Covid 19

Delicately balancing data privacy and public health concerns amid the coronavirus pandemic have created roadblocks for accurate contact tracing around the world. But two recent Maryland Smith graduates are hoping to be part of the solution.

When tasked with a project on leveraging big data, master’s students Laura Klett, MFin ’20, and Gabriel Castro, MFin ’20, realized they shared a mutual interest in improving current contact tracing methods. They teamed up to find a way to positively impact their local communities.

Maryland Smith Alum Gives Ice Cream to Doctors, Nurses

With the fight to treat COVID-19 patients in full force at hospitals, Mike Weber ’14 wanted to help. He watched as his wife, an internal medicine resident at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, and her colleagues put in long, intense hours in the ICU.

Even amid a global pandemic, Evan Lutz’s business is booming. The 2014 Maryland Smith grad’s Baltimore-based Hungry Harvest delivers produce that would have been wasted to customers’ homes – a service that’s more attractive than ever with stay-at-home orders in place.

As Busboys and Poets founder Andy Shallal, MBA ’19, fixed a shattered window from a break-in at his restaurant chain’s Anacostia location, he found an opportunity to turn his misfortune into inspiration.

After staring at the black piece of plywood that now occupied his window space, Shallal picked up his paintbrushes and went to work. The result: “Busboys [heart] Anacostia.”

“Everyone is Online: Reaching your Global Customer Through Digital Marketing” was the second webinar in an ongoing series from the Maryland Partners in International Trade (MAPIT), Alliance, a partnership of the Maryland Smith Center for Global Business, Maryland-D.C. District Export Council, the Office of International Investment and Trade at the Maryland Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Baltimore.

Survey by Alums’ Veterinary Tech Firm Finds Owners Are Feeling the Love

Longer walks. More lap cuddles. And more chewed-up tennis balls. Pets are gleaning a few perks from the pandemic quarantine—and so are their owners, according to a recent survey from a veterinary tech company run by two Terps.

How can businesses transform their online presence to stay connected with global markets?

That question took center stage as the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business Center for Global Business hosted a webinar for the greater Maryland Smith community.

In 2017, Rahul Vinod ’11 and Sahil Rahman ’12 opened the doors to their first restaurant, RASA — a fine, casual Indian restaurant in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, DC. They not only wanted to run a successful restaurant, but they also wanted to be proud of their business and its involvement in the community.

The University of Maryland has moved to online learning through the rest of the semester in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With most students and faculty at home hunkered down with their families, many are thinking of ways to give back to their communities during these difficult times.

Ha Le, a second-year MBA student at Maryland Smith, writes about the Center for Global Business Annual Forum.