Bauer Supply Chain Students Compete in BP Case Competition

A team of undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Houston – C.T. Bauer College of Business recently competed in a BP-sponsored Supply Chain Forum Case Competition.

The Supply Chain Forum Case Competition pitted five teams from Bauer against one another, with participants ranging from undergraduate students to graduate students in MBA and MS programs. The final prize was awarded to undergraduate Supply Chain Management students Mahek Hooda, Priyanka Sawant and Anstein Huynh, and Global Energy Managemenet MBA student Swati Singh.

The case competition asked students to address a case study based on a real scenario recently faced by BP. This year, the challenge involved students developing an improved sourcing strategy for disposing of fracking well water in East Texas. Students received the details of the case on Thursday evening and had until noon on Friday to come up with their plan.

Henry Hao, a student competitor, commented on the complexities of taking a problem a company had really faced and develop a response. “There were many challenges in terms of seeing a real world situation and then figuring out how to present a solution objectively … [T]his case study was certainly a great experience, and I hope to participate in more opportunities like this in the future.”

After developing their solution, student teams were responsible for presenting their ideas to a panel of judges from BP, who provided feedback and scores for each team. The judges also presented the actual solution that BP had developed for the problem after the presentations were done.

Before the competition, a lunch for both Bauer Supply Chain students and BP professionals allowed participants an opportunity for networking and professional development.

regions: Houston

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