Purdue Undergrads Take Second Place at UT Austin’s National Women’s Competition

Thursday, May 12, 2022

This spring, a Krannert undergraduate team placed second at the 2022 National Women’s Case Competition. The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business hosted the program in collaboration with the Women in Business Association. Apple sponsored the case experience.

Ten teams of students tackled the challenge to solve a set of problems associated with Apple’s manufacturing and logistics system. The case aimed to encourage students to utilize their strategic thinking skills to solve a simulated real-world business problem that Apple faces daily.

Only four teams were selected to move on to the final competition round in hopes of winning the following prizes: The first-place team won $3,000, with the second-place team taking $2,000 and the third taking $1,000. Only the three advancing teams had the chance to win these cash prizes. Apple also surprised the finalists with Apple products at the end of the competition, including iPad Pros, MacBook Air, and Air Pod Pros.

“The Business Boilermakers,” as the team named itself during the competition, included Corinne Chen (BS Supply Chain, 2022), Amber Wu (BS Supply Chain, 2022), Katarina Nikolovski (BS Marketing, 2023), and Andrea Viloria (BS Marketing, 2023).

“I got the chance to go outside of my comfort zone and expand my knowledge with a real-life business problem with one of the top tech companies in the country,” says Viloria. “This was an amazing experience that I got to have with an extraordinary group of young, like-minded businesswomen.”

The team’s constant determination and cohesion as a unit aided in their success throughout the competition. "This experience was extremely rewarding and the outcome was the definition that hard work does pay off,” Wu says. “The pressure was taken as an opportunity to learn about our strengths and prove to ourselves that we are capable of doing anything.”

The Krannert Communication Center offered this opportunity to the students and helped them navigate the experience. Corinne Chen, a graduating senior with multiple case competition experiences, organized the team. Chen was recently awarded the Dr. Sara Stein Koch Scholarship, which recognizes juniors who demonstrate outstanding leadership and a growth mindset to encourage other students to be involved in the Krannert Communication Center Case Community.

To learn more about the Krannert Communication Center, visit our website.