Crafting a Curriculum: Oyungerel Munkhbat ’26
Oyungerel Munkhbat ’26, a student in the Master of Advanced Management program, chose courses that would help her understand AI and grow her air filter business.
Students in the Master of Advanced Management program have the opportunity to build their own slate of courses from diverse electives at Yale SOM and across the university. We asked students to explain how they customized their curricula and how they will apply lessons from their coursework at work.
Hometown: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Favorite thing about New Haven: The weather! It feels like home.
Best place to study: My apartment
How did you approach choosing your electives and shaping your customized curriculum?
I had two main considerations: operational skills and AI. I co-founded my own venture, Airee, which manufactures air filters from sheep wool. I faced many basic challenges since I had no formal management education before SOM. So I wanted to learn how to finance, shape, and steward an enterprise well. I chose electives that could teach me how to build financial forecasting, pricing, and supply chain management systems in my venture.
We’re fortunate to be students in the time of emerging technologies such as AI. I also wanted to choose electives related to predictive and generative AI, and plug into conversations around the economics and geopolitics of new tech.
Finally, when considering elective options, I prioritized professors with extensive research or industry experience and classes that bring in frequent guest speakers.
What surprised you about the coursework available to you?
I love that the MAM program has only two required courses, and everything else is flexible. We can take courses from other schools; with Yale’s broad reach, that means you can study most things under the sun. For instance, I’m currently taking two courses at the Yale School of the Environment, Life Cycle Assessment and Renewable Energy Project Finance. For both classes, we get the opportunity to work with real-life case materials and projects, which amplifies the learning.
The other thing I didn’t know before arriving was that at the beginning of the semester, we can add and drop classes during a weeklong “shopping period.” That flexibility allowed me to explore courses that I thought would be most valuable, then decide to audit some in order to manage my workload.
What are your favorite electives so far and why?
I have thoroughly enjoyed all of my electives, so it's hard to say! My fall highlight was Leading Small and Medium Enterprises with A.J. Wasserstein. I really like his style of teaching, and the course enabled me to synthesize a lot of my learnings and lived experiences. In the spring term, I’m enjoying AI for Business Decisions with Tong Wang. The content is exactly what I’m interested in, and the level of coding is fit for newbies.
How are you hoping to apply your coursework in your career?
After graduation, I’m excited to get my products to the U.S. The courses I’m taking at SOM and YSE are all directly related to the steps I'll take once I leave school.
