Students from Rutgers MBA have taken home top prizes at various case competitions across the country, the Rutgers Business School announced on Thursday.
At the North Carolina State Grand Business Challenge, Rutgers Business School MBA students Chandan Dhal, Andrew Guernier, Andrew Knasiak and Setu Shah won first place in a competition focused on assessing a pharmaceutical firm’s vulnerability to a cyberattack and subsequently developing a plan to protect company operations. Before taking home the top prize, they went through three rounds prior to facing off against students from Florida State University and Singapore Management University.
Knasiak and Dhal said the team’s lack of familiarity in cybersecurity helped them achieve the win.
“The judges like the simplicity of our presentation and how we made technology and cybersecurity understandable,” Knasiak said.
Other major wins in February include:
- First place, ASCM Case Competition in Philadelphia: A Rutgers student team of Dhal, Supriya Subramaniam, Marcos Londoño and Daniel Bolotsky had to examine an automobile manufacturers order-to-delivery operation and recommend improvements to the order fulfillment cycle.
- Third place, Katz Invitational Case Competition at the University of Pittsburg: A Rutgers student team of Bolotsky, Arthur Bellis, Gregory Gerold and Akshay Arora had to develop a business segment strategy that identified future areas of growth and investment for a company that makes components for the aerospace defense industry.
There were more than 50 teams from business schools around the globe that competed in eight regional events. The top teams will now advance to the global finals in New Orleans in September.
Bellis, who helped Rutgers win third at Katz, said case competitions are important to the MBA experience.
“It’s a great opportunity to network with other students and to meet industry professionals,” he said. “It’s also experiential learning that gives us hands-on problem-solving experience.”
