CIBU wants to invite current students and faculty to the International Cuisine Day Potluck on Wednesday, February 8, 2012 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM in the Paris classroom. Come eat a good meal to help get you through midterms.

Come meet other CIBU students from all over the world. Bring a dish from your own country to share a piece of your culture.

Please make sure to let us know if you will be coming to the potluck and what dish you plan on bringing in your attendance comment.

To sign up please visit this link.

See you there!

Calling all San Diego businesses including: finance, communication, event management and marketing companies!

California International Business University is looking for companies for students to intern with for 80 hours over 10 weeks (or a minimum of 1 day a week) from now until the end of May.

These internships will be unpaid, as the students will be receiving class credit.

To find out more information please contact Robin Heckler at robin.heckler@cibu.edu or call (619) 702-9400 with the name of your company and what you do.

Marcus A. Benniefield, DBA is one of our most recent Doctorate graduates from California International Business University.

My story is the American story — raised on southern values, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.

My father is from Florida and my mother is from South Carolina, I was born in San Diego California, United States of America, the youngest of three children. I have two older sisters.

After working my way through college with the help of scholarships and student loans, I decided to stay in San Diego where I helped people to achieve their dreams to attend college.

I went on to attend business school, which was an intense period of personal and professional transformation that prepared me for challenges in the global economy. Upon graduation, I stayed in San Diego to help students with their educational goals, train employees in marketing and sales, and remain active in my community.

Looking back, as a freshman in college I knew I would eventually pursue a doctoral degree because my early professors had such an impression on me. I was influenced by my professors’ (most who had doctoral degrees) unwavering belief in the ability to unite students around learning for a purpose.

With the degree doctoral degree I have just earned at the California International Business University I want to establish myself as a leader on some of our nation’s most important domestic and international challenges.

One of the most challenging times in pursuit of my degree occurred when I studied and taught at the National Chin-Yi University of Taiwan in Taichung, Taiwan. I learned that my life in America was connected to a community much larger than America’s finest city. I returned from Taiwan with a sense of renewal, and eager to make a difference in the world.

Sandra Hurtault, one of our MBA students wrote an article about the most recent Bay Area Study Tour. Professor Hawkins takes a group of students to the Bay Area each year to explore and learn more about business in a thriving part of the United States. To learn more about the past study tours CIBU has gone on please visit our study tour page.

“Don’t be encumbered by history. Go off and do something wonderful.” Robert Noyce, co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intelin 1968.

The 2011 Bay Area Study Tour started Monday, Nov. 14^, 2011 with the visit to Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, the Intel museum in Santa Clara and Copper Garett Estate Vineyards located on hillsides above Saratoga. Then our tour took us to the San Jose Chamber of Commerce and to San-Francisco with the visit to Bi-rite and Taylor Stitch. Our last stop during the 3-day event was the San Francisco Recology center where we saw how the Bay is definitely leading toward more honesty and sustainability. The trip was a great experience for Sergun Sezer, an MBA student at CIBU who said: “We learned so much about the companies we visited and we shared a wonderful time all together!”

During our visit to the Plug and Play tech center Yassi Taromi, University Relations associate of the center gave us a tour of  the “Silicon Valley’s incubator”. Indeed, the Plug and Play Center represents a growing community of more than 300 startups from all over the world. Plug and Play offers a variety of programs to help startups to grow. The center offers a professional and flexible working environment favorable to brainstorming. Service partners are present to help entrepreneurs along the creation process. With such a great combination we didn’t find it surprising that being a part of Plug and Play multiplies by three times the chances of success! The afternoon offered us the opportunity to actually penetrate the process of creation with the visit of the Intel museum. Worldwide renowned company, Intel was created in 1967 by co-founders Gordon E. Moore and Robert N. Noy. Intel always encouraged self-empowerment as Robert Noyce co-founder of the company said “the next great idea could come from anyone.”  The combination of market opportunities, great timing and risk taking led Intel to its outstanding success.  During our visit we also had the chance to see some of Intel’s greatest past innovations such as the first computer launched in 1978 (Intel 8086) or the 486 microprocessor launched in 1989.  Our last stop for this first day of visits was the Copper Garrett Estate Vineyards where we got to do some wine tasting! Located on hillsides above Saratoga, the vineyard is a family-owned and operated estate. Their products are mainly sold on site where the grapes are handpicked and the wine produced and bottled by a small group and family members.

On our second day, we stopped by the San Jose Chamber of Commerce where Pat Sausedo, V.P. of Public Policy and Communications, answered questions regarding the social roots of the Silicon Valley revolution and what to expect for the future of the region. We learned that Silicon Valley became one of the most influential places for innovations by the convergence on one site of new technological knowledge, a large pool of high skilled engineers, generous funding from the Defense Department, the development of an incredible network of venture capital firms, and, last but not least, the presence of Stanford University. In past years, while the Silicon Valley unemployment rate is higher than national levels the region continues to play its role of incubator for startups where brands like Apple and eBay continue to launch new products and ideas every day. Silicon Valley is also leading toward big changes possibly incarnated by green technology and green lifestyle which could be the way out of the region’s economic downturn.  Then our tour stopped at Bi-rite Creamery for some ice cream! Bi-Rite Creamery creates ice cream, soft serve and baked goods. All the products are manufactured by hand in small batches. The shop is annexed to the Bi-rite Market created in 1940 and is like a time capsule which will take you back to the tastes you knew growing up. Probably a “Madeleine de Proust” for many of their customers, Bi-rite proudly incarnates the values of responsible and sustainable enterprise. Our final stop was to Taylor Stitch, a tailored clothing company created by three young visionary designers: Michael Maher, Barrett Purdum and Michael Armenta. Taylor Stich is a small independent shirt maker proposing handmade custom shirts. All of their products are designed and manufactured in the US and most of them in Northern California. From the fabric to the cuts the three designers promise to offer to their customers a timeless but modernized experience.

On our last day in the Bay Area and the last stop was the San Francisco Recology Center. Recology is a 100 percent employee-owned company based in San Francisco. We were welcomed by Micah Gibson, Art and Education programs coordinator, who offered us a complete tour of the center’s installations. Recology provides collection, recycling, compost, and disposal services.  The mission of the center is to make it easy and convenient for people to recycle. The center is helping San Francisco more towards zero waste, a goal set by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.  We also had the chance see Recology’s garden where dozens of pieces of art made from trash are on display. The center also provides a working space for artists who work on projects which will be revealed during one of the several annual expositions. Sina Ba-ghal, an MBA student at CIBU mentioned: “It was interesting to learn how Recology successfully recycles San Francisco’s waste while giving artists the possibility to build creative artworks.”

During our trip many questions were answered such as: Where do the great ideas come from and how do they become successful ventures? How Silicon Valley became the home of many of the largest technology corporations? How the region will face the years to come and remain a leading hub for high-technology innovations and development? Finally, where is the Silicon Valley community going in terms of innovations and lifestyle changes? We learned that in building a venture, some parts of the process are so sensitive a speck of dust could ruin the final outcome. Where born great ideas and what turn them into successful ventures? Great ideas are born in the mind and heart of passionate entrepreneurs. Their success is due to a constant devotion to their work and to the just measurement of risk taking. A successful venture is never to stay static but evolves with its time. Each and every one of our stops helped us understand what will be the changes of this dynamic region. More sustainability and more green technologies seem to definitely be what the community is leading toward to. Through new business ideas and higher administrative standards, the Bay Area has found its new focus in producing significant environmental improvement and resource conservation. By supporting sustainable businesses the region reaffirm its leadership in terms of innovations. In every aspect, our experience in the Bay Area was extremely rewarding and I would like to thank every participant for their warm welcome and inputs! A special thank you to our teacher, Brian Hawkins, who provided us with a wonderful experience and great memories!

Sandra Hurtault
MBA student CIBU

On Saturday September 24th, students and faculty enjoyed an afternoon picnic at Mission Beach Park, in San Diego. Everyone enjoyed food cooked by our very own grill master Jorge Reinoza, a professor at CIBU. Students participated in games of soccer, volleyball and basketball while enjoying the warm weather and beautiful scenery.

Visit the Welcome Back Picnic Flickr page to see more photo’s from the picnic…

We’re happy so many students attended and brought their school spirit with them. Have a great quarter students!