March 20, 2011 - 4:37pm
Students compete in 42-hour business challenge
BY EUGENE CHUNG
Last weekend, 28 teams of University students raced the clock as they competed for three $500 cash prizes in the first-ever 42-Hour Business Challenge.
The 42-Hour Business Challenge was organized and presented by the Society of Business Engineers, a new student group founded in September 2009 for students with dual interests in business and engineering.
At an official kickoff event held in the Kahn Auditorium of the Biomedical Science Research Building last Friday, the teams were given business challenges that dealt with topics like green energy, health and high-tech.
Business School junior Anthony Chen, co-president of SoBE, said the event was designed to create a competitive atmosphere where student teams could work together toward a common goal.
“The timeframe for teams to provide a solution was limited to 42 hours in order to create a high-energy, competitive atmosphere, which would then create a high-value return,” Chen said.
At the kickoff, Rich Sheridan, CEO of Menlo Innovations, LLC a software-consulting firm in an Ann Arbor gave the keynote address.
During the challenge participants used a teleconference, called “The Hub” in the Duderstadt Center to brainstorm and sleep.
Chen said that in an effort to make the competition more interesting, the 42-hour Business Challenge made use of the social networking website Twitter. Each team was provided a Twitter account in order to respond to multiple checkpoint questions presented throughout the 42 hours. The teams were required to “tweet” their answers within 30 minutes of a checkpoint question being asked.
“The purpose of using Twitter was to guide teams and keep them on track during the competition,” Chen said. “It also allowed teams to publish their thought process so that judges and viewers could see how the competition went down.”
The winners of the 42-hour Business Challenge were announced yesterday in an award ceremony at Rackham Auditorium. One award for each category was presented. Winners included “Team D” for the health category, “Oakland Innovators” for the high tech category and “Team Ascent” for the green energy category.
Zubair Ahsan, co-founder and president of the SoBE, said the winners were chosen based on a variety of criteria.
“The winners were chosen based upon their presentation skills, the feasibility and creativity of their solution and their progress at specific checkpoints,” Ashan said.
Doug Neal, managing director at the Center for Entrepreneurship in the College of Engineering, delivered an address applauding those involved in organizing the challenge.
Chen said he was proud of everyone in the society who worked on organizing the competition.
“From the marketing team to the website design team, everyone played their part in this competition,” Chen said. “The fact that the Society of Business Engineers, having been founded only last semester, is already initiating a high-caliber competition is a testament to the great people we work with.”
