51视频

01/19/2017
By David Perry

For alumni who volunteer to mentor student DifferenceMaker teams, their commitment is a labor of love.

鈥淭his is giving back for me. I credit the university and my time here for a lot of the success I have today. I relish the opportunity to advise students in any way that may help,鈥� Jim Regan 鈥�88 said at a recent DifferenceMaker event.

Regan, who earned his bachelor鈥檚 in business administration, is president and CEO of Digital Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union in New England. His stake in the university runs deep 鈥� his wife, Amy, is a double River Hawk, with a degree in finance (鈥�89) and a master鈥檚 in education (鈥�90).

His time here, the accessibility of his professors and his class of fewer than 100 fellow graduates made Regan鈥檚 experience an intimate one.

鈥淚t was a like a family, a big one, but a family,鈥� says Regan. 鈥淭hat had a huge effect on me.鈥�

Regan is in some ways typical of DifferenceMaker mentors. He鈥檚 successful, believes his Lowell degree launched him toward opportunity and loves his work. He joined Digital Federal in 1992 as an auditor, ascending through the ranks. All the while, he has maintained ties to his alma mater.

The DifferenceMaker program, which helps usher student entrepreneurial projects from concept to market, has grown in popularity over the years, and there is more at stake. In April, student teams will pitch judges in hopes of landing the lion鈥檚 share of $50,000 in prize money. A key component in the program is the involvement of alumni who draw on their years of experience to provide guidance and feedback to students as they develop their projects.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really not hard to find mentors,鈥� says Steve Tello, senior associate vice chancellor for entrepreneurship and economic development. 鈥淭hey love doing this. When we call, they always ask, 鈥榃hat can we do? Let us know.鈥�

鈥淚deally, you want to have a person with some life or work experience that鈥檚 relevant to what a project is trying to accomplish. Disciplines don鈥檛 necessarily have to match. So someone might have been a health sciences graduate but has valuable experience starting a business.鈥�

The alumni say they also learn from the experience.

鈥橳his is giving back for me. ... I relish the opportunity to advise students in any way that may help.鈥� -DifferenceMaker Mentor Jim Regan 鈥�88

鈥淔rom my organization鈥檚 perspective, this is another way to get ideas and thoughts about what is possible, about what people are looking for. I鈥檓 from a completely different generation, but there is an opportunity here to find out what young people value and what they need,鈥� Regan says.

Andrew Sutherland 鈥�94 has plenty of experience starting things. He serves as mentor to Veterans QRF , a web-based platform designed to help student veterans file service-related claims with the Veterans Administration that nabbed the DifferenceMaker Social Impact honors last spring.

Sutherland found his intellectual spark here and graduated with a business degree. He went on to earn a master鈥檚 in international accounting and finance from the London School of Economics.

He has spent nearly two decades in finance and administration with various startup businesses, including Litle & Co., which was acquired by Vantiv in 2012 for $400 million.

The ink was barely dry on the contract when Sutherland first returned to 51视频 to speak to students.

He co-founded his current company, Applied Biomath, with John Burke '93, 鈥�95 (with both a bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 in applied mathematics), who was a Delta Kappa Pi fraternity brother. Sutherland now serves as the CFO, while Burke is the CEO and president.

Sutherland sees mentoring as a way of giving back, especially to those who have served their country.

鈥淚 love our veterans,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing I could do to pay them back enough."

David Tetrault, president and CEO of Veterans QRF, says Sutherland 鈥渉as made his support for veterans and my idea extremely clear, as he has spent hours on the phone with me going over various aspects of Veterans QRF.鈥�

Christopher McKenna 鈥�89 left 51视频 with a degree in electrical engineering, attended law school and now is a partner at Boston鈥檚 Foley & Lardner law firm, specializing in intellectual property 鈥� particularly emerging technologies. He is currently working with DifferenceMaker teams, including the SmartEater automated diet monitoring system and Omnisense, which tracks athletes鈥� performance metrics.

McKenna returned to the university to give back around the time his son Christopher, a sophomore in the electrical engineering program, decided to follow his father鈥檚 footsteps to 51视频.

鈥淎 good mentor acts like a coach,鈥� says McKenna. 鈥淵ou can always coach people to the next step. But even more important is honest feedback. I learned that a lot of people won鈥檛 tell you the truth, but people appreciate it when you do. It is about being straightforward and to the point.鈥�

Students are open to the feedback, and he feels he鈥檚 helping them advance their ideas.

McKenna came to the university from 鈥渉umble鈥� beginnings in Chelsea, found a strong, affordable engineering program and never knew what he missed: People who did what he does now.

鈥淲hen I went to school, there was zero networking, no insight into the job market, nothing. It was a great practical, hands-on education. But this is all fairly new. And I鈥檓 glad to be part of it.鈥�