More than 60 students from the Undergraduate Business Analytics Club (UBAC) recently toured Coca-Cola corporate headquarters, where they gained valuable insights about careers at Coke from Georgia Tech alumni.
“We were excited to host the Undergraduate Business Analytics Club today and give them a tour of our campus,” said Coca-Cola University Recruiting Leader Chase Simmons. “Because all of our tours were led by Georgia Tech alumni, it gave students the opportunity to both network and find out how data is used to make decisions at Coca-Cola.”
Alumni tour leaders included Nancy Joseph, BSBA, director, supplier diversity & indirect procurement; Stephanie Trammell, BSBA ’94; project manager, data science operations; Kevin Long, BS Arch ’04 and MBA ’16, project manager, Freestyle program; Rob Brown, ISyE, vice president, global indirect procurement; Emmy Marschalk, BSBA ‘05, national customer operations manager; Rani Tilva, BSBA ’18, senior manager talent strategy and succession; Samuel Jerome, MBA ’19, senior finance manager; and Matthew Walker, ISyE ‘11 and current Executive MBA student, director global procurement – World Without Waste.
Walker, who is set to become a double Jacket in December '24, remarked, "The students posed some excellent questions. I admired their enthusiasm for analytics and their curiosity about its day-to-day applications in a company like Coca-Cola."
Trammell, a 25-year veteran at Coke, stated: "I really enjoyed spending time with the students and sharing my perspective on the Company's needs for the future in data and analytics. Their questions were insightful and exemplified the thirst for knowledge common to successful Yellow Jackets!"
The Scheller Business Analytics Center (BAC) worked with UBAC to set up the tour.
“The tour was originally scheduled with the idea that students who applied for a summer Coca-Cola internship could use the tour to discover more information about Coke and its internship program,” said BAC Corporate Engagement Manager Sherri von Behren. “However, there was huge additional interest from many students who already have internships lined up, but wanted to learn about analytics at Coke and tour the headquarters of one of Atlanta’s most iconic and powerful brands.”
Responses from the students were overwhelmingly positive, with many citing the opportunity to connect with alumni as one of their favorite parts of the tour.
“I enjoyed talking to the alumni and hearing about the successful careers they are building at Coca-Cola,” said Caleb Buchanan, a Scheller third-year concentrating in strategy and innovation. “Our tour guide (Kevin Long) was insightful and engaging--and you can tell he really enjoys working at Coke. He opened up a Freestyle machine for us and it was cool to learn about the IoT connectivity in those machines.”
UBAC Marketing VP Natasha Havanur is a former Coca-Cola intern. “I’m not surprised so many signed up. For me, it was fun to come back and touch base with some of the people I worked with during my internship. I even learned a few new things on the tour! Coke does an excellent job with its intern program. You learn applicable business skills and there is no busy work involved like you hear about at so many other internships.”
Nina Tojcik, a Scheller 3rd year concentrating in Information Technology Management, added: “It’s a very well-thought-out campus. I liked all the bright and airy spaces they have and the fact that employees can sit down and work anywhere. You can tell there is a good work/life balance. I was impressed.”
“I enjoyed meeting the faces behind one of the most recognizable brands in the world,” explained Daniel Oman, a third-year computer science student. “To see that so many are Tech grads was quite inspiring.”