The following article was written by Andrew Smith and Jenna Hnatishin. Andrew and Jenna recently represented the Asper School of Business alongside Viktor Popp and Fariha Tasnim from the Faculty of Engineering at the 6th Annual Engineering and Commerce Case Competition (ENGCOMM) hosted by Concordia University.
Interdisciplinary collaboration is key to finding solutions to the challenges faced by today’s global economy. Unfortunately, in many cases undergraduate programming is conducted in silos; students learn about the issues faced in their area of study, but often are underexposed to the issues faced in other industries. This has inadvertently left students without a fully developed skillset to work in team-based environments. The Engineering and Commerce Case Competition strives to build communication bridges in the workforce of tomorrow through bringing together students from Commerce and Engineering faculties world-wide to work collaboratively to find solutions to the real-world challenges faced by modern industries.
From February 18th – 24th, Asper students Andrew Smith and Jenna Hnatishin joined Engineering students Viktor Popp and Fariha Tasnim to represent the University of Manitoba at the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition (ENGCOMM). Now in its’ 6th year, ENGCOMM brings together students from 16 international universities for a week of problem solving, collaboration, and networking at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. At ENGCOMM, teams worked to solve current problems that are being faced in the Military Technology, Aerospace Manufacturing, and Transportation Customer Experience industries.
During the first evening delegates, faculty, corporate partners, and the organizing committee had the opportunity to network with each other prior to the first of three galas during the week. During the first gala, teams were randomly assigned to four competition divisions: the Marinvent division, the Bombardier division, the General Electric division, and the Revision Military division. The team from the University of Manitoba was selected to compete alongside teams in the Marinvent division, including the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, University of Alberta, and McMaster University.
On the second day teams received their first case. The first case, solved over six hours and sponsored by Revision Military, was to develop a new product for Revision’s military communication portfolio. Once the six hours was complete, Andrew, Jenna, Viktor, and Fariha presented their solution to a panel of judges including representatives from Revision Military. After the competitive portion of the day was complete, ENGCOMM hosted delegates at a variety of activities in the Old Port of Montreal, including skating and dinner, allowing participants to continue to build relationships between the schools.
Our second six hour case came on day three. The case was sponsored by General Electric Aviation and focused on the changing needs and manufacturing processes of aircraft. This case not only looked at the engineering aspects of manufacturing, but also had a heavy human resources focus as well as participants evaluated the advantages and disadvantages to closing or relocating manufacturing facilities. Following the case, delegates engaged in the second networking cocktail and gala of the week, where the team from Manitoba enjoyed dinner with the team from the TU Dublin. Then, it was early to bed as everyone rested up before the twelve hour case the following day.
Spending twelve hours locked in a room with three other people certainly is not for everyone, however, Team Toba took it with stride! The third and final case of the competition was sponsored by Bombardier and focused on improving the customer experience in the first and last mile of transportation, specifically for business travelers between Montreal and Atlanta. Come the end of the twelve hour resolution, Team Toba was ready for their presentation the following morning, cheerfully counting down to the end of the resolution time.
On the final day, competing teams presented their third-round cases to a panel of judges and then waited to hear if they made it to the final round of the competition. While Team Toba did not make it to the finals, Team Toba did not walk away from ENGCOMM empty handed. Team Toba was lucky to have retired Asper professor Mary Brabston as head coach and faculty advisor as they prepared for the competition. For the second year in a row, Mary received the Best Coach award at ENGCOMM. The Best Coach award is selected by the organizing committee based on the feedback that team ambassadors hear from the schools that they represent at the competition. Congratulations Mary for receiving the award – it was very well deserved!
In closing, Team Toba would like to thank our entire panel of coaches for their support as they prepared for ENGCOMM 2019. Their support, perspectives, and guidance help the team immensely as they prepared for the competition. Additionally, thank you to the team’s ambassador Chris Bianchet from Concordia University for being an excellent tour guide throughout the week, and for assisting the team wherever possible! Lastly, thank you and congratulations are due to the entire ENGCOMM organizing committee for another great competition and for ensuring that participants had plenty of opportunities to network with each other, sponsors, and of course the wonderful hosts.