Randy Hammelman

Randy  Hammelman
  • BS Electrical Engineering 1997
As a successful entrepreneur, Randy Hammelman, a 1997 electrical engineering graduate of Michigan Tech, is a great example for our alumni spotlight. Growing up in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisc., Hammelman was interested in sports and the outdoors. He was accepted at larger schools in Wisconsin and Illinois before choosing to attend Michigan Tech due to its small size and the outdoor environment surrounding the Tech area.

In addition to his EE coursework, Hammelman was involved in numerous extracurricular activities, including the Delta Sigma Phi, Sound and Lighting Services and intramural sports.

Hammelman credits Michigan Tech with a solid education, but the most important thing he learned is how to solve problems. He said, "You learn what you learn in school, but then when you get out, the information is going to be updated anyways. The biggest skill you can get is how to learn new information and how to solve problems."

Hammelman has few regrets about his experiences at Michigan Tech. He would have liked to have studied and traveled more. After graduating in 1997, Hammelman did not have a job lined up and he moved to Austin, Tex. where his sister lived. Being a high-tech area, Hammelman found a job with Motorola, which he had for a few years. "After that I hopped around to a few other companies, switching from hardware work to software work," said Hammelman. He spent a few years at a consulting company before opening his own consulting company in 2005, Conducive Consulting, based in Austin. "We do custom software development for the healthcare, telecom and Web 2.0 industries."

Personally, Hammelman is engaged and will be getting married on Nov. 15, 2008. He enjoys mountain biking, wakeboarding, traveling, enjoying the outdoors and socializing with friends. Someday, Hammelman would like to step aside from the business life and travel around the world for an extended period of time. He hopes that he can grow his business to the point where he can back off from the day-to-day operations as well.

As a successful businessman, Hammelman has some advice to offer current students: "Focus on your academic studies, but that's certainly not the be-all end-all.

"Once you get in your career, how you did in school isn't going to matter, but the skills that you have, such as being able to sell, being able to express yourself, being able to deal with people, being able to deal with conflict - those skills will trump anything you learn in the classroom," said Hammelman. "If you have those skills, you will definitely be a lot more successful." He also encourages students to give back to the University, whether it is done with time or money. Michigan Tech has done a lot for his development, and Hammelman wants to see others benefit in the same way he has.


by Stephen Anderson, reprinted from the Michigan Tech Lode (4-02-08)