Student team reaches the semi-final of the Universities Business Challenge
Three teams of second year undergraduate students from Engineering and the Environment were entered into the Universities Business Challenge (UBC) competition. One team made it to the semi-final stage held at the University of Bristol in March.
The UBC is the world’s longest established and leading undergraduate simulation-based competition designed to develop employability and enterprise skills. It offers a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to improve their knowledge of business by putting the theory into practice and developing skills in team-working and leadership. This year, over 250 teams from universities across the UK took part in the challenge, competing to achieve maximum profit, acquire new business and enhance customer satisfaction.
Our semi-finalist team did very well and achieved 10th place competing against 39 teams from other universities. Unfortunately the team just missed being able to move forwards to the final. Team members, Alex Leonidas, Hansin Patel and Joshua Mead from Mechanical Engineering , Qufei Fan from Civil Engineering and team leader Jagjit Singh from Aeronautics and Astronautics are seen in the picture focused on a task in the Great Hall at the University of Bristol.
Team leader Jagjit, commented “The University Business Challenge was a great experience, the semi-finals had a very competitive atmosphere and I learnt a lot from the business presentations we had throughout the day, I am keen to implement the business model canvas, in any business ideas I have in the future. I am also proud of my whole team for putting in a large amount of effort to receive the result we have.”
Team member Qufei said “I think this is a really good experience from which I gained the skills of team-work and also the awareness about how to set up a business which I cannot get it from the course”. Joshua said “UBC provided me with a chance to really think outside the box which is something that you do not always get to do on a regular basis”.
Professor Anna Barney , Associate Dean for Education commented "This is a tough competition and seems to get tougher every year. The result is very creditable – well done to the team for getting so far."