Global Student Challenge success!

A team of four students from the University represented the United Kingdom in the Global Student Challenge, a supply chain finance competition in Zwolle, the Netherlands. The team won first place in the world for the University of Glasgow, after competing against 20 countries from around the world to get to the global final. Congratulations to Meticulous Medley!

Three of the team members belong to the School of Mathematics and Statistics as well as Adam Smith Business School. They are; Karol Yearwood and Mateusz Del Percio (Mathematics and Economics), Borys Mandrela (a graduate of Mathematics and Economics, currently undertaking his Masters degree) and Ivona Voroneckaja (Msci in Statistics with Work Placement). The team were supervised by Dr Rob Dekkers, Reader in Industrial Management, in the Adam Smith Building School.

The number of registered students for this challenge was worldwide in excess of 7000 students, with eventually hundreds of teams competing in regional finals, according to the organisers. 21 teams made it to the finals in Zwolle. Approximately ten were accompanied by academics from their institute. Supervisor Rob Dekkers said:

“From the first round on in Zwolle, the team had a solid performance, which put them consistently first in the weighted overall classification. Despite increasing competition of other teams, they maintained their solid lead. The team were also observed to be very cohesive and later became famous for the “group hugs”. The game and the hosting was very well organised, with many additional activities, including icebreakers and an excursion to the Port of Rotterdam. The team did not only participate, they also studied for their exams and honours degrees which is no mean feat!”

Team member Karol Yearwood said: “The Global Student Challenge is about managing supply chains and managing their financial aspects. This year’s company produced and distributed personal care products.
The competition covered nearly all aspects of running a global business, for example, teams needed to take decisions which brands and products they supply to which supermarket chains under which contracts. The teams also made decisions about how to contact suppliers from all over the world to deliver the components needed to produce the final good. Finally, the teams needed to coordinate their production cycle and manage their cash-flows by working closely with banks and their clients. The ultimate objective was to achieve the highest return-on-investment, thus not only focusing on profitability, but maximising the value obtained from the invested capital.”

First published: 7 June 2017

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