Alumni Spotlight

Scott Schneider

 

Chief Operations Officer
aOva Technologies

Class of 2005

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For Scott Schneider and his family, a life-changing opportunity presented itself in 2002 when a large company offered to buy their southeast Wisconsin egg production business. "We had a large operation with one million laying hens, an USDA-inspected plant, and we sold eggs throughout the country" says Schneider. "When we decided to sell, the asset sale offered an exit strategy for my parents, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next." Eventually, he decided to take two entirely different, but concurrent paths.

Through Mark Cook, a professor in animal sciences at the UW-Madison, Schneider learned of the Master of Science in Biotechnology Program. Schneider also became an investor in aOva Technologies, a virtual company that was working to commercialize its patented natural egg protein. Schneider joined the company as Vice President of Operations and COO.

The second path he took involved going back to school. The M.S. Biotechnology Program's interdisciplinary approach gave Schneider a broad range of skills as a company leader. "It was a really interesting experience because I was living the life of an entrepreneur, helping build a technologies company from the ground up and going to school at the same time."

Schneider earned his master's in 2005. Looking back, he still is amazed at the breadth of the program and the wide spectrum of working professionals that it draws. He offers this case in point. "I was surprised when a business professor asked for a show of hands regarding how many students could read a business plan. I was the only one whose hand went up. Another student, a scientist, countered by saying that what everyone probably did have in common was that they all knew what a pipette was. That was interesting to me because I had no idea what he was talking about."

With the integration of science and other disciplines, as well as sharpened business acumen, Schneider says the program gave him the wherewithal to help lead oOva Technologies, which now has seven fulltime employees.

"Sometimes you have to reinvent yourself," says Schneider. "and the program allowed me to do that."

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