Into the top 4

Tech-Students.Forge.Own.Seam.In.Communication.Competition
Daily Free Press, Boston University


Before taking their first steps into the corporate world, 44 graduate students put their technological savvy to the test in a competition last weekend for a chance to not only win cash, but also the attention of business managers. And they had 24 hours to do it.

The second annual International Tech Strategy Business Case Competition challenged four-member teams from 11 business graduate schools, including the Boston University Graduate School of Management, to address seamless mobility, the ability to transfer media between people and technology. The transfer strives to connect media devices, and teams presented solutions outlining how to make these connections easier and more efficient.

The three-day competition, hosted by the Motorola Foundation and held in SMG, showed participants how in a changing business world, those who understand technology surpass the rest.

"The task took marketing strategy, finance, technology and analyzing," said Committee Chair Josh Cleveland, a Graduate School of Management student. "[The students] had to cover all the bases. It's an opportunity to present to real executives who could potentially employ these students. The ability to think on their feet is tested."

The teams were given the seamless mobility case Friday and had 24 hours to prepare a solution to ease the transfer of information between people through technological means.

Teams were then divided into four rooms Saturday morning and presented their solutions to industry executives. After the winner of each room was chosen, the four finalists -- teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University , Queen's University and Stanford University -- competed in the final round Saturday afternoon .

A team from MIT was awarded $25,000 in prize money for its winning proposal of a peer-to-peer media sharing system designed for Motorola customers. The system would be accessible through a cable converter box, a device allowing customers to watch newer cable channels on older televisions. The converter box gives subscribers the opportunity to view programming not available on their standard cable televisions.