A team of university business students is off to Singapore in April.
Steven Vu, Larisa Gorodetsky and Anny Chen, who are part of the , earned that right after placing first at the .
Nearly 80 university teams entered the preliminary competition with the top 16 鈥� featuring teams from Indiana University, UBC, Queen鈥檚, Carnegie Mellon and National University of Singapore 鈥� competing earlier this month in Vancouver.
CaseIT is an annual international undergraduate business case competition focused on Management Information Systems (MIS) and designed to find the best and brightest in strategic case analysis. Students from various backgrounds in information technology and business showcase their skills in teamwork, problem solving, and critical thinking to a panel of industry professionals. This year鈥檚 competition dealt with security, its role in business success, and the obligations to protect a company鈥檚 stakeholders, bottom line and future. The panel of judges included representatives from companies such as Coast Capital Savings, CGI, Orbis Financial Planning, SAP, and CIOVAN.
鈥淚dentifying information is hidden, so the judges don鈥檛 know where you鈥檙e from鈥攖hey simply choose the team that鈥檚 best,鈥欌�� Vu said.
鈥淥nce you level the playing field like that, it鈥檚 about skill and what you know.鈥�
School of business faculty and team coach Robert Wood echoed that sentiment, saying, 鈥淭he team truly turned in a first-class performance.鈥�
According to School of Business Dean Dr. Arthur Coren, 鈥淐ase competitions enrich the undergraduate experience. They blend theory with practice and give students an opportunity to apply their learning. It鈥檚 one of the many ways we develop students who are ready to work and ready to lead.鈥�
鈥淭he competition makes it all very real,鈥� said team member Larisa Gorodetsky said, 鈥淲orking under pressure really makes you think and perform.鈥�
This year鈥檚 CaseIT competition was the largest yet, with 80 teams representing universities from all over the world, including Canada, the United States, Germany, Australia, Lebanon, Indonesia and others. In the words of B.C. Premier Christy Clark, the competition 鈥渋s a great way for the brightest minds to apply their skills, expand their horizons and network, as they prepare for their future roles in our society.鈥�
The next stop for the award-winning team will be the APEX Business-IT Global Case Challenge in Singapore.
