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Published on October 16, 2025
On Thursday, October 16th from 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM, the BIS-ITSA club, joined by other BIS, Business, and Computer Science majors, were visited by two alumni who work in the advanced manufacturing industry. The alumni were John Connolly (Senior Manager, Commodity Integration), who works at RTX, and Ryan Connolly (Systems Engineer, Subcontractor Management), who works at Electric Boat. Both John and Ryan graduated from Eastern with degrees in Business Information Systems.
Most of the information session focused on how both alumni felt that they were well prepared to start their jobs due to the education they received at Eastern. They highlighted how certain courses gave them exposure to the same types of data that they deal with on a daily basis. These courses included:
Additionally, the alumni spoke on the importance of understanding the business context behind the data. Both of their roles involve speaking to people on many different teams; some of whom are less technically oriented, so being able to communicate the meaning behind data and how it provides business value is integral to both of their roles.
The meeting ended with students asking questions about each alumni’s role in their company as well as general questions about the companies. Many students were interested in hearing about career opportunities as advanced manufacturing is a popular route to go for students with knowledge in information systems, operations management, as well as finance Students were also treated to pizza, pop, and cookies for the event.
