback.  Thank you!

Hello world!

Welcome to Kyle Laird’s Electronic Carearr Portfolio.  Created in the beginning of 2012 as a senior project at Wentowrth Institute of Technology; this site is intended to increase awareness of the potential of Electronic Portfolios (EP).  EPs are a useful tool for individuals to track professional accomplishments as well as post resumes and other features that employers can use as a metric for skills, attributes, accomplishments of current and prospective employees.

I hope this site gives visitors and potential employers a better idea of who I am, what my qualifications are, my goals, and my asperations.

I am currently a Senior studying Management at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts.  My concentration in Technology Management courses has given me great exposure to technological issues faced by Information Technology and Managerial professionals across a wide range of industries and backgrounds.  Working with Engineers has given me  unique insight into the link between business objectives and manufacturing processes as well as IT Functions, unlike the experiences most students in a Business or Engineering Secondary Education Program experience.

My EP website is in the beginning stages of development, and once completed will be under constant revision to help keep track of my profession accomplishments in the future.  I hope to use this as a tool to keep personal inventory of my work and for employers to use as a tool to judge my performance.