“Every engineer must possess the ability to identify the problem in any scenario, provide viable solutions to that problem, and to find lucrative means to execute these solutions. To facilitate and test these abilities, S.P.I.T.’s Industry Relations (IR) Committee and S.P.I.T. E-Cell organized a case study competition held from 17th January to 20th January. There was an overwhelming response from the students across all the branches. A total of 52 teams comprising of students from the first, second and third year participated with each team comprising of 4 members. The very first hurdle that each team needed to clear was a basic aptitude test. The tests were conducted in the computer lab and graded the mathematical, logical and decision-making abilities of the candidates. The students taking the test seemed to be scratching their heads over the quirky questions for the test duration of 45 minutes, yet thoroughly enjoying the healthy competition. The top 20 teams made it to the next round.
The second round took place on the 19th January 2018. The case was disclosed to all the contestants on a pre-decided time. It was to study and provide a feasible solution for OLA, the on-demand taxi-booking firm, to improve the transportation services in rural India, where conventional urban strategies would simply fail to work. Each team was given a total of 3 hours to brainstorm about the situation handed over to them and also to make a presentation on the model they designed. The lab was filled with the hustle of students trying to scrutinize the issues, discussing the various possible solutions and scrambling to put it all in the form of a presentation. Everyone was drained out by the end of those arduous three hours, but to have been a part of it was a unique roller-coaster ride on its own.
The driving force behind any business idea lies in being able to convince all the parties concerned. Each team was given a total of 10 minutes to present their model, after which the panel of judges consisting of Prof. Kaisar Katchi (Faculty Mentor, E-Cell S.P.I.T.) and Rahul Nagpal (Second Year, PGDM SPJIMR, Finance) conducted a question and answer round with the contestants. At the end of the day, the panellists had gone through a good number of feasible models. Nevertheless, after a tough call, the models presented by the team lead by Shashank Gupta, F.E IT, won the first prize. The team lead by Janani Balasubramanium, S.E IT, finished as the first runner-up. “Such competitions improve the business acumen of the students and prepare them for the distinguished careers lying ahead of them.”, quoted the winning team members. Kudos to all the winners and organizers!
Report by Edward Cullen and Payson Keeler