The following post was written by Andrew Smith, a member of the CSA’s General Council. Andrew recently attended the 5th Annual Engineering and Commerce Case Competition hosted by Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec through the CSA Conference and Competition Funding Program.
Featured photo: University of Manitoba at the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition. Left to Right: Christian Beaudoin (CAE Inc.), Marc Pelland (Electrical Engineering), Ian Veloso (Electrical Engineering), Mary Brabston (Faculty Advisor), Andrew Smith (Management Information Systems), Viktor Popp (Biosystems Engineering), Rune Carlson (Team Ambassador from Concordia University)
Over the past 4 months, I had the opportunity to work closely with Viktor Popp, Ian Veloso, and Marc Pelland from the Faculty of Engineering in preparation for the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition (ENGCOMM). ENGCOMM is hosted by the John Molson School of Business and Concordia University’s Faculty of Engineering & Computer Science and was held March 6th – 10th in Montreal, Quebec. This year’s competition featured teams from eight Canadian and five international universities, with attendees engaging in a week of problem-solving, critical thinking, and professional development. During the competition, participants analyzed and presented their solutions to three engineering problems along with their business plans to put their solutions into action. This year was the third year that the University of Manitoba has been represented at this competition.
Participating in ENGCOMM 2018 offered me the ability to venture beyond the comfort of what I know to explore new challenges. While ENGCOMM was not my first venture into the world of engineering (I participated in the SHAD science, technology, engineering, and mathematics program while in high school), ENGCOMM forced a new way of thinking about the business problems facing the world today. Throughout the course of the week, we faced challenges such as evaluating how we might address growing needs for energy and healthcare systems in emerging countries, overcoming the projected 250,000-person pilot shortage in the next decade, and how to utilize emerging technologies such as blockchain to enhance global financial operations. The problems we set out to solve in 6 hours (or, in the case of the third case, 12 hours) are problems that are being explored by many global leaders in energy, transportation, and financial services.
My most significant takeaway from ENGCOMM 2018 is the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. All too often it is easy to remain entrenched in your area of study and not see the larger picture of how the topics you are learning about fit together with other industries. The Engineering and Commerce Case Competition bridges this gap while fostering relationships with peers across faculties at competing universities. I was lucky to be able to make three exceptional friends in the Faculty of Engineering as a result of our preparations for ENGCOMM – people who I would not have met otherwise.
While we did not make the podium at the competition, the four of us are coming back with a deeper understanding of some of the problems being explored by businesses and engineers around the world. Through the networking opportunities offered at ENGCOMM 2018, we have developed connections that cross international borders while allowing us to further develop our analysis and presentation skills. Further, we have returned from the competition with a strengthened interest in continuing our cross-faculty collaboration.
Lastly, it is important to recognize the significant contributions made by our team of coaches as we prepared for ENGCOMM 2018. We were lucky to have had seven amazing individuals come out to support us as we prepared for the competition. Thank you, Bill, Brett, Lydia, Jenna, Thomas, and Bryce, for coming out to support us, and especially thank you to Mary Brabston for being our mentor all the way. As a team, we were beyond proud to see Mary win Best Coach at this year’s competition, as we had the pleasure of being her final case team of her teaching career.
In closing, I had an amazing time at the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition. From networking with international peers to solving complex problems with friends from here at home, I am proud and grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in this event. Thank you to the Commerce Students’ Association, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba Engineering Society, and University of Manitoba Faculty of Engineering for supporting our team’s participation in the competition and thank you Concordia University for being great hosts!
I am looking forward to ENGCOMM 2019!
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About the Engineering Commerce Case Competition:
The Engineering and Commerce Case Competition (ENGCOMM) is an official not-for-profit organization. It is a high caliber competition between selected universities from around the world. Founded in 2012, ENGCOMM’s mission is to bridge the communication gap between two major faculties: Engineering and Commerce. Their comprehensive cases are designed to solve real life industry problems which require the collaboration of Engineering and Commerce students. Learn more about ENGCOMM at www.engcomm.ca
Photos in this article are by Lashan.co