管院國際經營管理碩士學程(International Business MBA, IBMBA)一年級學生Ariana Ohana，來台灣讀書之前，在美國E-Z-GO擔任設計製造高爾夫球車的工程師，其專責設計的車體撞擊緩衝器(utility vehicle bumper)於2015年12月獲得美國專利，付出三年半心血的產品獲得如此肯定，Ariana也特地返國領取專利證書。

 

這款撞擊緩衝器前端為厚塑膠材質的多層蜂巢狀網格，後方由鋼鐵結構連接車體，兩者的設計和材質皆能有效吸收撞擊力，阻止外來能量傳遞到車輛主體，保護車子及乘客。此產品能通過專利認證因其在設計、材質選用以及功能性方面都很突出，也是首件專用於高爾夫球車的撞擊緩衝器。

 

2011至2014年間，Ariana於E-Z-GO擔任新產品開發部門的工程師，通常每一款車會由3-5位工程師組成團隊共同設計，但組成設備會有主要負責人，以本次獲專利產品所屬的車款為例，Ariana就負責緩衝器和頂篷（其他系列車款則負責座椅及控制面板等），除了設計、測試，也必須接觸到產品的製造。

 

然而，過去主修機械工程的Ariana在設計產品上游刃有餘，但當面對工作中跨部門溝通，以及要為不同客群需求設計不同裝備的時候，則會感受到自己在商管方面的不足，也因此興起了重返校園的念頭，她希望在學習更多管理知識後，在工作上能擔任管理階層的職位。

 

出生自美國亞特蘭大的Ariana其實與台灣甚有淵源，養育她的繼父是台灣人，弟弟目前也在中央大學就讀碩士班，2014年來台觀光後就愛上了台灣，特別是擁有家鄉沒有的海灘城市-高雄。加上來自背景多元的家庭，對於各種國際化的想法都抱持開放態度，種種原因讓她選擇就讀為於南台灣的中山IBMBA。

 

正在修習第二學期課程的Ariana表示，過去的工作經驗對知識的學習很有幫助，將實際發生過的案例與課堂連結，並能與教師和來自不同領域的同學一起討論。Ariana回憶過去工作雖然壓力很大，離開時卻也非常不捨，但她相信進修國際經營管理學程後，一定值回票價！

 

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Ariana Ohana is now a first year student in IBMBA (International Business MBA) program, NSYSU. Before she came to Taiwan, she was an engineer at E-Z-GO, a company that designs and manufactures golf cars. After three and a half years of hard work, the utility vehicle bumper she designed has won her a US patent in December 2015.

 

The utility vehicle bumper is designed with layers of honeycomb-shaped plastic in the front and steel structure in the back connecting the front part to the car body. Both shape and materials can absorb the energy of a crash efficiently and then protect the car and passengers from serious damage. The design, materials and function of the utility vehicle bumper makes it the first bumper use in golf cars.

 

From 2011 to 2014, Ariana worked as an engineer in the new product development department at E-Z-GO and was mainly responsible for the bumper and canopy design (in other series of cars she worked on seats and front panels, etc.). Besides designing, she was also involved in the product manufacturing process.

 

Although she has a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering and is good at designing and testing, she often felt short of skills in business management when communicating with other departments. She also wanted to know more about the process of designing different equipment for different customers. The thought about going back to school to learn more knowledge about management popped on her mind.

 

Many reasons made her choose IBMBA program in NSYSU. Born and raised in Atlanta, GA USA, Ariana has many connections with Taiwan: her stepfather who raised her is Taiwanese and her brother is also pursuing a master’s degree in NCU. Also, she fell in love with this place especially the beaches (no beach in Atlanta), after a tour around Taiwan in 2014.

 

Talking about the IBMBA program, Ariana thinks that her past work experiences truly helps in class with problem solving and discussing with teachers and classmates from different fields. Ariana also mentioned that although the engineer job was stressful she still felt sad after quitting, but on the other hand, she believes it will be worth it after graduating from the IBMBA program and then get a higher position in company!