Full-Time MBA Student Profile Erik Underwood, ’17

Erik Underwood: 00:05
My name is Erik Underwood, and I was born in Puerto Rico, then grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I moved to Santiago, Chile, where I did project management in the wind energy and solar energy industry. When considering Booth, I was excited about merging my own energy background with other business fields. I wanted to experience other industries and understand other parts of the world and how they do business. One of the first things that I did in the fall was the Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition. It was a case competition where we faced a problem of energy in an emerging market. I was really excited about this opportunity because it focused on a market that I wasn't familiar with, which was Eastern Africa. When I'm assessing which classes I want to take, I try to strike a balance between quantitative, case-based, and entrepreneurship.

Erik Underwood: 00:51
Took the Energy and Clean Tech Lab course. This was an exciting opportunity to really figure out how to grow a business and really hands-on in terms of establishing a business plan, understanding how to go to market and what the technology challenges were that we'd face. I think that it's great that you can go in and really dive deep into other areas that might not be something that you're used to in your own industry. I think the most important thing when you're considering getting an MBA is how much you want to get out of it and where you want to go afterwards. A lot of times you're thinking about just getting the next step in your career or a promotion, when in reality, this is a great opportunity to reevaluate your own plan and where you want your life to go.