Spears School of Business

 

From left, Evelyn Larson, Alec Christiansen, Jennifer Beebe and Jackson Silvey celebrate after finishing second at the Pitt Business Analytics Case Competition.

                                                                                                                                                                 

 

Four Oklahoma State University business analytics students recently placed second in the Pitt Business Analytics Case Competition at the University of Pittsburgh.

 

Jennifer Beebe, Alec Christiansen, Evelyn Larson and Jackson Silvey won $2,000 as a team with their second-place finish in the competition. The national data-driven strategy challenge required undergraduate students to use their analytical techniques to solve pressing issues in the retail space and to provide creative recommendations to a panel of experts from Dick’s Sporting Goods. 

 

“Placing second at this competition is a really awesome accomplishment for all four of us,” Beebe said. “This is the first national competition for all of us, and for us to represent OSU and the Spears School of Business is always a huge honor. Placing second shows all the hard work that we put into this competition has paid off. It also has shown me that I am capable of doing big things and to not let nerves or anxiety hold me back.”

 

Thirty-eight teams from 26 different schools started the competition and eight were selected to travel to Pittsburgh on April 4-5 for the on-site finals. In addition to competing against the other seven finalist, the OSU students also toured the Dick’s Sporting Goods corporate headquarters and had the opportunity to learn about internship and full-time employment opportunities.

 

“The teams that made finals all had great presentations and the corporate judges from Dick’s Sporting Goods had a very hard decision to make,” said Dr. Sarah Chabinak, the faculty advisor who accompanied the team to Pittsburgh. “I am proud of our team for their professional presentations, thoughtful analytics-based business recommendations and quick thinking in the wildcard round. This team represented OSU and Spears exceptionally well.”

 

Dr. Goutam Chakraborty, director of OSU’s Master’s in Business Analytics and Data Science (MS BAnDS) program, was pleased with the team’s performance.

 

“I am very happy that our 4+1 MS BAnDS students team competed hard and finished second in this prestigious business analytics case competition,” Chakraborty said. “This is a special group of students who are undergraduates and yet taking a few graduate courses for an accelerated degree program. The team exhibits the true Cowboy spirit in working hard and giving their best.”

 

Beebe said, “During this competition, I was able to really put my knowledge to the test. Learning in a classroom is great, but putting the concepts I have learned to work in a real-world environment was an even better experience. I learned how analytics is driving modern business decisions and how increasingly important it is in companies. I am excited to hopefully compete in more competitions that will prepare me for what is to come in my career in data analytics.”

 

For more information about the Master’s in Business Analytics and Data Science program at OSU, visit the website.