Latest News
- Category: Rising Stars
From March 18 to 20, 4th-year students from the bachelor of commerce participated in the Intopia Strategy Simulation. This competition was created as a component of the 4th-year Strategic Management class.
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world, known as Intopia, where students get immediate feedback on their decisions. This simulation gives the students a chance to test the knowledge they have accumulated over their 4 years at university.
Congratulations to the members of the winning team:
- Sijia Yang
- Yichen Zheng
- Yuying Cai
- Mingguang Zou
- Ramin Rafiaie
- Category: Latest News
The uOttawa Enactus team hosted their annual rendition of the exemplary Strat 24 Case Competition this past weekend, Ottawa’s premier opportunity for Engineering and Commerce students to work together and showcase their intellectual and creative talents.
Twelve teams, consisting of 2 students from the Telfer School of Management and 2 from the Faculty of Engineering each, were given a live case, created in collaboration with Strat 24 sponsor Hydro Ottawa. With only 24 hours allotted to crack the case, the teams worked tirelessly overnight to find innovative and unique solutions. They then presented their solutions to a panel of judges, and the winners of each pool advanced to a final round of presentations.
Thanks to the support of Hydro Ottawa and the competitive spirit of 48 hardworking uOttawa students, the fifth edition of this annual event was a great success.
The winning team, comprised of uOttawa students Roma Stepanchenko, Katya Berezovskaia, Amanda Godin and Barry Li, proposed that Hydro Ottawa connect Smart Grid technologies via an app, allowing Hydro Ottawa to support residents in reducing their energy consumption and carbon footprint without impacting the company’s bottom line. Their solution earned the top prize at the competition, a $4,000 cash award.
Congratulations go out to all participants for their work and their creative solutions! Stay tuned for next year’s event online at www.strat24.com [This link is no longer available] or on Enactus uOttawa’s social media.
Contact
Enactus uOttawa
(613) 562-5800 ext. 3700
- Category: Rising Stars
DECA is a professional development organization, with chapters spanning various countries across the globe. It develops young leaders, putting to the test students’ presentation skills and business knowledge in intense competitions with both a written and an oral component, in categories across many areas of business.
On January 15 and 16 in Toronto, University of Ottawa’s DECA Chapter shone onstage at the annual DECA U Provincial Competition at the Sheraton Centre. Of the chapter’s 148 members, 81 competed. Rivalry was strong, with delegations from 20 universities and colleges attending, and certain delegations reaching well over 100 competitors. However, for uOttawa the results of many months of intense training were evident with the following achievements:
Miranda Taing and Olga Koppel: 1st Place International Marketing Role Play
Miranda Taing and Olga Koppel: 1st Place International Marketing Overall
Aayush Shah: 2nd Place Travel and Tourism Role Play
Andy Yu: 2nd Place Role Play Business Financial Services Role Play
Sonia Alb and Anna Halawa: 2nd Place International Marketing Overall
Maxim Goldenberg: 3rd Place Accounting Role Play
Catherine Li: 3rd Place Human Resource Management Written
Josh Wamanga and Dustin Gao: 3rd Place PMI CASE BOSS Special Event
Neekita Bhatia and Divya Mehta: 3rd Place Business-to-Business Role Play
DECA uOttawa wishes to thank Matt Archibald, Diane Mugeni and the Telfer School of Management for providing the chapter with academic training and unwavering support over months of preparation. It would also like to recognize the dedication of Eva Lin (President) and Anna Halawa (Vice President), as well as Maxim Goldenberg, who spearheaded this year’s training program. What is more, the delegation’s immense success would not have been possible without the countless hours of work put in by the rest of the executive team: Aayush Shah, Shivdeep Pal, Nikita Gupta, Bobbi Nguyen, Andy Yu, Carissa Wong, and Rula AlHalbouni.
What’s next for DECA uOttawa? The chapter will be sending delegations to upcoming invitational competitions this semester at various universities across Ontario. It also has a chance to participate in the International Career Development Conference in Washington, DC.
DECA uOttawa has set high expectations for next year, but the chapter is confident that the soon-to-be-selected executive team will be up to the challenge.
- Category: Rising Stars
We held the fall 2015 Michel Cloutier Marketing Competition on December 8, 2015 at the Desmarais Building.
We would like to congratulate the winning team (Natasha Mieka Loepp, Liora Raitblat, Kelsy Sullivan, Jessica Verbruggen and Irene Zourdos), who provided the best pan-Canadian strategy for the Department of Canadian Heritage to engage Canadians in the Give Back Campaign for the 150th Anniversary of Confederation.
The winning team received a cash prize of $1,500 and Kelsie Zielinski, the student with the best presentation skills, received a $600 prize.
- Category: Rising Stars
On December 7, 2015, our CASCO students took to the stage at the Delta Ottawa City Centre and raised $58,023 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). The theme this year was “Learning to fly” and had the audience travelling around the world to watch musical performances, fashion shows and high energy dance numbers.
Each year a CHEO family is represented at the Gala to share the evening, as well as their story. This year Devon and his family joined CASCO to share with the audience how they have benefited from the great work that CHEO can do thanks to the support of the community.
For the past 16 years, CASCO has been a major event for the Telfer School of Management that is entirely choreographed, organized and executed by like-minded Telfer School students. In recent years, students from other faculties have joined, as performers, in what became a spectacular show of talent and philanthropy that brings together over 500 people including prominent community leaders and ambassadors for CHEO.
In preparation for this event, CASCO students spent countless hours auditioning, choreographing, and organizing this annual gala show to raise money for CHEO. The Telfer School of Management and the wider University of Ottawa community remain very proud of students who decide to commit time and energy on this event every year for the positive impacts that they leave on our community.
- Category: Rising Stars
Felipe Izquierdo is a 4th year BCom Finance student who takes social entrepreneurship to heart. He was selected to attend One Young World Summit in Thailand’s capital city on the week of November 18 to 21. “Attending the One Young World summit in Bangkok is like being able -- in only a few days -- to travel the world and learn about the global problems directly from youth leaders that are working at the front lines in their countries and communities,” he says. Felipe was able to discuss solutions and projects about human rights, the environment, global business and entrepreneurship, peace, security, leadership and government with other student leaders. He admits that the atmosphere in a room where people from 196 countries all come together to be united by humanity and passion for tackling world issues is overwhelming and “hard to put into words.” He had the opportunity to attend as part of the student organization Enactus uOttawa.
Additionally to Enactus, Felipe is involved with the Legacy Conference, an entrepreneurship-focused event founded by a group of students with a goal to cultivate new ideas and kickstart business endeavors, as well as Omnium Financier Telfer, as the Director of Community Involvement, where he organizes volunteer events for finance and accounting students. He is also a Community Advisor for the University of Ottawa Housing Services. Felipe says that his favourite class taken at Telfer so far has been Stephen Daze and Hanan Anis’ new course, “Entrepreneurship Foundry”, because of the hands-on aspect of it. Felipe enjoys having the opportunity to - with other entrepreneurs from uOttawa - work on a start-up throughout the semester with the support of very successful mentors.
The One Young World Summit will be held in Ottawa in 2016. Click here for more information.
- Category: Rising Stars
Overall Winners
- 1. Patrick Kaminski
- 2. Nhung Vu
- 3. Dmitry Shorikov
- 4. Daniel Shannon
- 5. Roma Stepanchenko
- 6. *Tie* Carson Luo / Daniel Kirshner
Case Winners
- Social Outcry: William Amoi
- Liability Trading: Patrick Kaminski
- Options: Tsoi Yuen (Jack) Lau
- Equity Valuation: David Wilkie
- ETF Pricing Arbitrage: Patrick Kaminski
- Algorithmic Market Making: Tsoi Yuen (Jack) Lau
The 4th semi-annual Telfer Trading Competition (TTC) was a considerable success here at the Telfer School of Management with over 100 students registered. Held on October 17th 2015, students were given a chance to show off their trading savvy, competing against each other for standings, cash prizes and a chance to compete in the prestigious Rotman International Trading Competition (RITC). The Telfer Trading Competition is hosted twice a year in preparation for the RTIC, which the University of Ottawa plans to send some of its brightest students to compete on an international stage. Hosted in Toronto, the RITC will pit some of the top business schools from around the globe against one another, and the Telfer School of Management hopes to display its caliber.
Beginning at noon on the 17th, the Telfer Trading Competition was launched with the students gathering in one of Telfer’s largest conference rooms located in the Desmarais building where the first case was set to begin. Upon arrival they were greeted, each receiving their own nametag and given an introduction to the competition. Soon afterwards, it was straight to the first case, the social outcry. Gathered in the Camille Villeneuve Conference room, the students we given a single index, the TELFER-500, which they could attempt to buy or sell at any price they chose, provided they could find another competitor who was willing to buy or sell it to them at the price they were offering. The index’s price was driven by the release of multiple news events throughout the case, which were projected on multiple large screens around the room. This gave insight to the competitors about the possible direction of the TELFER-500 price movement. Additionally, there was no electronic assistance in their transactions, so competitors we required to go about the group searching and competing for each other’s orders in almost all ways possible creating a very vibrant and dynamic trading pit setting à la 1980’s. The social outcry was a means to simulate the first markets, which existed prior to the largely electronic ones that are found today giving the students a fundamental understanding of the transaction and supply and demand process that drives the value of markets around the globe on a daily basis. Next the students transitioned to the Financial Research and Learning Lab to begin the core cases of the competition. There were four cases to compete in consisting of Liability Trading, Options, Equity Valuation, ETF Pricing Arbitrage and a bonus Algorithmic Market Making for those competitors really trying to display their trading prowess.
The students competed in these cases using the Rotman Interactive Trader, an order-driven market system which they had been practicing and preparing vigorously for the weeks leading up to the competition date. Each case was run one at a time, with individual cases being run three times with a few minutes in between each round allowing students to collect themselves, and make any adjustments needed to their strategies before the next round. From the start of the first case, the room was abuzz with the furious input of orders and the emotion that came with the rapid execution of each transaction. Each moment was different from the last as one second traders would be celebrating soaring profits and the next rushing to recover losses. The leaders of each case were being projected on large screens so that competitors were always aware of their performance relative to their peers. Each case was constructed unique and throughout each of the remaining cases, a variety of creative strategies were employed to maximize their capital gains, from the clicking intensive ladder trader to script filled excel run algorithms. Similarly, as the competition progressed from one case to the next, so did the emotions of the competitors. At any given moment the uproar from a sudden market spike or the groans as prices would barely budge could be heard from across the room recreating the dynamic environment of a trading floor.
Students were given an extended break halfway through to recuperate before the continuation of the cases. At the end of the last case, the competitors gathered in the conference room one last time for food and drinks as well as the announcement of the case and overall winners. Over $900 worth of prizes were distributed amongst the best performers with prizes going to individual case winners as well as overall standings. The overall top 12 performers were given a chance to apply for the Rotman International Trading competition in hopes of representing the University of Ottawa on the international stage.
The 4th semi-annual Telfer Trading Competition was the largest to date and was a massive success, giving students of all years a chance to dive deeper into the financial industry, whom many are so passionate about. From the hustle of the social outcry to the technical expertise of the algorithmic trading, students had the opportunity to learn and grow in various skills as they provided simple solutions to complex financial problems and adapted on the fly throughout this dynamic environment. A huge thank you also goes out to the Finance Society, University of Ottawa Student Investment Club (OSIC) and all of the volunteers that helped throughout the planning and preparation as well as the execution of this event, as this event would not be made possible without them. We also welcomed a visit from Alumni Alex Tyutyunnik, Brian Chan and Cassy Aite who had a big part in growing the competition to what it is today. As we closed out this iteration of the TTC, we look forward to both the Rotman International Trading Competition as well as the next semi-annual Telfer Trading Competition in early 2016.
- Category: Rising Stars
BCom Finance Student Receives “Volunteer of the Month”
Neekita Bhatia is a driven second year BCom student in Finance who wants to leave her mark through volunteering. She has already amassed a Co-Curricular Record, an official university document that records approved and verified volunteer activities undertaken by students, with lists volunteering experience ranging from being a proxy agent with the uOttawa Residents’ Association to a tax filer with ACORN Canada.
Neekita’s favourite position, however, was leading an Alternative Student Break project with the Office of Campus Sustainability. “We conducted waste audits for DMS and MRT [Pavillons], analyzed the data, and made reports on it. I learned so much about sustainability in that week that I use every day including good recycling practices,” she says. Neekita also recently joined Enactus.
When asked what matters to her, Neekita responds: “I greatly value my networks. […] With my diverse background, I tend to appreciate the individual experiences of every person I meet. It is amazing how different people’s beliefs and personalities are, even within Canada. And I believe Telfer connects me to amazing people through the diverse student body, opportunities in student clubs, speakers at events and a professional and comfortable environment.”
Neekita was awarded the Volunteer of the Month for the month of October with the Centre for Global and Community Engagement.
- Category: Latest News
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The uOttawa Enactus team just competed in the semi final round at the Enactus World Championships, and was named one of top 16 teams among 1,700 other universities and colleges worldwide.
After their humble beginnings of starting as a group of 12 tight knit members, Enactus uOttawa has grown to be a team of 116 highly capable and innovative students, spanning across 7 different faculties at the University of Ottawa in just four years. In recognition of both the local and international impact they’ve made through a variety of projects, the team, after having been crowned National Champions in Toronto this past May, represented Team Canada at this year’s World Cup - taking place for the very first time on the continent of Africa
A 3 day event of competition, collaboration, and celebration, the Enactus World Championships are an opportunity for representatives from 36 different countries to showcase the social impact they’ve made through presentations of up to 17 minutes. Enactus uOttawa showcased 2 of their 12 projects which have empowered countless individuals, created many jobs, and effectively eliminated waste in their local community - the most notable being a project by the name of CigBins. CigBins, a cigarette butt and recycling service, provides meaningful job opportunities to individuals with mental illness. It has thus far diverted over 183,000 cigarette butts off the city streets, and generated $129,000 in revenue.
In addition to the competition rounds, the Championship’s events also consisted of two Action Leaders Forums (covering the topics of Food, Water, and Energy Security) in addition to a Women’s Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Forum - which were supplemented by various guest speakers. Featured performances included African Footprint, The Soweto Gospel Choir, and DJ Reactagirl.
With last year’s Enactus World Cup taking place in Beijing, China and this year’s competition in South Africa, a country in which every public university is involved with the organization, the championship moves internationally from city to city each year, and will be taking place in Toronto, Canada for the 2016 rounds.
Contact
Enactus uOttawa
(613) 562-5800 ext. 3700
- Category: Rising Stars
Being a Coach, I see international students every day. We make individual or group appointments to talk about anything and everything. A student may show up with a specific question about a course or can learn about student sport clubs. I am like their “Google” because I answer their questions and refer them to resources that can help them.
In addition to these daily meetings, my team and I organize academic workshops and social events for our students. We often plan lunch meetings where we talk with students while enjoying a good pizza. We also give learning techniques workshops and review sessions throughout the year. As well, we organize outings such as skating on the Rideau Canal or visits to supermarkets. These outings allow international students to be more easily integrated into society and to perform better at school.
I became an International Student Coach two years ago. I want to help new students because I was in their position a decade ago. I am an immigrant from China and I went through what these international students are going through now.
I landed in Canada for the first time on a muggy night in June 2002. I was eight years old when I came here with my parents. I did not know what to expect in my new life because I was unfamiliar with my new country’s culture and language. Integration into a new environment is certainly exciting, but can sometimes be a bit intimidating. I therefore understand that it takes a lot of courage for newcomers to open up to the new people they meet. My role as a Coach is to guide you along your road to integration so that together, we can enjoy this incredible experience that the University of Ottawa has to offer.
- Jia Li
International Student Coach
- Category: Latest News
We are pleased to announce a new partnership for our International Exchange Program with the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), accredited by EQUIS, AMBA and AACSB.
With about 23,000 students from Austria and abroad, WU is Europe's largest educational institution for business and economics, business law, and social sciences.
WU is ranked as one of the best 200 Business and Economics School in the world by ARWU. Their Master in Management is ranked in the 13th spot in the Financial Times. They are also ranked as the 42nd best European School and 62nd best EMBA in the Financial Times.
WU’s research focuses mainly on the following key areas:
- Applied economics and socioeconomics
- Business and economic law
- Empirically-focused research on management, marketing, finance, and accounting
- Information systems, computing, and supply chain management
- International business, especially CEE regional studies
- International business taxation
To learn more about their programs, please visit their website: www.wu.ac.at/programs.
- Category: Rising Stars
Vikas Gill is not only a third year BCom Finance student, he is also a member of the Gee-Gees varsity men’s basketball team. Vikas is part of an elite group of only 300 varsity student-athletes on the uOttawa campus, and of only 34 studying at the Telfer School.
Even though Vikas was recruited by the Gee-Gees to play basketball, he first chose to study at uOttawa because of the Telfer School’s reputation. “ I’m from Ottawa and wanted to stay in the region and the more research I did, the more I saw how many great things Telfer has to offer. Choosing to study here was an easy choice for me, and lucky for me, it also allowed me to keep pursuing my passion for basketball.”
Being a student-athlete and having to juggle a full course load along with the demands of playing a varsity sport does not leave much time for Vikas for much else. When he does find himself with a spare moment, this self-proclaimed “nerd” enjoys analytics. “I like to look at sports statistics and draw comparisons. Statistics are more than just numbers, they really do tell a story and I love discussing it.”
Vikas has grown especially fond of the BCom program over the last year now that the class sizes are smaller. As a result, he has been able to forge close friendships with some of his classmates and professors. “My favourite class to date is the Business Decision Models (BDM) class. The way the professor presented the course content really left a lasting impression with me. He did not leave anything to assumption or chance, including simple things like doing additions in Excel. That is a style of teaching that I really appreciate and respect.”
For Gill, what he loves most about the Telfer School is the genuine interest that his professors show for him as a person both in the classroom and on the court. “It’s very humbling for my Profs to recognize my contribution to the University beyond the classroom. They have been extremely understanding of the reality of the being a student-athlete and by being so accommodating on the academic side, they’ve allowed me to excel athletically as well.”
What matters most to Vikas is to give back to his community and he does so by volunteering in inner-city schools and by motivating youth to stay in school and follow their passion. For Vikas, uOttawa has allowed him to do just that – study in a program that he is passionate about and play a sport he loves. “Even though uOttawa and the Telfer School may seem big, I would tell any prospective student not to be intimidated. There is a great sense of community here at Telfer. The Profs and students are great and there’s a wide variety of clubs and associations to peek everyone’s interest. My advice would be to get involved and take advantage of your journey here.”
Vikas has done just that during his three years at uOttawa, having been part of the three highest ever finishes in the history of the 94 year old Gee-Gees men’s basketball program.
In five years from now, Vikas plans to have a Telfer degree in hand working either in investment banking, or perhaps working for a sports entertainment group in a finance position.
- Category: Latest News
5 Days for The Homeless was founded as a local initiative by University of Alberta School of Business students. After running successfully for a number of years, 5Days expanded nationally in 2008 - adopted by the vast majority of business schools across the country. To date, the campaign has raised over $1,212,000 for local charitable organizations, specified by each university.
From March 8 – 13 business students nationwide will come together to forgo basic amenities for five days, living and sleeping outside, in an effort to bring attention to Canada’s homeless youth community. These brave individuals spend 5 nights sleeping outside, from Sunday March 8th at 5:00 pm to Friday March 13th at 5:00 pm. All sleepers are required to adopt the campaign for the entire 5 days as full-time sleepers, or the dates to which they will be outside as “part-time sleepers” only a few days outside as opposed to all five.
This year we are pleased to have 3 full time sleepers and 6 part-timers, the sleepers are located on the Morriset Terrace behind the library.
- Omid Barahimi, Full-time sleeper
- Steven Strahman, Full-time sleeper
- Breanna La Plante, Full-time sleeper
- Kayla Coulter, Part-time sleeper
- Sara Valentino, Part-time sleeper
- Maria Caldwell, Part-time sleeper
- Gabriel Copps, Part-time sleeper
- Kim Angèle Vallières, Part-time sleeper
- Cara Parisien, Part-time sleeper
All proceeds raised by Telfer will be donated to Operation Come Home Ottawa, a leading support centre for homeless and at-risk youth.
In an effort to raise funds in a unique and innovative way, CeTSC's campaign has introduce another fundraising initiative; “The Kindness Kits”. While all monetary donations will be passed along to Operation Come Home, we also recognize that there are students in Telfer who may not have access to basic necessities either.
This can sometimes be a challenging concept to grasp, however despite the help of grants, scholarships, and loans some of our students are swimming in debt, "coach surfing" due to the inability to pay rent or buy groceries. We believe every student should be equipped with the right tools to be successful in all aspect of their lives - with this in mind; we have created a collection of “Kindness Kits,” bags with basic necessities ranging from personal hygiene and healthy snacks to school supplies and gift cards. Qualified students will then be able to confidently request a bag as needed, no judgement passed or questions asked.
Please come out, donate and be generous!
5 Days for the Homeless Video.
- Category: Rising Stars
The Jeux du Commerce Central (JDCC) took place January 30 to February 1, 2015, in Toronto, Ontario, hosted by the Canadian Association of Business Students. The JDCC competition is one of Canada’s largest business school competition that brings together 700 delegates from 14 universities across Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes to compete in academic, sporting and social events. A delegation of 56 students represented the Telfer School of Management.
Congratulations to students for winning the following:
Human Resource (1st place): Negar Jeyrani, Brooke Runions and Emily Slade
Coach: Professor Francois Chiocchio
MIS (3rd place): Patricia Matibag, Erik Mosney and Kristjan Luik
Coach: Saxon Giddings (4th year student)
Entrepreneurship (3rd place): Tina Liusun, Anastasia Savvidis and Blair Templeton
Coach: Jaclyn Tokarewicz (4th year student)
Advisor of the year award: Matt Archibald
- Category: Rising Stars
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation is an exciting and integrative learning opportunity for BCom students as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class.
From November 13-16, there were 37 teams that participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to members of the winning team:
- Brandon Clifford
- Emem Etok
- Benjamin Guthrie
- Jamie Kibsey
- Sarah Le Mon
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CPA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
- Category: Rising Stars
This year marks the return of the Telfer School of Management at the largest HR competition in eastern Canada. The HR Symposium took place from November 21 to 23 at the University of Quebec at Rimouski. The competition brings together more than 250 university students from nine business schools
The delegation distinguished itself by winning two 3rd place trophies;
- 3rd position in the collective agreement negotiation simulation.
- Samantha Paiement
- Benjamin Macré
- Émilie Fournier
- 3rd position in the case of human resources management.
- Brook Runions,
- Ibrahim Gheriani
- Mia-Kin Viau-Gamache
Congratulations to all the members of the delegation that was composed of Maral Eliott, Marc Anthony and Patrick Guénette Patenaude (quiz) Émilie Fournier, Samantha payment, Benjamin Macré (collective bargaining agreement); Magali Mayrand Janice Chapman and Richard Laberge (arbitration); Brooke Runions, Mia-Kin-Viau Gamache and Ibrahim Gheriani (HRM case); Renée Leduc, Oneal Ishimwe Fadi Azzi, Cameron Harvey, Tamara and Alexander Roy-Stang Hannoun (sports) and Patrick Furgeson, Sera Ertan, Steven Benoît Ménard and Marie-Pierre Lafrance for their work as coaches and volunteers.
Congratulations to Rafael Morin, who assumes the dual role of president and coordinator of the Telfer delegation. With the help of all the participants, a colossal work has been done to ensure our participation in the competition.
The delegation wishes to thank the coaches, Suzanne Payette and Jane O'Really and offer a special thank you to the coach and godmother Anne-Julie Charlebois students in human resources. They also want to acknowledge the cooperation of Telfer alumni Audrey Lamarche and Alex Massi.
The financial contribution of the Telfer Human Resources Association (ARHHRA) has been essential to the project and the organizers would like to thank the president of the association, Abhiram Sarvepalli.
Finally, all participants want to personally thank the Rimouski organizing committee who made this event a success.
Photo: Brook Runions, Ibrahim Gheriani and Mia-Kin Viau-Gamache (HRM)
- Category: Rising Stars
The University of Ottawa iGEM team traveled to Boston, MA for the annual iGEM World Jamboree competition which was held from October 30 to November 1. The team of students from science, engineering, and Telfer competed against hundreds of university teams from other parts of the world for the most innovative application of synthetic biology. This was a particularly successful year as our team took home the silver medal in the undergraduate division for our tri-stable switch, a system responsible for cell differentiation.
This was a successful year for the finance team as well. It reached out to sponsors and set up fundraisers to ensure sufficient funding so that as many of the team members as possible could attend the competition. This experience in Boston has helped students connect with many innovative students from all over the world, who have now become contacts for future collaborations.
iGEM will resume its activities in the new year and will be looking forward to more unique experiences on the team and establishing a closer link between business and science collaborations.
- Category: Rising Stars
As members of a uOttawa student organization called Enactus, my colleague Ajmal Sataar and I are always looking for ways to provide opportunities to those in need. Enactus tackles social, economic and environmental issues through business and is focused on bringing social enterprise to the community. When the opportunity came to bring these opportunities to the town of Iqaluit in Nunavut, we jumped at the chance to travel there.
Each year, Enactus teams travel around the world to bring enterprise to third world communities that are lacking in resources, funding and support. Our team feels that there is a lot of room for economic development through social enterprise and entrepreneurship within the confines of our own country. Nunavut, a territory with lots of potential for growth, is an area in which we wanted to invest time and energy in order to bring more opportunities to people in the North.
Read the full article by Kathleen Kemp on The Gazette Website [This link is no longer available]
- Category: Latest News
On October 17th, 15 students from the Telfer School of Management embarked on a journey to China that truly brought them a once in a lifetime experience.
Enactus uOttawa is a non-profit organization consisted of a community of student leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better more sustainable world. With 5 incredible projects with this common goal, Enactus uOttawa is currently one of the top teams in Canada, thereby leading to the opportunity to attend and support Team Canada, represented by Enactus Memorial, at the 2014 Enactus World Cup Competition in Beijing, China! Thus, 15 representatives from Enactus uOttawa flew to Beijing, China on October 17 to participate in this Olympic equivalent of the Enactus world.
The experience that followed is one that we will cherish for our entire lives.
Our team arrived in Beijing and experienced numerous exciting tourist attractions: The Summer Palace, the lively markets, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and of course, The Great Wall of China. Not to mention the luging we did down the mountain from the Great Wall!
With 34 countries represented, ranging from Brazil and South Africa to Russia and Australia, the competition began with a fair that featured all the countries’ cultures, including clothing, food, and activities. It was an exciting experience to venture through this large room filled with people from, quite literally, all around the world!
The World Cup competition presentations showcased the teams’ outreach projects’ and their ability to positively impact people’s lives. Team Canada advanced as far as the semi-finals, with Ireland, China, Morocco, and Puerto Rico progressing to the finals which were held the following day.
In the end, China was named the 2014 World Cup Enactus Champions in front of a roaring crowd of over 5,000 student, academic and business leaders! Their project created a wind and solar generator system that supplied electricity to local herdsman and in turn, doubling their annual income. Throughout the competition, there were also some fascinating speaker panels, featuring the CEO of Walmart, the Executive Vice President of Coca Cola, President of the U.S. Foundation of KPMG LLP, as well as many others.
It was an experience to remember, and we were extremely excited to have had the chance to not only explore Beijing, but meet hundreds of incredible like-minded friends who are change-makers —just like us— from around the world.
by: Liora Raitblat
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Student Voices
The following article was written by a member of our student community. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Telfer School of Management. For more information or to flag inappropriate content, please