Speech to International Students

On August 28, 2013, I gave a speech to many brilliant young international students at Calums. Here is the coverage from their student newspaper:

A SPECIAL GUEST AT CALUMS - REMZI OTEN

A memorable event took place at the university when Dr. Remzi Öten, founder of the highly successful premium mobile accessory company SENA cases, presented a speech about his career and the basis for his company’s success. When Dr. Oten addressed the audience on August 28, 2013, there were no empty seats in the auditorium. Students had to stand or sit on tables. Over 100 students and faculty listened to this remarkable speech.

During the summer, the Student Service Associates (SSA) team had a goal to invite a guest speaker who had meaningful and motivating message. The event surpassed their expectations. The astonishing success of Dr. Oten and his company was profound to CALUMS’s students. In addition, his background as a former international student made him deeply interesting.

Dr. Oten earned his bachelor’s degree in Turkey and continued his education in the United States, earn- ing M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Irvine, in 1996 and 1999, respectively.

Before Dr, Oten started making history as an entrepreneur, he worked in senior research and consulting positions at several companies. He also worked as a researcher and engineer specializing in image and signal processing. Dr. Oten developed more than 150 novel algorithmsthat are still used in successful commercial products.

As the CEO and President of SENA cases since 2001, Dr. Oten led his company to revenues of more than $20 million and a premium partnership with Apple Computers, Inc. Dr. Oten has more than 10 patents and applications and 13 scholarly published journal and conference papers.

The speech of Dr. Öten was influential with important information about doing business in the United States and the necessary steps to get to the top. Dr. Öten pointed out that taking risks is part of doing business and that unsuccessful decisions shouldn ́t discourage one from continuing to follow their dreams.