This past weekend we welcomed 88 prospective and incoming students to campus for the Rotman Problem Solving Challenge. Competitors traveled from far and wide to solve an unstructured, real-world business problem on wearable technology in the realm of education.  After releasing the challenge question in January, we asked participants to submit a written essay.  The top scorers were shortlisted and asked to present their ideas via skype, were graded on that as well, and then invited to attend the two-day intensive teamwork portion of the competition. Here is a recap of the Problem Solving Challenge weekend.

The ambitious cohort arrived from 13 different countries bright and early on Friday morning. Having flown from as far as India, Vietnam, and Ukraine, everyone had a lot on the line. Mihnea Moldoveanu, Vice Dean, Full-Time MBA kicked off the competition with an insightful keynote on wearables, and so began the team-based portion of the challenge, to create a new wearable technology for the education sector. Participants had six and a half hours to work with a team of fellow Problem Solving Challenge participants (who they had just met earlier that day!) on the team component of the Challenge. At 5:00pm, it was a race against the clock to submit their hard work (with the admissions team cheering them on to the “Rocky” theme song, of course). With their presentations submitted it was time to unwind with a cocktail in the accompaniment of faculty, staff, and potential future classmates. But it wasn’t over yet. The following day, each team would present in front of a grueling panel of industry expert judges from firms including KPMG, Bain and Co., McKinsey and Co., Deloitte, BCG, Accenture, AT Kearney, and RBC.

The hopefuls suited up and came to impress on Saturday morning. You could cut the tension with a knife as the teams prepared to present their ideas and used every last second to review their slides and the key points they would highlight. Of 19 teams, only four would move on to the finals. When competitors weren’t presenting, there were a number of different activities happening on campus to get to know Rotman a bit better. We offered student-led tours of campus, a Q and A with our Managing Director, an introduction to Rotman’s Self Development Lab, a Career Centre drop-in hour, and “Get Your Quant On!”- a session designed to debunk the myth that b-school math is inaccessible to those without a quant background-  led by Kaptone Admissions Consulting. Two of our previous challenge winners also offered insight into Rotman and the MBA program. Following this discussion, it was time for the finals.

Ali Nawab, Founder and CEO of Kiwi Wearable Technologies, and Matthew Bailey, Co-Founder of Thalmic Labs, joined our Managing Director, Kevin Frey on the final judging panel. The top four teams had 30 minutes each to present their wearable ideas to fellow competitors and the judging panel featuring the best in the biz. Their innovative business ideas impressed our judges and they were all able to answer challenging questions backed by detailed research and statistics.

The awards ceremony and networking reception followed a long and trying two days and everyone seemed incredibly pleased with the experience, regardless of outcome. Awards included the grand prize of a full tuition scholarship ($90,000), a second place prize of $60,000, third $40,000, fourth $30,000, fifth $20,000. Prizes were also awarded for best written submission, best individual presentation, and the top four teams.

Saturday ended with a night out on the town with some of Rotman’s current students (no staff allowed!). On Sunday, for those who still had some energy, we arranged brunch with some of our alumni followed by a trip to Ripley’s Aquarium.

The Rotman Problem Solving Challenge was a huge success and we can’t wait for next year! We talked to some of our competitors about their thoughts on the weekend. Here’s what they told us:

Q: “What did you learn about Rotman this weekend?”
A: “I learned a lot about team work, diversity, and solving large complex problems. This gave us a taste of what it will be like in the MBA program.”

Q: “How does it feel to have won a prize in the Rotman Problem Solving Challenge”
A: “It feels incredible! It was amazing to have gone from an idea to a fully-formed product and proposal in six hours”

Q: “What was your favourite part of the weekend?”
A: “Meeting really unique individuals and finding some commonalities and working together to create an amazing product and to be able to be confident about that product and present together as a team”
A: “Getting to know my future classmates on a personal level and working on a fun problem!”

If you are a prospective student considering Rotman for the Sep 2016 intake, stay tuned next January for the opportunity to participate in the next edition of the Rotman Problem Solving Challenge!