Latest News
- Category: Latest News
The uOttawa Top 5 Start-ups initiative recognizes and celebrates the culmination of each annual cycle of teaching, competitions, workshops and hard work that lead to exciting start-ups.
Already in its 3rd year, this annual search for the top 5 start-ups on campus is a collaborative effort between the Telfer School of Management, the Faculty of Engineering, Startup Garage and the uOttawa e-hub.
“Each year the quality of start-ups on campus is improving” says Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School. “Student interest, faculty programming and an increasing culture of entrepreneurship is contributing to this rise in quality and it’s encouraging to see our next generation of leaders creating their own opportunities”.
The Top 5 uOttawa start-ups, in alphabetical order, are:
Kegshoe
- Cofounders: Torin Regier, CFO (Telfer BCom 2017), Mike Eagar, CMO (former student, uOttawa), and Adrian Pawliszko, CTO (Civil Engineering student, uOttawa).
- Kegshoe Inc. is a software company for the beer industry that provides user-friendly, cloud-based solutions to manage the
complex business of running a brewery. With features like keg tracking and a brewery-specific
CRM, Kegshoe Inc. is helping breweries solve their biggest and most expensive problems.
Spiderwort
- Cofounders: Dr. Charles M. Cuerrier, CEO (Postdoctoral fellow, uOttawa), Dr. Andrew E. Pelling, CTO (Associate Professor, Department of Physics, uOttawa) and Daniel J. Modulevsky, CBO (PhD candidate, Biology, uOttawa).
- Spiderwort has developed innovative biomaterials for medical research, reconstructive surgery and regenerative medicine. Spiderwort’s strategy relies on the use of cellulose scaffolds for the regeneration and repair of damaged or diseased tissues.
Spivo Inc.
- Cofounders: Andre Bellerive, CEO (BASc 2014 and currently completing a Master’s program in Engineering at uOttawa) and
Marc Bjerring, COO (BASc in Mechanical Engineering, 2014, uOttawa). - Spivo Inc. designs, manufactures and sells creative camera
accessories which capture life’s memories like never before. Their flagship product, the Spivo Stick is a patent pending rotating camera mount, which allows adventure seekers and travellers to instantly switch the view of their cameras. Videos created using the Spivo Stick are fun, creative, and feature built in scene transitions which create incredible, engaging footage.
Welbi
- Cofounders: Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau, CEO (Telfer BCom 2016), Felipe Izquierdo, COO (Telfer BCom 2016) and Nicholas Petryna, CTO, (former uOttawa Software Engineering student).
- Welbi is an application that helps families take care of an older loved one. It uses Fitbit smartwatches to analyze sleep, activity, and heart rate patterns and then notifies you about changes in their habits. Our main objective is to provide families the visibility and information they need to support their loved one’s health and happiness at home.
YouCollab
- Founder: Shaun Maclellan, CEO (former student, uOttawa).
- YouCollab is a unique platform that provides frictionless communication and collaborations between YouTube creators. YouCollab connects users based on location, audience size and keywords.
How were the Top 5 start-ups on campus selected?
A public web-based call for nominations allowed start-ups to show their interest. The nominees were then evaluated by a campus entrepreneurship committee and an initial long list of top start-ups was selected.
Feedback from various alumni and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley was obtained before a final list of five “Top Start-ups” is selected. These Top 5 start-ups will be invited to visit Silicon Valley for a learning and business development experience in May 2017, a trip which coincides with the annual Telfer Executive MBA trip to the Valley.
“Travelling to the Valley opens up a world of connections and possibilities that you can only find there” said Lee Silverstone, cofounder GymTrack and Top 5 Recipient 2016. “The opportunity to be there with the University of Ottawa and their network was incredible experience and one that I highly recommend start-up founders take advantage of.”
- Category: Rising Stars
Do you ever wonder what a day in the life of a CEO looks like? The other day, I got to spend my 9 to 5 with Goldy Hyder, CEO of Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada, a prominent public relations consulting company. Thanks to the CEOx1 Day program, organized by Odgers Berndtson, and after a rigorous multi-stage selection process, I had the opportunity to accompany Mr. Hyder throughout his whole work-day on February 1st.
My day began at the Hill+Knowlton Ottawa office. Mr. Hyder immediately made an impression on me. His intelligence, wit, and unparalleled political and economic knowledge could have made him quite intimidating but instead, I felt welcomed and engaged from the moment I stepped into the office. I was encouraged to speak up and ask questions during the internal meetings I attended. I also had the pleasure of meeting some of the key members of the Ottawa team, including Don Boudria, former federal cabinet minister and current senior counsellor at Hill+Knowlton.
Highlights of the day included lunch at Parliament, where I had the chance to speak with Jennifer Ditchburn, editor-in-chief of Policy Options at the Institute for Research on Public Policy. Another highlight included finishing off the day at a taping of On the Money at CBC, where I got to listen to Mr. Hyder speak on the impact of socioeconomic standing on one’s lifespan.
Overall, my CEOx1 Day experience was incredible. I was privy to the big picture view of a large organization from the CEO’s perspective. I learned about the company’s successes and the obstacles it is currently facing, as well as its impact in various industries. But perhaps most importantly, I had one-on-one time with its CEO, who readily answered my never-ending questions about his career path and offered valuable advice for me as a student just starting my professional journey.
To all 3rd and 4th year Telfer students: I highly encourage everyone to apply to the CEOx1 Day program next year – it is a learning opportunity unlike any other!
Written by Anna Halawa, student.
- Category: Rising Stars
The 26th annual Business Dinner ‘Toast to Success’, organized by the Entrepreneur’s Club (TECDE), is one of the most awaited events of the year. Bringing together Telfer faculty, professionals and sponsors with students at the Museum of Canadian History, this year’s dinner welcomed a total of 242 attendees, making it the best attended event to date.
During the event, a silent auction took place with various items donated by the local community in which the proceeds went to the Cam’s Kids Foundation, an organization dedicated to providing young people that suffer from anxiety, along with the Rwanda Craft Brewery Project, which helps the Rwanda community become better established.
As dinner rolled around, attendees had the pleasure of listening to a very special keynote speaker for this year, Steve Beauchesne, CEO of the very successful craft brewery Beau’s All Natural Brewing Company. During a very competitive time in the beer industry, Beau’s continues to be the top player in the market. Steve shared his story on the philosophy of starting a business but also, the secret to making great beer. To celebrate International Gruit Day coinciding with the Business Dinner, Beau’s provided attendees with 4 different samples of beer.
New for this year, TECDE incorporated the winners from the Elevator Pitch competition back in November, showing the Telfer community the incredible talent that comes out of uOttawa’s Telfer School of Management. A portion of the evening was also dedicated to award two hard working executive members on the TECDE team with the Carpe Diem Award and the Kevin Vollett Entrepreneurial Award.
This year marked a new milestone for both TECDE and Telfer, as a joint collaboration was announced to kick start a fundraising campaign for the Kevin Vollett award, created to honour Kevin, a Telfer student and TECDE executive member who passed away from a tragic accident. With the 25th anniversary of the award coming up in 2018, TECDE and Harry Mortimer, a Telfer alumni and dear friend to Kevin, have come together to raise $9,000 before the 27th annual Business Dinner in order to sustain the financing of the award. Help them reach their goal by donating now. For more information on this fundraising campaign, click here.
- Category: Rising Stars
The 11th edition of the Financial Open took place on Friday, January 27 and Saturday, January 28, 2017. Hosted by the Telfer School of Management, the competition is the biggest of its kind in Canada and welcomes over 350 students and volunteers from eleven Canadian universities.
The Telfer School of Management sent a delegation of 28 students to compete in eight different cases in finance and accounting.
This year our students took home second place in the Stock Simulation. Congratulations to Anne Armstrong, Juan Franlin Karamoy, Alex Milosevic and Jack Lau (Coach: George Khalife).
The Telfer delegation would like to extend a special thank you to the organizing committee of this event. Their effort and commitment to planning and hosting the event was demonstrated by the incredible success of the weekend.
Written by Drew Morash, President, Telfer Management Competitions de Gestion Telfer (TMCGT)
- Category: Student Announcements
Case competitions, as I’m sure you’ve heard, are highly recommended and beneficial. I have never met a university graduate who has regretted their decision to get involved. Aside from making you stand out from your peers once you enter the job market, being involved in case competitions (whether as a delegate or as a member of your school’s executive committee) has many more benefits:
- Networking and friendships
Not only will you become closer to those in your delegation, but you have an amazing chance to meet other like-minded students from other schools. Case competitions also provide many opportunities to meet employers and professionals.
- Critical thinking under pressure
This is the essence of a case competition – to solve a problem under a time limit and to present it to judges. Being able to think critically and clearly can help you become a respected decision maker in your career.
- Presentation skills
What better way to practice your public speaking skills? Truth is, you will always have to sell your ideas, and the skills you acquire in your presentation class can be expanded in case competitions. Watch your confidence soar!
- Application of class knowledge
We tend to remember things we’ve put into practice, right? Apply what you learn in your other classes to help you solve these cases. Using this knowledge reinforces what you learned and can make you a better student.
- Teamwork
You are not only working closely in your category teams, but also as with an entire delegation. Having strong support from your peers in a common goal is encouraging and confidence-boosting. Teamwork skills are a soft skill sought-after by employers. What a great way to practice!
- Fun and vacation
Usually, case competitions hosted at other universities require some travel. In the evening, case competition organizers will have planned fun activities, so you can even take the time to explore a new city.
- School pride
Being a delegate means you represent your school in external case competitions. This is a great opportunity to show your school pride and increase your sense of belonging to uOttawa and the Telfer School.
- WINNING
YES WINNING! It’s a bit cheesy, but there are no losers at case competitions! Whether you win 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or nothing, you are still gaining valuable experience and all the benefits of case competitions listed above.
Written by Miranda Taing
- Category: Student Announcements
Students put their academic knowledge into action with DECA, a global professional development program for students who strive to compete and network with other like-minded young professionals. Delegates attend competitions with an oral presentation and a written component, featuring a wide variety of categories, such as Business Financial Services, Marketing Management, Travel Management, and Management Consulting.
This year, the University of Ottawa’s DECA Chapter had several triumphant victories during the annual DECA U Provincials competition, which took place on January 20-22 in downtown Toronto at the Sheraton Centre. With 68 delegates competing, uOttawa was one of the 20 universities and colleges with their eyes set on gold, and their hard work paid off! Here are their results:
Connor Giddens – 1st overall in Human Resource Management, Top 3 for Roleplay
Anna Halawa and Sonia Alb – 2nd overall in Marketing Management, Top 3 for Roleplay
Tingi Mulvihill – 2nd overall in Business Financial Services
Jason Luo – 2nd overall in Retail Management
Jingwen Lin - Top 3 for Roleplay in Retail Management
Sonia Alb - Top 3 Written Tests
DECA uOttawa wishes to thank Matt Archibald, Kina Leclair, Emilie Kitchen, and the Telfer School of Management for giving the delegation the support, guidance, and academic training necessary to prepare for the competition. Additionally, it would like to highlight the efforts of Anna Halawa (President) and Bobbi Nguyen (Vice President) for the time, effort, and hard work they devoted to the club. Finally, DECA would also like to recognize the dedication of the Executive Committee of the club, as none of DECA’s successes would be possible without their countless hours of work (Maxim Goldenberg, Divya Mehta, Jordan Monaghan, Nikita Gupta, Sonia Alb, Michelle Tam, Rula Al Halbouni, Zach Zhang, Fiona Doomasia, and Connor Giddens).
What’s next for DECA uOttawa? Students from the delegation will be competing in various invitational competitions across universities in the province to carry on the uOttawa streak of success. It also will have the chance to participate in the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). Stay tuned!
Written by Nikita Gupta, VP of Internal Affairs, DECA uOttawa
- Category: Rising Stars
If you happen to walk by the Desmarais building during the weekend of January 28-29, you’ll be surprised to find 400 motivated students from all over Eastern Canada. These students, hailing from 11 different universities, will be meeting at the Telfer School of Management for a case competition called Financial Open (OF).
This type of competition gives students the opportunity to work together to solve case competitions in a three-hour timeframe, and then present recommendations to a panel of expert judges. For the Financial Open, students will present finance and accounting cases. This year, the theme of #OF2017 is “From Coast to Coast” – participants will explore the history and values of Canada and celebrate its 150th anniversary of confederation!
Top row, from left to right: Samuel Soucy (VP Logistics), Joshua Ayer (VP Communications), Philippe Moore (Director of Logistics), Kevin Saumure (VP Sponsorship) and Ryan Rahman (VP Finance). Middle row: Katarina Mrkela (VP Academic - Finance) and Kassandra Tannouri (Director of Logistics). Front row: Miranda Taing (VP Marketing), Kim Angèle Vallières (President), Andrée-Anne Martel (VP Academic - Accounting) and Sarah Morin (Director of Translations).
The Telfer School of Management and the University of Ottawa would like to extend a warm welcome to all Financial Open participants. We look forward to welcoming you on campus on January 28 for what will surely be an unforgettable weekend. Hosting the Financial Open is a great addition to the many events we are holding in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Telfer naming gift!
- Category: Latest News
From January 6 to 8, 2017, nearly 130 students represented the Telfer School of Management at two of Canada's biggest inter-university competitions. The teams participated in academic, sporting and social events.
The first competition, Jeux du commerce (JDC), gathered 13 universities at the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick, as the bilingual competition celebrated its 29th year.
The second competition took place back home in Ottawa, where more Telfer students competed at Carleton University for Jeux du commerce Central (JDCC), an annual event hosted by the Canadian Association of Business Students that brings together 14 universities across Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes.
Congratulations to students for winning the following in academic, sporting and social events:
Team Awards
- JDC 3rd Place overall, Academic Cup
- JDC Recognition Award : Liane Brière
1st Place Trophies
- JDC Marketing Case: Amy Lam, Brenda Lam and Roma Stepanchenko
(Coach: Professor David Large) - JDC Surprise Case: Caroline Robertson, Sarai Castrejon and Kassandra Tannouri
- JDC Sport - Volleyball: Mira Azzi, Michele Ancrum, Mathieu Brunet, Curtis Lu, Adam Wang, Marisha Sesto, Dylan Kostka, Jordan Earls and Yvan Ntivumbara
(Coaches: Fadi Azzi and Emily Ryan) - JDCC International Business: Paxton Mayer, Mussie Hailu and Mila Giray
(Coaches: Professor Tyler Chamberlin, Jesse Dunn and Richard Laberge) - JDCC Delegation MVP: Mila Giray
3rd Place Trophies
- JDC Entrepreneurial Innovation Case: Emily Potvin, Chelsea Parker and Tarek Mansour
(Coach: Professor Stephen Daze) - JDC Project Management Case: Paul Eom, Eric Thomson and Sharanya Tharmarajan
(Coach: Aghilas Chebini) - JDC Finance Case: Rabbi Kazi, Scott Beiersdorfer, Margaret Omodu
(Coach: Professor Michael Reynolds) - JDCC Accounting Case: Nikita Gupta, Julie-Anne Given and Meaghan McMahon (Coaches: Professor Sylvain Durocher and Professor Sheldon Weatherstone)
Written by Amy Lam, VP Academic of the JDC Delegation
- Category: Latest News
From right to left: Erickque Plante, Shayan Obaidullah, Yvette Nakouzi Aoun (Assistant Coach) James Wilson, Derek Ovadia, Taro Abarbanel-Uemura, Germain Aoun (Coach), Philippe Lamothe, James Robert, Camelia Dubic, Anali Christina Stewart, Greg Richards (MBA Program Director), Emma Azzi, Keith Asare, Matthew Chesser, Goldwin John Guiang, Jayakumar Jayamanian. Two 2017 MBA Games delegates were not present for this photo: Curtis Haché and Jeremy Pluym.
On January 2, 2017, 16 of Telfer’s finest MBA students kicked off the New Year by travelling to Vancouver Island University to compete in the MBA Games against 18 other Canadian universities. Despite being one of the smaller teams present, they managed to vigorously compete in both the academic and sports components and exceeded expectations by winning multiple titles.
Thanks to the combined efforts of all its teams, the Telfer School of Management has gained second place in the academic rankings.
- The Finance Team landed second place in the competition. Members of the team are: Phil Lamothe, Shayan Obaidullah, Curtis Hache, and Jamie Wilson.
- The HR Team landed third place. Members of the team are: Matt Chesser, Keith Asare, and Camelia Dubic.
- Additionally, the Telfer MBA team would not have won second place if it wasn’t for the notable efforts of the Strategy Team (Jamie Wilson, Eric Plant, Camelia Dubic, and James Myers) and the Marketing Team (Taro Abarbanel-Uemura, Jayakumar Jayamanian, Goldwin Guiang, and Derek Ovadia).
The Dodgeball Team earned a well-deserved third place win. Members of the team are: Emma Azzi, Anali Stewart, Taro Abarbanel-Uemura, Jeremy Pluym, Jayakumar Jayamanian, Goldwin Guiang, Eric Plant, James Myers, and Derek Ovadia.
The Volleyball Team landed sixth place. Members of the team are: Emma Azzi, Shayan Obaidullah, Anali Stewart, Phil Lamothe, Matt Chesser, Curtis Hache, Jeremy Pluym, and Keith Asare.
Congratulations to the whole team for their outstanding effort and determination throughout the MBA Games!
Written by Emma Azzi, MBA student
- Category: Latest News
Each year, students in the 4th year class Case Studies in Accounting (ADM 4340 and ADM 4740) participate in a case competition in which they analyze a real company and report on accounting issues being faced by the company.
Daniel, a student in the winning team, explained that this year, the case was on Toshiba’s accounting fraud and the factors that led to the accounting fraud between 2008 and 2015. The students spent many hours doing research and getting familiar with Toshiba’s finances. The best groups presented their cases in front of a panel of judges on December 8.
For many of the students, this was their last semester. For Daniel, “winning the case competition was a really great way to finish my undergrad at Telfer. The case competition was a great way to pull together everything we learnt in the past 4 and half years”. Anna, another student in the winning team, enjoyed the case studies in accounting class throughout the semester because it gave her the opportunity to begin preparing for the CPA exams in the future. Lastly, for Paul, “ADM 4340 was one of the classes I enjoyed the most in my undergrad since it focused on the application of concepts and provided me with an opportunity to apply these concepts to real situations”.
We would like to congratulate the winning team:
- Paul Landry
- Anna Chen
- Daniel Aubry
- Derek Dinardo
Thank you to CPA Ontario for sponsoring the event and to Professor Sheldon Weatherstone, as well as Matt Prime, Jennifer McLeod and Professor Brian Conheady who were all members of the judging panel.
- Category: Latest News
On Thursday, November 24, a group of students participated in the finals of a case competition as part of their Case Studies in Accounting course. We asked two students of the winning team to share their experience with us. Melissa and Caroline explained that this class was very beneficial for all the students that participated. In Melissa’s words: “The case competition gave us the chance to test all of our acquired knowledge [and] really prepares us for our future CPA title”. For Caroline, another student in the winning team, a case competition is like a puzzle, the only difference is that when you’re completing a puzzle you know there’s a missing piece.
Caroline added that even if the class is a lot of work, it was one her favorite throughout her entire studies. The class gave her a chance to put in practice everything she learned during her time here at the Telfer School of Management.
The case competition tested the students’ knowledge, and they also had the chance to meet experts in the field. According to Melissa, these experts exposed the entire class to many aspects of the accounting world.
The judges of the competition were Denis Chainé, partner at Logan-Katz; Marie-Geneviève Bégin, Justice Canada and Jean-Philippe Aubé, SixaCapital, as well as Professor Sylvain Durocher.
The winning team and the team that ranked second were respectively awarded $2 000 and $1 000. These prizes are courtesy of CPA Canada and SixaCapital. In addition to that, each member of the two teams was awarded a 100 $ gift card at Best Buy, courtesy of Logan-Katz.
Congratulations to the winning teams, from left to right:
1st place: Mikael Roy, Myreille Josée Chouinard, Mélissa Iskandar, Caroline Dupéré-Tremblay
2nd place: Wendy Ruiz Martinez, Aurélie Fleurime, Aïssatou Ndiémé Fall, Serge Kuiya Lajoie
- Category: Latest News
As part to the Telfer School of Management’s highly innovative new capstone course “ADM4317: Leadership, Strategy and Sustainability” for the Honours Bachelor of Commerce’s management option, students had the opportunity on November 10, 2016 to participate in an on-site visit of Windmill Developments’ Zibi project, Canada’s first and only One Planet Living planned community.
Professor Daina Mazutis, Endowed Professor of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability, and her students were hosted by Jonathan Westeinde, CEO of Windmill Developments who graciously presented his vision for sustainable living. He provided students hands-on exposure to how businesses are tackling critical issues such as carbon neutrality, clean energy, waste reduction, the future of mobility and stakeholder engagement, amongst other inspirational examples.
In addition to this visit, students taking this course benefited from participating in a three-day immersion in running a Triple Bottom Line business through the Green Lab simulation and heard from two guest speakers from the community – John Purkis of The Natural Step and Mike Gerbis of Delphi Consulting, who both provided examples of leadership, strategy and sustainability in practice.
Within the course, students are also working on community service learning projects through the Michael Jean Centre for Global and Community Engagement with the both the Office of Campus Sustainability and CFUW (Canadian Federation of University Women).
About Zibi
Zibi is a world-class sustainable community and redevelopment project by Windmill Development Group and Dream Unlimited Corp. Through this multi-phase development, Windmill and Dream will transform derelict land into a blend of residential housing types of low and high rise condominium towers and townhomes, commercial and office space, unique waterfront plazas and outdoor squares, recreational facilities, and more. Truly one-of-a-kind, Zibi combines unparalleled views of the Ottawa River, Parliament Hill, Chaudière Falls, and downtown Ottawa and Gatineau skylines framed by a modern architectural design that still respects the heritage of the area. Zibi is where nature, culture, heritage and the joys of life culminate.
- Category: Latest News
From November 11 to 13, 4th year students from the BCom participated in the Intopia Strategy Simulation, a competition 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.
According to Victoria, a student who participated in the simulation over the weekend: "Intopia is a weekend long business simulation that lets the students who play it experience running a company in a competitive industry with all the stress of running said company over 9 years compiled into 3 days."
She also mentioned the hectic energy of the activity and how the Desmarais building was full of eager and motivated students that were running around. She adds that every team struggled to get their decisions in as the clock counted down.
Alexandre Maisonneuve, another student who participated in Intopia, says that his biggest takeaway is that Intopia allows students to practice the most basic skills of all in business: that art of negotiating.
Congratulations to members of the overall winning team: Team 20!
(Left to right) Andrew Lim, Zachary Page, Ioana Lazescu, Catherine Chu, Oluwatobiloba Afolabi, and Genevieve Walton (CPA)
Individual Award winners were:
Best Negotiator: Christopher Chan (Left), with Genevieve Walton (CPA), Noureddine Elkadri, & Abdenour Slaouti.
Most Congenial Player: Taylor Davidson (Centre) with Genevieve Walton (CPA), and Noureddine Elkadri.
Most Valuable Player: Zachary Page (Left) with Genevieve Walton (CPA), Noureddine Elkadri.
Honourable mention:
For a superb performance overall and top performance as an R&D specialist, Team 60:
Cheuk Sze Ng, Hoi Tung Lau, Ming Tak Liu, Zihan Gao
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: Latest News
The University of Ottawa is pleased to invite students and faculty who have created startup ventures to participate in a competition that will result in up to five companies being selected for an exclusive trip to Silicon Valley in the spring of 2017. Each selected startup will receive $4,000 (CAD) in financial support for the trip.
- Category: Rising Stars
Before sharing my experience, I’d like to extend my sincerest thank you to the Telfer School of Management for sending me to the One Young World conference this past September. It was an opportunity to hear the first hand experiences of individuals from around the world who through adversity and oppression continue to fight for awareness and change in their respective humanitarian causes. While it was comforting to watch the likes of CEOs, actresses, philanthropic figures, current and former prime ministers talk about how they help enable progress, the true change makers were the young men and women, victims turned entrepreneurs when faced with injustices. A special focus was towards refugees as a result of war and climate change. Climate change poses a very real threat to our globe, but an urgent threat to coastal communities quickly decaying to rising sea levels. Peace and security (extremism), the environment (saving it with technology), human rights (LGBT), global business, health (suicide and depression), and education (unemployment) were the six key topics covered.
All to say, we are so blessed to be living in Canada, in the capital city of this great country. And while there are others that devote their lives to tackle issues in their communities, it is our responsibility as leaders of the world that we are in part, doing the same. Ethically investing, starting socially conscious businesses, giving back to the community in any meaningful way. These are the things that will determine whether our generation leaves this world for better or for worse.
A resounding quote I’d like to share is one by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the opening ceremonies on Parliament Hill:
"I do not think you are the leaders of tomorrow — I know you are already leaders today. Your generation is politically engaged, educated, innovative, inclusive and progressive. You need to harness that potential to make the world a better place … Please remember, what you say, and the choices you make, have the power to change the world" - Justin Trudeau
Tahir Shahzada, External Affairs
- Category: Rising Stars
When it comes to climate justice, we might not be able to see the effects of climate change in our city, but there are certainly millions around the world who are experiencing first-hand the repercussions of our actions as we continue to act irresponsibly. Let's think about what actions we are taking and the conditions that others are living in because of climate change...because at the end of the day we are all "one world". The 4 days I spent at the OYW Summit were both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I've was surrounded by the most influential leaders from 196 countries to talk and learn about world issues, from gender inequality to climate change.One of the Queen's University Young Leaders at the summit said something that I wanted to share: "Don't wait for permission to become a leader. Sometimes you might question yourself and ask 'am I really the best person to do this?'”. And well, the truth is, you might be the only person to do this". So here's the thing, you don't need a world summit in order to sit at the table. Don't wait for permission to challenge the status quo...Thinking of sustainable change is not only the good thing to do, but it is also your responsibility.
Hearing the stories of other delegates was the most humbling experience, so I encourage you to step outside of what you're used to by learning and asking tough questions TOGETHER. I, or anyone else, can't fight these issues alone. We do, indeed, need each other. A huge thanks to Telfer and uOttawa for giving me the opportunity to represent Canada at the One Young World summit. #OYW
Kloe Desrosiers, Telfer School of Management and Enactus uOttawa
- Category: Rising Stars
The One Young World is not only an intellectual feast but also a compelling call for social action.
In today’s digital age, it is very easy for us to stay connected with the rest of the world through the screen of our laptop, thus giving us a feeling that we are very aware of what’s going on around the globe. However, we might not be mindful of the fact that what we see in the media and on the internet is often tailored to our interest and might offer us a relatively narrow view of the world around us.
At the One Young World Summit, I was able to meet in person with some of the most exceptional young leaders from some 196 different countries who gave eye-opening speeches about their progressive initiatives throughout the field of education, human rights, entrepreneurship, healthcare, and peacemaking. However, I also learned some frightening challenges that the world is facing. It is appalling how some 2.5 billion people do not have access to proper eye treatment, how 1 out of 3 people do not have access to adequate sanitation and how nearly half of the world's population live on less than $2.50 a day.
This conference showed me the great social achievements that are being done elsewhere in the world, and the work that is still ahead of us. Although the world is facing some challenging issues, the inspiring accomplishments of the speakers and the delegates make me believe that there is still hope in humanity.
Call for action: As Canadians, we are the most privileged, either by education or by wealth; therefore it is our responsibility to make the world a better place. So take a second to close your eyes and to think about the hardest time of your life and, who do you wish would have been there to help you. Be that person.
Jia Li, Telfer School of Management
- Category: Rising Stars
When the purpose of the Laurie Strano Memorial MHA Scholarship was decided, it certainly had someone like Carolyne Mondoux in mind. As the second recipient of the scholarship, Carolyne embodies leadership, community involvement and excellence in athletics.
Her career path – which began with an undergraduate degree in biology and continued with jobs in retail, public service and finance – led her to discover a passion for nutrition and administration. To further mesh her skills in management and health care, after finishing a degree in Nutrition from uOttawa, Carolyne decided to pursue a Master of Health Administration (MHA).
Carolyne’s commitment to health extends beyond her day job. A mother of two young girls, she enjoys going on outdoor activities such as mountain and road cycling, running and cross-country skiing. Her private practice, Fine Balance Nutrition, focuses on gastro-intestinal health, lipid management and sports nutrition for new athletes. But beyond that, Carolyne is the co-leader of a not-for-profit group which aims to bring together local RDs and welcomes new graduates through networking events and professional development opportunities. What’s more, she also volunteers for the fundraising committee at her daughter’s school. As a registered member of the College of Dietitians of Ontario, Carolyne also volunteers as a local “Nutrition Month” media representatives for Dietitians of Canada.
“Receiving a scholarship in memory of Laurie Strano is a great honour. In my eyes, this scholarship acts as a thank you for my contributions and the ones of past and future MHA students. It also serves as a reminder that these commitments are recognized, and highlights the importance of community involvement.”
What matters to Carolyn is nutrition, health promotion, disease prevention and working with children. As an enthusiastic and motivated individual, she hopes to work as a leader for a dynamic, health-focused organization which embraces creativity, strives for innovation and cares about its community.
For more information about the Laurie Strano Memorial MHA Scholarship, please contact Roxanne Chénier, Development Officer, at (613) 562-5800, ext. 4760 or
- Category: Student Announcements
MISA, or the Management Information Systems Association, kicked off its year with MISA Connects, held on October 18, 2016, at The Albion Rooms. MISA Connects was the first of two semi-annual networking events that promote the study and growth of information systems in every business sector. In a more intimate setting, students were given the opportunity to connect with Telfer faculty who teach MISA-specific courses and business professionals who believe in the value of data and analytics.
MISA would like to thank everyone who made MISA Connects a successful event. We will continue to advocate for the importance of information systems and analytics in a business setting.
- Category: Rising Stars
The 6th Telfer Trading Competition (TTC) was held on Saturday, October 1, 2016 and continued to build on its legacy as one of the most anticipated competitions and events of the year. The competition consists of about 100 students from 1st to 4th year who are looking to take part in friendly, faced-paced trading competition which helps enhance their student experience. It’s also an opportunity for like-minded individuals to meet each other and compete in a simulated environment designed to mimic real-life trading scenarios. For the second year, students from Telfer’s Financial Theory class (ADM2352) were encouraged to participate in order to apply the theory they learn in class and earn some additional bonus grades. The TTC is organized and hosted by the school’s Financial Research and Learning Lab, which is a state-of-the-art teaching and learning facility with leading industry standard software and databases such as Bloomberg, S&P Capital IQ and WRDS.
The competition consists of two parts, an ice-breaking Social Outcry competition and computer based case simulations which uses the order-driven Rotman Interactive Trader (RIT) platform. The Social Outcry tries to mimic olden day trading pits where individuals are required to buy and sell shares of the Telfer 500 Index (a simulated market) that is driven by news items appearing at various intervals. Just like actual markets, news is interpreted differently by the 100 traders who make the experience a fun, loud and fierce environment.
After students have had a chance to meet each other during the Social Outcry in the Camille Villeneuve Room, they move down to the Financial Research and Learning Lab in order to compete on 5 different cases exploring different financial theories: Liability Trading (2), Options, ETF Arbitrage, and Equity Valuation. Students competing at the TTC get access the cases 2 weeks in advance and have the opportunity to create their strategies for each case. Many students build complex financial models and macros which completely automates their decision making. During the competition, each case is run 3 rounds in order to reward consistency of strategy over speculation. The tension in the room can be cut with a knife as students focus on generating consistent profits and avoiding losses. Since all traders in the room affect liquidity in the rounds, at many times the room bursts in uproar from a potential manipulation by a competitor. This generally causes a sudden market spike, which only enhances the dynamic environment and feel of a trading floor.
After a full-day of competing (noon to 6:00 p.m.), students made their way back to the Camille Villeneuve Room for a well-deserved dinner while the results are tabulated. Cash prizes are awarded not only to the top 3 finishers, but also for each of the 5 cases and Social Outcry.
The TTC is also the method used to select the team for the prestigious Rotman International Trading Competition, which is an annual invite-only competition held in Toronto each February. The RITC is the world’s largest trading competition and includes 50 teams from the best schools around the world (Columbia, Princeton, Queens, Western etc.). The parameters of the RITC is similar to that of the TTC and as such those that perform well at the TTC make good candidates. Those that finish in the top 12th get invited to apply to the Telfer RITC team in hopes of representing Telfer on the international stage.
The 6th Telfer Trading Competition was again a huge success, and continued to build its reputation as one of the school’s best and toughest competitions. Events like these help give students of all years a chance to dive deeper into applying theory into practice, learning new skills, and understanding the financial industry a bit better. A big thank you to the Financial Research and Learning Lab, its lab assistants and volunteers for organizing and running this event, as well as the Telfer Marketing Department and Capital Markets Society (CMS) for sponsoring it. As we close out this iteration of the TTC, we look forward to a successful showing at the Rotman International Trading Competition as well as continuing to grow the TTC.
Overall Rankings:
- Dmitry Shorikov
- Roma Stepanchenko
- Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
- Danika Fu
- William Tu
- Evan Friend
Case Winner:
Social Outcry: Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
Liability Trading 3: Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
Liability Trading 4: William Tu & Beau Keppler
Options: William Tu, Dmitri Shorikov & Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
ETF Arbitrage: Tsoi (Jack) Yuen Lau
Equity Valuation: Aleksa Milosevic
- Category: Latest News
This page is for the 2017 Entrepreneurship Foundry Course. For information on the upcoming session, visit this year's page.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a cross-campus initiative that leverages University and community start-up resources to help you start and/or grow your business venture in a for-credit 13-week long course.
The Entrepreneurship Foundry course will act as an accelerator for your entrepreneurial venture; you will have access to external mentors at themed sessions as well as frequent access to “lab” time to allow you to focus on your business. .
- Your venture will be evaluated by using a pre-survey and interview to determine where you are at with your venture and set goals.
- At the end of the course you will be interviewed to measure the progress
- Mandatory 3 slide check-ins on a bi-weekly basis; will allow you to develop your pitch skills, as well as gain valuable feedback from professors, mentors and peers.
An interview and acceptance process will ensure only those most committed to real entrepreneurship will be accepted.
The course will run this winter on Thursdays from 4-7 p.m. and space is limited to 25 students. Student teams are eligible and not all members need to be registered for the course to participate. The deadline to submit applications is December 12, 2016.
To learn more and to apply for the course, please contact Stephen Daze.
- Category: Latest News
The Telfer Executive MBA will be hosting more than 35 candidates from the Sun yat-Sen University Executive MBA program from Guangzhou, P.R. China., during the week of October 2 – 7, 2016. This will be the third and final stop for these senior executives as a component of the Program's “Overseas Business Trip”. Prior to Ottawa, the group attended executive development programs at Columbia and Yale University.
One of the Telfer Executive MBA’s key objectives is to provide an impactful contribution to our business community through its executive leadership and competency development platform along with growing a global network that serves its business community.
This academic exchange program is an extension of a close relationship between our two programs. The first in 2014 was the direct result of the Telfer Executive MBA’s International Business Consulting Trip to Guangzhou, P.R China in April of that year. Since then the partnership has grown to include Summer Business Consulting Projects, known as the G9 [Guangzhou 9]. Working in teams of three, nine selected Telfer Executive MBA candidates complete a smaller scaled International Business Consulting Project for Chinese organizations throughout the summer months between their first and second year. This experience includes a one-week trip in Guangzhou to present their findings and meet with key stakeholders. The G9 was piloted in 2015 and the Class of 2017 recently closed off another successful year of the projects.
The activities during their stay will provide excellent opportunities to promote the University of Ottawa and the City of Ottawa, to many senior-level executives from China. It will also provide opportunities for engagement and insights from our community leaders through company visits, in-class sessions with distinguished professors, and several networking opportunities with Telfer Executive MBA alumni and leaders in the business community. It is important to note that more than 2000 of Sun yat-Sen’s alumni are in leadership roles of large and medium-sized enterprises in China.
With a focus on promoting local entrepreneurs and Canadian organizations, the Telfer Executive MBA has arranged for the Chinese visitors to enjoy the culinary and ale delights of Millstreet Brew Pub located in the historic Thompson-Perkins Mill building. The week also includes executive briefings at Ottawa’s Kivuto Solutions Inc., and the Royal Canadian Mint; as well as enjoying fall activities such as apple picking at Mountain Orchards and zip-lining adventures at locally owned Camp Fortune.
The visit is capped with a University of Ottawa / Sun yat-Sen Business School Delegation Dinner Reception on October 5th. The Mayor's office, in partnership with Telfer Executive MBA Program and Gowlings, will be hosting the reception with guests from the business community at the elegant Château Laurier. Special guests will include the mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson, senior officials from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and senior executives from the University of Ottawa.The academic portion of the week will be three fold; Global Competitive Intelligence; Economics for the Global Manager; and Self-Leadership and Branding.
During their scheduled leisure time, the executives will enjoy Canada’s rich history with visits to Parliament Hill, the Rideau Canal, as well as Ottawa’s ByWard Market.
- Category: Rising Stars
During the weekend of September 23 to 25, Telfer School of Management students in the ADM4317 Leadership, Strategy and Sustainability course engaged in an intensive simulation called The Green Business Lab.
“The Green Business Lab is unique in that it is the only interactive, live, comprehensive business simulation that can provide students with a hands-on experience in running a business while at the same time solving the most pressing problems arising from environmental and social issues facing organizations today” said Daina Mazutis, Endowed Professor of Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability at the Telfer School. “It connects students directly to important strategic decisions that they will need to make as future business leaders.”
Working in teams, the students were immersed in running a business where each team member played a key function in the company. They had to shape the company’s strategic direction, design and build a new product and improve performance. Yet, due to mounting pressure from various stakeholders — including customers, governments and NGOs — success depended on triple-bottom-line (economic, environmental, social) metrics.
Teams made final presentations to a panel of judges who evaluated their strategy. This board of directors was composed of Robert G. White, CA, CMA, CPA, Independent Investor and Adviser (Telfer BCom 1992), Kristina Haakman, VP Finance at Brookfield Renewable Energy (Telfer BCom 2003), Salim Charabati, B.Arch. MBA, Consultant BuildGreen Solutions (Telfer EMBA 2016) and John Purkis, Senior Associate, The Natural Step.
Spherical Solutions (George Amidjinov, Kacey Cryan, Francis Desjardins, Alexis Harrison, Adam Khawas, Philippe Lafontaine and Vanessa Mangano) finished first in the “Industrialized Nations” category and “Eco-Impact Spheres” (Patrik Hashem, Andrew James Low, Olivia Le, Cassandre Pomerleau, Isabelle Trudeau and Jacob Sousa) finished first in the “Developing Nations” category. These teams developed the best overall strategy from a triple bottom line perspective.
“Speaking on behalf of the majority of participating students, the Green Business Lab is a real life, fast paced scenario involving tough decisions” said student Francis Desjardins. “This weekend simulation gave us the possibility to apply our acquired knowledge in a sometimes stressful, but always fun environment. We not only learnt multiple typical business lessons, for example the importance of profits and cash flow, but also the impacts of other bottom lines: the importance of the environment and of social awareness. I would like to thank our Green Business Lab facilitator, our professor, my class colleagues and the Telfer School of Management for this great experience.”
This in-class simulation was made possible with the support of the Telfer School’s Yersh Family Pedagogical Innovation Fund.
About the Green Business Lab simulation
The simulation tests the students’ leadership skills, knowledge of core management disciplines, as well as broader understanding of business’s responsible role in society. The Green Business Lab simulation has previously been run in well-regarded universities such as Cornell University, Georgia State University, Central Michigan University, Denver University, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, University of Iowa, Wayne State University as well as major multinational organizations such as General Electric, Rio Tinto and Chrysler Financial.
- Category: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
The University’s Co-operative Education Programs and the Entrepreneurship Hub have teamed up with RBC Royal Bank to launch an innovative CO-OP program designed to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Read the complete article in the Gazette »
- Category: Rising Stars
CEO x 1 Day is on the Hunt for Canada’s Top Students!
Stefan Sjöstrand, President of IKEA Canada, with 2016 CEO x 1 Day finalist, Maria Poonawala.
The CEO 1 x Day program, run by executive recruiting firm, Odgers Berndtson, matches Canada’s top students with CEOs from across the country. Today’s students are the leaders of tomorrow and the yearly program aims to uncover some of Canada’s most promising future talent by giving them an unforgettable real-world experience.
Launched in 2013, CEO X 1 Day has matched close to 50 third and fourth year undergraduate students from across Canada with leading Canadian CEOs from organizations like Purolator, IKEA, the CFL, Manulife Financial and Economic Development Canada. This year, we have another fantastic line-up of CEOs from organizations in the private, public and not-for profit sectors including Siemens, Campbell’s Soup, CBC/Radio-Canada, Germain Hotels, The Red Cross and the Canadian Museum of Nature.
Past CEO x 1 Day students who have taken part in the program say that they received valuable experience that equips them with the tools to start building their careers. Because the selection process has several stages, there is an opportunity for students to get feedback on their leadership and interview skills, even if they don’t make it to the final round. The different phases of the selection process include an online leadership assessment, as well as phone and in-person interviews and a half day with Odgers Berndtson recruiters.
The application process kicks off September 29th until October 28th and the actual day spent with the CEO occurs in February of 2017.
Why Should You Apply?
The program gives third and fourth-year students an opportunity to take in-class learning and apply it to a real-world situation while providing them with the tools and skills needed to start building their career.
What Are the Benefits?
There are many benefits of going through the CEO x 1 Day application process – even if you don’t reach the finals:
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2 out of 3 applicants will have the opportunity to receive a personalized leadership report from Hogan Assessments
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Semi-finalists will be considered for an interview with McKinsey & Company for a summer internship or full-time job
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Semi-finalists will spend a half day participating in group exercises and one-on-one interviewing which will strengthen their presentation and interviewing skills
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And ultimately, the winners will spend a full day shadowing a CEO (including one-on-one time), learning about his/her background, career path, and leadership approach
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You can also see first-hand what previous winners have to say about the program
Interested in applying?
Starting September 29, 2016, third and fourth-year students can apply at ceox1day.ca until October 28, 2016.
- Category: Rising Stars
The Mining Association of Canada has selected Alexander (Al) Pritchard as the 2016 recipient of the Paul Stothart Memorial Scholarship in Mineral Economics, a $3,500 value. Al is currently a student in the MBA program at the Telfer School of Management. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Engineering from Queen’s University.
With this prize, Al is being recognized for his extensive work experience in the minerals industry and his strong academic achievements. Since 2006, Al has worked for Ottawa-based Sander Geophysics Ltd., presently in the area of Operations Management. He brings this technical experience in mineral exploration and development to his current MBA studies.
Al cites his early interest in natural resources to having grown up in Thunder Bay, Ontario. His vision essay on the future of Canada’s mining industry focused on the opportunities that the Ring of Fire presents to his hometown and throughout the region of Northern Ontario. He has a particular interest in the socio-economic benefits responsible mineral activity can bring to Aboriginal communities in the area and how it can lead to deeper, long-lasting relationships between mining companies and Aboriginal peoples.
Congratulations Al!
- Category: Rising Stars
From July 8 to10, 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:
- Jean-Francois Lupien
- David May
- Fanta Sow
- Nikola Vucic
- Category: Latest News
The Telfer Executive MBA Class of 2017 has spoken and the candidates will be going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The votes were cast and decision was made during the week of June 6, 2016, after insightful presentations from 7 teams that form the cohort. The presentations focused on four key factors:
- Strategic importance of respective international market to Ottawa and Ontario.
- The number of Canadian organizations already invested in the market.
- Market interest or focus by local associations such as Export Development Corp and the Canadian government.
- The level of impact each respective international market would have on the cohort’s international market experience, careers and global resume going forward.
This was the final step of the International Market Evaluation & Selection course that started in March. In total 14 different international cities were evaluated and Kuala Lumpur was selected on June 8, 2016. The course mirrors the strategic approach that an organization would take when evaluating and making a decision on a specific international market on expanding its global footprint. The process forms the compelling nature of the Telfer Executive MBA program, a program that strictly focusing on a Global, Practical and Relevant curriculum by anchoring key learnings on the Signature Series of Six Business Consulting Projects. The program works with over 50 client organizations in addressing business challenges and market opportunities. The Class of 2017 will be working with Canadian companies on exploring the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market as it marches the client organizations to Kuala Lumpur in April 2017.
About Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur is the capital city of Malaysia and is located in Southeast Asia bordering with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei. It is home to a diverse and multicultural population of 30 million, with over seven million located in its most populated urban centre. The country’s annual GDP growth for 2015 was down from their 2014 growth of 6% but exceeded economist expectations by closing at 5%, reported by Financial Times in February 2016. Malaysia’s growth and opportunity has caught the attention of several of Canadian international groups, including Global Affairs Canada that listed the region as a priority market for Canadian business. Export Development Canada recognized Malaysia as a key market and it is also listed on Ontario’s top ten Asian markets.
Kuala Lumpur (KL) is the economic and business centre of the country and is considered one of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in South-East Asia. KL is one-hour flight time from the highly-developed and dynamic business environment of Singapore. The frequency of business is evident by the over 30 daily flights between KL to Singapore.
This is the second time a cohort of Telfer Executive MBA program has chosen Kuala Lumpur as a market destination for their International trip. The Class of 1997 departed to Kuala Lumpur to pursue opportunities of Malaysia’s emergence as a high-tech hub of the Far East exactly 20 years ago.
The Next Steps for the Class of 2017
Over the course of the next eight months the Telfer Executive MBA teams will be engaging with seven Canadian organizations that are looking to increase their business footprint in the Malaysian market. This global component of the Telfer Executive MBA curriculum focuses on leveraging both primary and secondary sources to conduct a market and business analysis, and to validate the market potential prior to the teams traveling to KL. The Class of 2017 will be in KL in April 2017, respective teams will leverage other data gathering methodologies including in-country with key stakeholders to validate the market potential.
The Telfer Executive MBA consistently provides compelling business value to respective client organizations as each candidate learns international business is not difficult with solid planning and precise implementation.
- Category: Latest News
Interested in organizing the next edition of the largest academic competition among French high schools in Ontario? We are currently seeking candidates for the Executive Committee for the 13th edition of Place à la jeunesse in November 2016. The event will host more than 200 high-caliber students in the field of business among dozens of high schools across Ontario. It's your turn to offer a unique and unforgettable experience to the next Telfer cohort, all while developing your strategic planning, team management, and financial management skills, among others. If you wish to apply for the presidency or for the three other positions available on the Executive Committee, submit your online application by Friday, June 17, 2016.
- Category: Latest News
In the spring of 2016, the Telfer School launched a video competition. With the intention of building a promotional video that would feature key aspects of our undergraduate program, we thought who better to unveil what we have to offer than our very own students?
Created by Sharanya Tharmarajan and Conor O’Doherty, both of whom are in their third year of Accounting in the BCom program, the winning video showcases our connection to our brand, to our student experience, and to our target audience. It also demonstrates the hard work and dedication of our students and is a prime example of what defines our student body at the Telfer School.
How does Telfer connect you to what matters? Let us show you.
The Student Services Centre
The Student Services Centre
- Category: Latest News
Teams from the Telfer Executive MBA Class of 2017 wrote about their experiences in Silicon Valley as a part of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Business Consulting Trip which took place from May 14 - 20, 2016.
Anticipation Mounts as the Class of 2017 fly into San Francisco
Written by: Ashley Mascarenhas
Make Yourself Known
Written by: Adan Elsaadi and Mario Fowler
Video: Bringing a Canadian Perspective to Silicon Valley
Written by: Team Kentaurus- Michael Bell, Martin Chartrand, Kevin Jones, MJ Levesque, Glenn Moran and Derek Quesnel
Incremental Innovation vs. Invention
Written by: Team Capella – Mohamed Eldery, Daniel Feeny, Tanya Gracie, Kyle Taplay and Andrew Wright
Surviving in an Innovative Playground
Written by: Team Canopus- Amanda Bernier, Scott Johnston, Matt Lundie, Kimberley Marr, Ryan Peatt and Sukri Sharbini
Top 10 things Ottawa can learn from Silicon Valley
Written by: Amanda Dwyer, Team Sirius
Our Silicon Valley Outcome: Uniting as One Big Team
Written by: Team Arcturus - Abdul Ahmadzai, Ajay Bhandari, Isabelle Blondeau, Bernard Guité and Kurt Schweitzer
- Category: Rising Stars
On Wednesday, May 4, 2016, the Enactus uOttawa team was in Toronto to defend its National Champion title at the 2016 Enactus Canada National Exposition, in front of a 65-person panel of judges comprising top Canadian CEOs. Each participating team was scored on its ability to enable social, environmental and economic progress through entrepreneurial action.
The Enactus uOttawa team made it all the way to the finals, along with three other teams: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Ryerson University, and Saint Mary's University. The Memorial University of Newfoundland team was named the 2016 Enactus National Champion, and will advance to represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup taking place in Toronto in the fall of this year.
The team’s President, Corey Ellis, a 3rd year Management student at the Telfer School, commented on their most recent success by saying his team “started with a mainly new team this year and launched a new portfolio of projects. We’re extremely grateful for all the support from faculty, staff, alumni, and the broader community that have helped us along the way. We’re all very excited for what’s ahead this year for our organization.”
The Telfer School was awarded the University Administration of the Year Award by Enactus Canada for its support of youth entrepreneurship. This award, which recognizes the university administration which did the most outstanding job of supporting their Enactus team on their campus, was accepted on behalf of the school by Stephen Daze, Telfer Entrepreneur in Residence and one of the mentors of the Enactus uOttawa team.
Additionally, just last week, one of the projects presented at the 2016 Enactus Canada National Exposition by the uOttawa team, the Northern Innovation Hub in Iqaluit, was awarded $30,000 by the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. This project aims to solve two problems at once by collecting unused sea shipping containers that litter the local coastline and repurposing them to provide badly needed commercial and residential space. The goal is for the Northern Innovation Hub to become a catalyst for further change in Iqaluit, which needs a space to facilitate the planning required to adapt to increasing local urbanization.
Congratulations to the Enactus uOttawa team for their achievements!
- Category: Rising Stars
Each year, students in the 4th-year class Case Studies in Accounting (ADM 4340) participate in a case competition in which they analyze a real company and report on accounting issues being faced by the company.
This year, a total of 72 students took part in the competition, and the best groups presented their cases in front of a panel of judges on April 13.
We would like to congratulate the winning team:
- Arya Farahani
- Dylan Humphries
- Vishwa Rachamalla
- Martina Reabel
Thank you to CPA Ontario for sponsoring the event and to Professor Sheldon Weatherstone, as well as Matt Prime, Lee Tessmer, and David Albers, who were all members of the judging panel.
- Category: Rising Stars
Each year, students in the 4th-year Equity Valuation class (ADM 4350) take part in a case competition in which they estimate the value of a real company and propose recommendations to improve performance.
This term, the ADM 4350 students did an excellent job analyzing Blackberry Limited.
We would like to congratulate this year’s winners:
First place:
- Alexandre Richard
- Sadaf Naziri
Second place:
- Wenjun Tian
- Zhuohang Yu
Third place:
- Xu Zheng
- Yaozong Zhou
“Best Poster” Award:
- Patrick Joseph Murphy
- Spencer Robert O'Brien
We would also like to thank the judges: James Yearsh, Cassy Aite, Jivan Maharaj, Bart M. Bagrowicz, Evan Johnson, Kailin Araujo Noivo, Pouya Safi, and Allan Riding.
- Category: Latest News
On Tuesday, March 29, the Telfer School of Management held the 12th annual Beta Gamma Sigma induction ceremony. The 2016 cohort was the University of Ottawa Chapter’s largest yet, with 96 newly inducted members, proof of Telfer students’ commitment to academic excellence and achievement.
This year, 27 MBA students and 69 undergraduate students were inducted by Chapter President, Dean François Julien, who presided over the ceremony. Also inducted were faculty member Professor Barbara Orser and 2016 Chapter Honouree Stephen Daze.
Beta Gamma Sigma is the global honour society of AACSB International whose mission is to encourage and honour academic achievement in the study of business, to foster personal and professional excellence, to advance the values of the Society, and to serve its lifelong members.
- Category: Rising Stars
Dasha Shakov, a third year BCom Marketing student, is an innovative entrepreneur who is sure to inspire and impress everyone she meets for years to come. As a student juggling a part-time job, yoga, travelling and extracurricular activities, Dasha still managed to find time to found Parcelly with her mother, an online parcel shipping company. The idea behind Parcelly is that it offers a unique gifting solution for long distance friends, family members, and loved ones. They throw 4-5 special items together which is catered towards a specific theme, like for a birthday, a wedding or even a breakup. Once a person orders a package from their online store, the mother-daughter duo puts the items together in a box and ships it to the recipient’s address. “It’s a hassle free, meaningful, and creative way to show someone you care,” she says.
Dasha also spends a lot of her time being one of the Event Directors of the Telfer Business Law Association. She was involved with planning the club’s Mooting Competition, Wine and Cheese and Third Annual Speaker Series. “Getting involved in a club allows you to engage with amazing people, organize and participate in various activities,” she says, “It’s a really fun way to make long lasting memories!”
Dasha feels like she belongs at the Telfer School of Management. With it being located in the heart of the Nation’s capital, she likes getting to meet other bright students coming from around the world. “The Telfer School has allowed me to broaden my horizons and meet an enormous amount of incredible, like-minded people. It’s a fulfilling place to learn,” she says.
What matters the most to Dash is being true to herself, proactively facing herself with new challenges, embarking on new opportunities, and saying “yes” to things outside of her comfort zone. She recently applied to study in France next year though the Telfer's International Exchange Program. “Living and learning away from home, in a foreign country, is definitely outside of my comfort zone, however it would be an amazing experience that I would remember for the rest of my life,” she says.
Dasha’s company, Parcelly, has been featured in other articles on campus, such as The Fulcrum and Her Campus and has also appeared in Kidbacker.
- Category: Rising Stars
The University of Ottawa Enactus team just competed in the regional competition rounds of the Enactus Canada championships, and received distinguished awards among a gathering of over 25 different universities and colleges for their excellence in entrepreneurial action and community leadership. Enactus, Canada’s largest entrepreneurship focused student organization, fosters today’s youth to advance the economic, environmental, and social growth of their communities.
Hosted at the Hilton Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ontario, the Enactus Canada regionals for the Central Canada category endorsed the entrepreneurial achievements of over 500 students across the region. With the additional help of professionals, academic advisors, and organizers, it was a two-day event filled with competitive spirit, collaboration, and celebration. Students competed in live presentations that demonstrated their positive outreach in both their local and international communities - all within the categories of entrepreneurship, environmental issues, youth empowerment, and financial education.
Enactus uOttawa, now a group of over 116 motivated young leaders from seven different faculties at the University of Ottawa, competed in all four categories. In recognition of the amazing impact they made through a variety of innovative and impactful projects, the team was awarded as the first place Runner Up in the Scotiabank EcoLiving Green Challenge, the Capital One Financial Education Challenge, and the Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge, and was the winnner of an Impact Award in the TD Entrepreneurship challenge. In addition to these achievements, VP Project Management Shevaun Ensor-Harrison was awarded the 2016 HSBC Woman Leader of Tomorrow for Central Canada, in recognition of her contributions to Enactus and her commitment to improving the livelihood of people in her community through entrepreneurial action.
The Enactus University of Ottawa team will now move on to compete in the Enactus Canada National Exposition taking place from May 2nd to 4th in Toronto, Canada at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, striving to retain the title of Team Canada once again for 2016. Follow the team’s progress on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Enactus uOttawa would like to thank all of their supporters and advisors, and would like to congratulate all participating teams on their positive impact on their communities.
- Category: Latest News
The Francophone MBA team from the Telfer School of Management has won first place in the 2016 HEC Montréal Sustainability Challenge. The competition was held on Friday, March 18, 2016 at HEC Montréal.
The Telfer team consisted of Jean-François Claveau, Mathieu Daoust, Majid Fassi Fehri, Hala Migahed and their coach, Mathias Kouassi.
This was the seventh time HEC Montréal has organized this event. The Sustainability Challenge is an international case competition that affords MBA students from across Canada and abroad a unique opportunity to put their managerial and analytical skills to the test, as well as expand their professional networks.
The objective for each team is to develop concrete solutions that apply to a current issue and present them to a jury made up of executives from large international corporations.
"I am very proud of this accomplishment by the Telfer MBA Team", says Mathias Kouassi, the team's coach. "This is a high level competition that includes many MBA programs from Canada and around the world, in which participants are invited to show originality and analytical thought to ponder emerging issues on sustainability and offer concrete solutions to these issues."
He adds: "Thank you to our champions for being such great ambassadors of our MBA program and to our professors and staff who contribute to students' well being and to the Telfer MBA program on a daily basis."
Congratulations to our team on this win!
- Category: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Given the recent surge in entrepreneurial activity on the University of Ottawa campus, it is appropriate to recognize and celebrate the culmination of each annual cycle of teaching, competitions, workshops and hard work that lead to exciting start-ups.
In the fall of 2015 and early 2016, we conducted the 2nd annual search for the Top 5 Start-ups on the uOttawa campus. This is a collaborative effort between the Telfer School of Management, the Faculty of Engineering, Startup Garage and the uOttawa e-hub.
“Each year the quality of start-ups on campus is improving” says Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School. “Student interest, faculty programming and an increasing culture of entrepreneurship is contributing to this rise in quality and it’s encouraging to see our next generation of leaders creating their own opportunities”.
The Top 5 uOttawa start-ups, in no particular order, are:
Helix (Powered by MicroMetrics)
- Cofounders: Andre Richards, CTO (Honours Bachelor of Science 2011, uOttawa) and Artem Abramov, CEO.
- MicroMetrics is a software company with a focus on customer experience innovation. Working together with TripAdvisor, they’ve developed Helix – a robust guest experience management platform that empowers hotel staff to conduct real-time service recovery. Since its introduction, Helix has helped brands like Starwood and IHG deliver memorable guest experiences, improve occupancy rates and outperform their competitive sets at premier properties across North America.
GymTrack
- Cofounders: Lee Silverstone, CEO and Pablo Srugo, COO.
- Gymtrack is a platform that brings personal training to all exercisers through their gym and impacts the $80BN gym industry. Gymtrack provides gyms with virtual coaching that automatically tracks everything in an exerciser’s workout, from weight lifting to cardio and helps gyms reduce churn.
Go Give-Back
- Cofounders: Lemuel Barango, (Bachelor of Science 2015, uOttawa) and Liora Raitblat (Telfer BCom 2015, uOttawa).
- Go Give-Back (GGB) is providing a solution for charitable causes by offering a mobile donation platform that accepts donations, catering to the “in-the-moment” factor. GGB will include detailed demographics for the organization with “on the go” analytics used to retain and engage donors.
TruReach:
- Founder: Jeff Perron, MBA (Clinical Psychology PhD Candidate, uOttawa), Clinical Lead: Dr. Joti Samra, PhD, C. Psych.
- TruReach provides instant access to scientifically proven cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It eliminates the stigma associated with mental illness and helps people get better, faster. TruReach cuts costs associated with the management of mental illness and their analytics give organizations data to prove it.
Spectrafy
- Cofounders: Richard Beal, CEO and Viktar Tatsiankou (B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, uOttawa).
- Spectrafy has reinvented the way we measure sunlight and the atmosphere. Spectrafy’s solution, the SolarSIM, combines simple hardware and breakthrough software to slash the cost of measuring sunlight and the atmosphere by over an order of magnitude.
How were the Top 5 start-ups on campus selected?
A working committee of the 4 leaders on campus who run the various entrepreneurship activities select possible candidates from the start-ups they see in their programs. In addition, a public web-based call for nominations allowed start-ups to show their interest. The nominees were then evaluated by the committee and an initial long list of top start-ups was selected.
Feedback from various alumni and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley was obtained before a final list of five “Top Start-ups” is selected. From the Top 5, selected start-ups will be invited to visit Silicon Valley for a learning and business development experience. The exact number of start-ups who are invited to go to Silicon Valley will be a function of available funding.
Photo: Liora Raitblat, Go Give-Back cofounder, at Startup Weekend 2015 (Feb 27 - March 1)
- Category: Latest News
The 24th edition of Happening Marketing (in French only) took place at the Université du Québec à Rimouski – Levis Campus on March 18-20, 2016. The Happening Marketing, which includes more than 10 universities and brings together more than 500 students, is the largest inter-university marketing competition in eastern Canada. This competition includes several components: academic, athletic, social and participation.
Our students took home five trophies:
Social - 1st place
Dominic Piscopo, Victoria Obeid, Natasha Heinz, Sarah Pétrin-Perron
Social Queen: Natasha Heinz
Sports - 3rd place
Curtis Lu, Sophie Nadeau, Mike Shaheen, Myreille Chouinard, Mathieu Brunet, Emily Potvin, Qusai Saleh, Michèle Marchand
Coach: Ross Dilks
Marketing Strategy - 3rd place
Holly Todd, Samantha Rao, Maral Elliott
Coaches: Hantz Prosper and Germain Aoun
Member + (MVP): Maral Elliott
Full Campaign (“Le contrat”) - 3rd place
Tarek Mansour, Marie-Pier Harvey, Maxime Trépanier, Sarai Castrejon
Coach: Michael Guolla
Member + (MVP): Maxime Trépanier
Surprise case - 3rd place
Richard Laberge, Maria FitzPatrick, Camille Porier
Coach: Jesse Dunn
Relationship Marketing
Member + (MVP): Roma Stepanchenko
Congratulations to our students for these great results!
- Category: Rising Stars
Testimonial written by Jia Li, 4th year BCom in Accounting student
My name is Jia Li, and my dream is to become one of tomorrow’s leaders.
The Futures Fund recognizes the accomplishments of 10 university students, each from a different school of management across the country. I am honoured to have been selected by Telfer to receive this prestigious scholarship. It gave me the opportunity to represent Telfer at an exclusive gala in Toronto, and I received a $7,500 bursary to support me in my studies. When I learned that I was selected last November, I was ecstatic. I felt an overwhelming sense of joy that the efforts I had made throughout my four years at Telfer had been recognized this way. I knew the gala in Toronto was a high-profile event, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that it would be an experience that would change my life forever.
The Toronto event was held over two days, February 9 and 10, 2016. The first day, the recipients were invited to a reception at the Bennett Jones office, where we were each interviewed by BNN. In addition to us students, some 50 business leaders also attended the reception. It was not until I was shaking the hand of a man who was six and a half feet tall that I began to realize the significance of the event. The man was George Cope, the President and CEO of Bell Canada, and next to him was Jim Balsillie, the co-founder of BlackBerry. We had some fascinating discussions and shared a few anecdotes.
The second day, we attended the “Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the Year” gala celebrating the success of Mr. Cope and of Bell Canada over the past few years. Over 400 of our country’s most prominent leaders attended this event at the Royal Ontario Museum. To name just a few, I met the Honourable Bill Morneau (Minister of Finance), Frank Vettesse (Managing Parner of Deloitte Canada), Hugh MacKinnon (Chairman and CEO of Bennett Jones), William Downe (CEO of BMO) and Kevin O’Leary (Chairman of O’Leary Financial Group). I had the opportunity to speak with some of the most distinguished executives in Canada about their journey to the top, and here is a summary of what I learned:
- Regardless of the hand you are dealt, follow your passion; the money will follow.
- Be genuine and kind; the most powerful people are also the most considerate.
- Be humble; the most fortunate, most successful people are also the most modest.
- Networking is crucial to your success. The most powerful people all seem to know each other.
In short, this event was an incredible life lesson that truly opened my eyes. Meeting these individuals helped me to understand that the magic formula to success is often universal; with perseverance, strength and long-term relationships, we are all capable of reaching the top.
In the photo, from left to right: George Cope, Bell Canada; Jia Li; Hugh MacKinnon, Bennett Jones Toronto
- Category: Rising Stars
The Redefine Conference took place from March 4th to March 6th, 2016 at the University of Waterloo. Delegates were required to use their creativity and problem-solving skills to present their solutions to real-world business cases to industry professionals. Competitive events included: Marketing Management, Fashion and Retail Marketing, Finance, Accounting, Sports and Entertainment Marketing, and International Business.
DECA uOttawa sent a delegation of five students to this competition, three of which came home with first place medals. Congratulations to Zach Zhang (1st place in the Pitch Competition), Anna Halawa (1st place in Fashion and Retail Marketing), and Andy Yu (1st place in Finance).
DECA uOttawa would like to recognize all of the participants at the Redefine Conference: Jordan Monaghan, Eva Lin, Anna Halawa, Zach Zhang and Andy Yu. The DECA uOttawa executive team would also like to extend a huge thank you to Matt Archibald, Diane Mugeni and the Telfer School of Management for their involvment and support. Lastly, the chapter’s competitive success would not have been possible without the immense dedication, member empowerment, training and mentorship provided by this year’s President, Eva Lin.
What’s next for DECA uOttawa? The chapter is sending delegates to Montreal next week for the final competition of the school year, DECA McGill’s Spring Invitational. The executive team and the entire chapter wish all delegates the utmost success.
- Category: Latest News
(From left to right: Carl Burlock, Export Development Canada; HEC team, Ben Mansoura, Amandine Michaud, Niki Parassidis, Abdelghani Zniber; Michel Brazeau, Deloitte)
On March 4th and 5th 2016, the Telfer School of Management, in partnership with Export Development Canada and Deloitte, hosted the first annual Diversity and Inclusion MBA Case Competition.
The rationale for this event, which addressed a topic not often found in typical MBA case competitions, was that despite the advances being made in promoting and integrating diversity in organizations, the fear of being different is still a common occurrence. This case competition was conceived to highlight and explore current issues and potential solutions related to Diversity and Inclusion in contemporary organizations.
The MBA case competition included the following teams:
- DeGroote School of Business McMaster University
- HEC Université de Montreal
- John Molson School of Busines Concordia University
- Lazaridis School of Business & Economics Wilfrid Laurier
- Odette School of Business University of Windsor
- Ted Rogers School of Management Ryerson University
- Telfer School of Management University of Ottawa
The team from HEC Montreal took home first place (pictured). Wilfred Laurier’s Lazaridis School of Business & Economics came in second and McMaster’s DeGroote School of Business third.
“Given our global mandate, having a diverse and representative workforce is a strategic business advantage that is critical to EDC's success – now and in the future,” says Justine Hendricks, Vice President Loans Value Stream Transformation, EDC. “Sponsoring this competition provides an opportunity to demonstrate to future business leaders that diversity is critical for a trading nation like Canada, and therefore critical for its companies.”
Kate Morican, Partner, Ontario Lead for Human Capital Services and National Lead for Strategic Transformation and Change Services at Deloitte, adds: “At Deloitte, our vision is to lead by building a culture through commitment and mutual accountability. A culture where all our people feel like they belong, feel free to live and work openly and understand that inclusion is core to who we are. Our Diversity and Inclusion journey is key to achieving this vision, and developing inclusive leaders is a key component of our journey. We commend our partners, Export Development Canada and the University of Ottawa for recognizing the importance of Diversity and Inclusion and taking the steps required to create a more inclusive and diverse community within their own organizations, while taking the time to educate others on diversity and inclusion and the tangible benefits which can be realized when one adopts a diverse and inclusive culture."
Abdelghani Zniber, member of the winning team from HEC Montréal, says: “This competition deals with a subject that has been getting traction recently. A competition on diversity and inclusion is a great initiative to further raise awareness about a topic that is unfortunately not taught in schools, but that MBA students will surely have to manage during their career.” Amandine Michaud adds: “The Diversity & Inclusion case competition hosted by the Telfer School of Management is one of its kind. It focuses on a strategic aspect of management that is oft forgotten and it prepares tomorrow’s leaders to help companies to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.”
In addition to the team competition, the event included a workshop on Unconscious Bias and a keynote by Bank of Montreal Senior Vice-President Justine Fedak on the practical issues along with her personal reflections related to Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace.
We thank all the schools for sending along excellent representatives for this competition.
- Category: Rising Stars
Written by Paulo Guedes Moreau, 2nd year Telfer BCom (International Management) student
I consider myself fortunate to have participated on Junior Team Canada (JTC) on behalf of the Telfer School of Management. In October, I was looking for a scholarship which reflected the growing importance of multiculturalism in business. At the time, I was applying for the Ontario Global Edge scholarship with the help of Kimberley Barclay, a professional Relationship Manager at the Telfer Career Centre. We had an interesting chat about the importance of understanding the interconnections among nations in today’s business world. She suggested I speak with Amy Giroux. Amy as it turned out was the head of an organization called Global Vision.
Global Vision is a national not-for-profit, registered charitable organization that provides youth with real world experience to make meaningful connections between business, government, and community. JTC is the flagship program of Global Vision. Each year a delegation of 20-30 Canadian youth leaders are selected through a nationwide competition to promote Canadian industry and culture abroad through a JTC trade and development mission. JTC Ambassadors are representatives for their communities, province and country.
After two hundred letters, one hundred cold calls and fifty meetings in January, I received my total sponsorship amount. Obtaining the funds was difficult, but worth it as it allowed me to experience an international business mission and to apply the concepts taught in my International Management program.
Being a dual citizen of Canada and Peru, Global Vision further appealed to me when I found out that its upcoming mission was to Peru, a country in South America and a trade partner to Canada in the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Further, Peru will be hosting the APEC summit this year. These trade agreements require an understanding of the growing importance of multiculturalism in business. This mission allowed me to gain valuable insight about cross-cultural teamwork, a value I strongly believe in.
The courses at Telfer have a professional focus on “Unlocking the Value of Globalization” – the Telfer School’s fifth Learning Objective. My courses prepared me to grasp the intricacies of international trade and developing business relationships. For example, prior to leaving for Peru, the CEO in Residence speaker Nick Quain encouraged me to read Dale Carnegie’s novel for better business communication. As well, the concepts taught by Matthew Archibald about the works of Geert Hofstede provided excellent insights. The cultural dimensions theory by Hofstede gave me further understanding into communicating in Latin American culture. As we had many networking events to secure our mandates in Peru, I was prepared to adjust to the different schedule of Latin American culture.
The Telfer Career Centre’s training events enforced the notions of how much first impressions matter in business. We were able to meet many key officials in Peru’s public and private sectors through our networking events. I am grateful to have participated in the etiquette workshop by Julie Blais-Comeau and the professional attire workshop by Alyssa Beltempo was very useful in maximizing my networking abilities.
I look forward to thanking both the Telfer School of Management and the Career Centre team at their celebration reception in March 2016.
The following video provides a brief summary of my memorable experience.
- Category: Latest News
On Thursday, March 3, we hosted our annual leadership discussion with the Ottawa Business Journal CEO of the year, Bernie Ashe (BAdm 1978), Chief Executive Officer of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG).
Bernie Ashe was awarded the CEO of the Year award, a joint initiative of the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, on November 18, 2015.
“Bernie Ashe is most deserving of this honor as CEO of the Year – and, as a Telfer alumnus, a great example for our students,” said François Julien, Dean of the Telfer School of Management. “Thanks to his incredible leadership, OSEG has remarkable momentum following the successful development of Lansdowne Park and TD Place. The changes he initiated and implemented have and will continue to have a lasting impact on the socio-economic development of our city.”
Before joining OSEG, the organization that owns the Ottawa Redblacks, he was Chief Executive Officer at KOTT Group, a lumber supply company, and at AiT (now 3M-AiT). From 1991-1997, he was Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of the Ottawa Senators.
- Category: Latest News
Co-chairs William Yeoh (Deakin University, Melbourne) and Gregory Richards (Telfer School of Management), in collaboration with Randy Messina from IBM in Chicago, host the first annual Global Watson Analytics Case competition, with 130 teams from 33 universities participating.
The global competition pits a global group of universities using IBM Watson Analytics to explore complex data sets. The top ten finalists will be selected July 1, 2016. The top two finalists will be invited to present their solutions at the IBM Insight 2016 event in Las Vegas in October 2016.
Participating Universities include:
- Brigham Yong University
- California State University
- Carleton University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Central Connecticut State University
- Covenant University
- Dakota State University
- Dalhousie University
- Deakin University
- EGADE Business School
- Fairfield University
- Federation University
- Fordham University
- Georgia State University
- Hawaii Pacific University
- Jacksonville State University
- Northwestern University
- Oklahoma State University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- University at Buffalo
- Texas A&M University
- The University of Texas at Dallas
- University of Connecticut
- University of Illinois
- University of Ljubljana
- University of Maryland
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
- University of Ottawa
- University of West Florida
- University of Colorado
- Virginia Commonwealth University
- Benedictine University
- Western Kentucky University
- Category: Rising Stars
(Left to Right: Dmitry Shorikov, Yufei (Ethan) Zhang, Rabbi Kazi, Alejandro Fiszman)
The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition hosted by the CFA Institute that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. The competition starts with local rounds in October, followed by a regional round in April, and ends with a global final in one of the global financial centers. Students work in teams to research and analyze a publicly traded company - sometimes even meeting face-to-face with company executives and conducting conference calls.
In the local first round hosted by CFA Society Toronto, the Telfer School of Management team competed with eleven undergraduate teams from other Canadian universities such as Queen’s, the University of Toronto and Western University. Teams were tasked with the creation of an equity research report on Canadian Tire Corporation’s class A shares and providing a buy/sell/hold recommendation on the shares based on their analysis. Following evaluation and feedback from industry experts and investment professionals, the top four teams would enter the local final to present and defend their recommendations.
Ethan Zhang, Portfolio Manager of the student managed Telfer Capital Fund (TCF), is leading the Telfer Team with Rabbi Kazi (Portfolio Manager, TCF), Alejandro Fiszman (Analyst, TCF) and Dmitry Shorikov (Analyst, TCF). As a part of the challenge, Aaron Sapelak was the designated mentor for the team and Pouya Safi, Finance Lab Manager, the faculty advisor. During a two-month research period from October to December, the team dedicated upwards of a hundred hours to produce a top quality 30-page equity research report and its complementing financial models.
Only in its first participation in the competition, the Telfer team has been selected to be one of the top four finalists qualified to the local final. The team is scheduled to present their investment recommendation on February 25, 2016 in Toronto to a panel of judges. Only one of the four teams will be selected to advance to the Americas regional round on April 13, 2016, taking place in Chicago. Finally, winners from regional rounds will advance to the Global Finals on April 14, 2016, where one team from each region (Asia Pacific; Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA); Americas) will compete to become the 2016 CFA Institute Research Challenge Champion.
For more information about the CFA Institute Research Challenge, please visit: https://www.cfainstitute.org/community/challenge/Pages/index.aspx
- Category: Latest News
The Telfer School of Management sent two students to the Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección de Empresa (IPADE) case competitions held in Mexico City on February 5-6, 2016. Sponsored by Deloitte and Novartis, this competition is unlike any other. Students from a number of universities around the world are invited and placed onto teams. MBA students Mark Stuckless and Tavis Weigand were the Telfer representatives.
According to Mark Stuckless (second from the right), a member of this year’s winning team: “It was a wonderful experience in Mexico City. The campus was beautiful, the students were friendly and the sun was shining! Working with such a diverse group proved challenging, but interesting. Learning about different school's approaches to solving problems really opened my eyes and widened my perspective. Winning topped off an incredible couple of days and I am grateful for this opportunity to have come my way.”
It’s the second year in a row that our MBA students have done well in this international competition. Last year, MBA students Germain Aoun and Scott Bridgeman also took first place honours.
- Category: Rising Stars
Article written by team member Brandon Larochelle, BCom Finance
January 14, 2016 marked the first time Telfer School of Management had been invited to the annual CFA Ethics Challenge held in Toronto. As a newcomer, there were obvious expectations set on us, as a school, to do well and to showcase the strengths and skills that can be gathered through our four-year undergraduate Finance program.
The third event of its kind was hosted by Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and the participants, albeit small in numbers (four in total), were very high in quality and consisted mostly of graduate students. The participating schools were:
- Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto)
- Schulich School of Business (York University)
- Smith School of Business (Queen’s University)
- Telfer School of Management (University of Ottawa)
The Competition
The CFA Ethics Challenge spanned from mid-October until mid-January. The purpose of the challenge was to read and identify underlying ethical problems in the provided case, as well as provide viable solutions to solve the issues moving forward for all parties involved with guidance from a Faculty Advisor (Pouya Safi). On January 14, 2016, all teams were required to present their findings in front of a panel of four judges, in addition to an audience filled with colleagues of CFA members, event organizers, and even friends and family of other teams. In the end, the three-month process dwindled down to a two and a half hour event filled with four ten-minute presentations and ten-minute question periods.
The Environment
As Telfer had been granted the honour of first presenting group, the reality of competition sunk in. There was also an additional intimidation factor that we, as a group, had not taken into account. Where all of the students from our team were fourth year undergraduates, every other team had been composed of Masters’ students who had already made their way into the financial markets. However, we did not let change our confidence going in.
After our presentation and question period was over, we had the luxury of sitting in to watch the remainder of the event. After listening to the next three presentations, we remained confident in our team’s chances to win based on the feedback we had gotten during the competition compared to the three other teams. We felt that as a group, we adequately demonstrated Telfer School of Management’s ability to cultivate outside the box thinking in its students, and it seemed to impress!
When the results were finally announced at the networking event that had taken place after the presentation period, we took the loss with pride fully knowing that we had just marginally been beaten out by Rotman School of Management. Judges and audience members alike came to congratulate us on our content, presentation skills, and team unity. I could not be more proud of my group, and to be a part of Telfer School of Management.
Photo caption - Left to Right: Eric Goneau, Jeanne St-Louis, Riccardo Najem, Brandon Larochelle
- Category: Rising Stars
The 10th edition of Omnium financier took place from January 29 to January 31, 2016 at Université Laval in Quebec City. The Telfer School of Management sent a delegation of 30 BCom students to compete in eight different cases in finance and accounting. The competition is the biggest of its kind in Canada and welcomes over 350 students and volunteers from eleven Canadian universities.
This year our students took home the first place in the Managerial Accounting Case. Congratulations to Sonia Alb, Patrick Tumbas, Jianyi Li (Coach: Marc Tassé)
The Omnium financier Telfer executives wish to extend a thank you to the entire delegation (Financial Accounting - Joshua Ayer, Kristjan Luik, Maxim Goldenberg; Managerial Accounting - Sonia Alb, Patrick Tumbas, Jianyi Li; Taxation - Mélissa Iskandar, Caroline Dupéré Tremblay, Julie Séguin; Personal Finance - Elliott Foley, Patrick Kaminski, Frank Lixin Lu; Market Finance - Andy Chen Yu, Dmitry Shorikov, Zach Zhang; Corporate Finance - Steven Benoît Ménard, Margaret Omodu, Felipe Izquierdo; Financial News Quiz - Alexandre Blais, Jiazhe Li, Claudtzlie Desormes; Stock Simulation - Robert Millan, Philip Niwinski, Cameron Hayes, Andrew Nzomo; Volunteers - Anne Armstrong, Mathilda Murray, Serge Kuiya Lajoie) for their devotion in the various pre-competition practices and their continuous motivation. The executive team also wants to thank the godfather of the delegation, Samuel Soucy, for his support throughout the entire weekend and the coordinator, Kim Angèle Vallières, for her hard work throughout the school year towards making this project happen. The committee finally wants to thank the coaches on behalf of all teams for their great help.
A special thank you is extended to the organizational committee of this event who has done incredible work towards the organization of this competition and who demonstrated great professionalism throughout their mandate.
- 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
This winter, the University of Ottawa's Co-operative Education Programs achieved the milestone of placing its 40,000th student.
After dropping a few hints on social media, the details of the 40,000th placement were unveiled in a ceremony at Deloitte's office in downtown Ottawa. To mark the occasion, a plaque was awarded to Robyn Smith, an accounting student at the Telfer School of Management, and Erica Newman, a recruitment specialist with Deloitte.
"I'm proud to work at Deloitte and surprised to be the 40,000th placement. If I had any advice to give to students, it would be to get involved early in their time at university. Not just to stand out from others, but to create opportunities and gain the confidence they need to approach leaders like Deloitte."
“For the CO-OP program, the 40,000th placement is a significant accomplishment. However, behind this large number are 39,999 other experiences that are just as significant,” says Gaby St-Pierre, director of CO-OP and the Career Development Centre at the University of Ottawa.
“Thanks to CO-OP, students eager to learn both theory and practice have had impressive careers all around the world. Since the program began in 1980, hundreds of employers acting as mentors have dedicated over 20 million hours to train the next generation and pass on their knowledge,” adds St-Pierre.
In short, CO-OP is partnership between the University, students and employers. It’s a real example of intergenerational communication and assistance, of knowledge management and transfer. Most of all, it’s about over 40,000 experiences that have made a difference.
Did you know?
Deloitte has partnered with the University of Ottawa for more than 30 years.
It has offered nearly 200 CO-OP placements over the past 15 years.
It has hired 10% of accounting students for winter 2016.
It offers CO-OP placements and jobs for new graduates of various programs in many Canadian cities.
The University of Ottawa CO-OP summer placement process has begun. Over 1700 of our brightest students are ready to contribute to the success of your team. Click here for more information.
This article was originally published in the uOttawa Gazette.
- Category: Latest News
This year’s MBA Games were held from January 2 to 4, 2016 in Toronto. Fifteen of Telfer’s finest MBA and MHA students travelled to York University to participate in academic case competitions focused around finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, and strategy. They also participated in sports, cultural and spirit activities, displaying excellence in teamwork, leadership, and engagement in every division.
The Marketing Team landed first place in the competition. Members of the team are: John Lachapelle, Ihor Bryden, Sarah Lag and Julio Chiong.
"Being part of the MBA Games was a unique experience that none of us will ever forget,” comments the Marketing Team. “It was an honour representing Telfer and going head to head against some remarkably talented people. Bringing the trophy back home with us was the icing on the cake!"
Other achievements at this year’s Games:
- The Spirit Team (Mariam Iqbal, Abeer Sami, Michelle Navarro) won one of the spirit events, in which they had to build a maze out of cardboard boxes with the theme of Outer Space for kids from the Ronald McDonald House Charity.
- The Dodgeball Team (Ella Cooper, Lianne Davies, Uyen Ta, John Lachapelle, Ihor Brydun) made it to the quarter finals.
“The MBA games is an annual competition of some 500 MBA students from across the country,” says Greg Richards, Director of the MBA program at the Telfer School. “I'm incredibly proud of the MBAs and MHAs who participated this year. We were a small team but made up in spirit what we lacked in size. Congratulations to all students who participated and to the marketing team for a great performance.”
Meet some of the members of this year’s delegation:
Mariam Iqbal was Telfer’s team captain for the MBA Games, which is her main task as one of the MBA Coordinators on the MBA Student Association (MBASA). She says she decided to participate in the sport section of the MBA Games because to her, it represented a great opportunity to meet and network with students from other universities. “It also allows us to display the skills we have learned, representing Telfer,” she says. Mariam says she chose to study at the Telfer School of Management because: “the faculty comprises of experts and well versed professors and mentors, allowing for maximum growth of [her] network and learning beyond classrooms.”
Julio Cam is also one of the MBA Coordinators on the MBASA. He wanted to take part of the MBA Games because he likes to take advantage of every opportunity he gets during his MBA experience to meet new people, to learn new skills and to have fun. Julio says his most memorable experience at Telfer so far has been taking a Marketing class with Professor Michael Mulvey as he says that his classes were not only interesting, but that he always tried to bridge the gap between theory and practice by giving students real life examples.
Uyen Phuong Ta joined the MBA Games to represent her team and school but most importantly, she says that she wanted “to make new connections, think critically and start the new year with a BANG!” Uyen’s five year goal is to work in the healthcare industry as an administrator and making a difference to Canadians by improving the system delivery.
This year is Michelle Navarro’s second year competing in the MBA Games. She says she signed up again, in the Strategy Case Competition, because she had so much fun competing last year. Michelle says that what matters to her is being able to conduct business in an ethical way, and in a way that benefits all stakeholders and employees: “Telfer has managed to show me that you can have a successful business or segment of the public service and maintain moral and ethical integrity at the same time!”
Hala Migahed took part of the MBA Games because she wanted to learn from and share ideas with other students across Canada with similar aspirations. She chose to do her MBA at Telfer because it is offered in French, because teachers have the practical and theoretical knowledge, and the schedule allows her to maintain her full time job. What matters most to Hala is learning from experience to improve herself on a personal and professional level. She says: “The school has helped me learn not just from a book but from real people with real stories and priceless experience.”
Congratulations to whole team for their determination and valiant efforts throughout the MBA Games!
- Category: Latest News
The JDC Central (JDCC) competition took place January 8-10, 2016, in Toronto, Ontario, hosted by the Canadian Association of Business Students. The JDCC competition is one of Canada’s largest business school competitions that brings together 700 delegates from 14 universities across Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes to compete in academic, sporting and social events.
Congratulations to students for winning the following:
Team Awards
- 3rd place overall, School of the Year
1st place trophy:
- Entrepreneurship (Alamin Mollick, Elliott Foley and Osman Wais)
Coach: Sara Valentino
3rd place trophies:
- Accounting Case (Jenna Curran, Regina Melnyk, Sui Qu)
Coaches: Sheldon Weatherstone, Sylvain Durocher, Nadia Daskalova - Sports – Futsal (Victor Delage, Philip Kijek, Sunny Khorugdharry, Jeff Davies, Maurizio Ferme, Selena Saikley, Madison Cunha and Samantha Mikhael)
Coach: Justin Sweeney
- Category: Latest News
The 28th edition of the Jeux du commerce took place January 8 to 10, 2016, at the University Laval in Québec City, Québec. The Jeux du commerce competition is an interuniversity event that brings together over 1,000 delegates from 13 Eastern Canadian universities to compete in academic, sporting and social events. This year, our students placed 3rd overall and took home the following trophies:
Team Awards
- 3rd place Overall Standing
- Recognition Award – Diane Mugeni
2nd place trophies:
- Strategy (Jaclyn Tokarewicz, Drew Morash, Jesse Dunn)
Coach: Alan O’Sullivan
- Sport – BroomBall (Andre Caissie, Adnan Shaikh, Austin St.Pierre, Cassandra Perrier, Claudine Soucie, Jean-Manuel Turcotte, Joel St-Denis, Mike Shaheen, Myreille Chouinard)
Coaches: Max Hébert and Cameron Harvey
- Sport - DBL Ball (Jordano Gonzalez, Alexander Hannoun, Fadi Azzi, Max Frost, Michèle Marchand, Mathieu Brunet, Sophie Nadeau, Qusai Saleh, Mira Azzi and Lucas Ghosn)
Coaches: Carl Lafleur and Michel Bédard
3rd place trophies:
- Debate (Sonia Alb, Roy Atallah, Joshua Ayer, Sarah Morin)
Coach: Matt Archibald and Jed Cross
- Recruit Case (Vicky Wang)
- Social Team (Dominic Piscopo, Natasha Heinz, Channing Junor, Marie Beaupré-Olsen)
- Category: Telfer Announcements
The University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management has received EQUIS re-accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). The Telfer School remains one of only two business school in Canada to achieve the triple crown of business school accreditations. There are only 73 schools worldwide, as of September 2015, that have obtained this prestigious recognition.
The Telfer School of Management was initially awarded the accreditation in November 2009 and it was renewed in December 2015 for a period of 5 years.
“As Dean of the Telfer School of Management, I am delighted and proud that our School has been conferred the EQUIS accreditation label for a further period of five years. This is a remarkable achievement which confirms that our triple-accredited School meets the highest international standards of excellence,” said François Julien, Dean of the Telfer School. “I am grateful to EFMD for the advice and guidance they have provided since we were first accredited in 2009 and which allowed us to develop and improve.”
“We owe this success to the outstanding work of our professors, the dedication of our academic leaders and administrative personnel as well as the quality of our students and the commitment of our alumni and members of the community at large who have supported the School on its path towards continuous improvement and excellence,” he adds. “Congratulations and thank you to all for this accomplishment!”
EQUIS is the leading international system of quality assessment, improvement and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration. EQUIS is managed and run by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and its fundamental objective, linked to the mission of the EFMD, is to raise the standard of management education worldwide.
Institutions that are accredited by EQUIS must demonstrate not only high general quality in all dimensions of their activities, but also a high degree of internationalisation. With companies recruiting worldwide, with students choosing to get their education outside their home countries, and with Schools building alliances across borders and continents, there is a rapidly growing need for them to be able to identify those institutions in other countries that deliver high quality education in international management.
- Category: Rising Stars
A total of 87 students divided in groups were responsible for analyzing a case involving a real-life local or Canadian company and report on accounting issues being faced by the subject company. The best teams had to present in a live case competition that took place on December 9th, 2015. The winners received the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA) Case Competition prize for Case Studies in Accounting.
We would like to congratulate the winners:
First Place:
- Yassine Benidir
- Caroline Carrière
- Jesse Dunn
- Brandon Graham
- Brenda Lim
- Alexandre Sauvé
Second Place:
- Angela Clark
- Jenna Curran
- Nikola Karajovic
- Alison Lantos
- Taylor Anastasia Murray
Thank you to CPA Ontario for sponsoring the event and to our judges: Valerie Carey, Matthew Prime and Stefka Zaharieva.
- Category: Rising Stars
All students in ADM4350 (Equity Valuation) and ADM4750 (Évaluation d’entreprises) took part in a case competition where they had to estimate the value of a real-life company and propose a course of action that the company should take to solve its problems. This term, the mandate was to analyse the valuation of Hydro One.
We would like to congratulate:
First place winners:
- Zachary Baldelli
- Wei Gao
Second place prize:
- Connor Flack
- Brandon Larochelle
Third place prize:
- Rose-Lornah D’Or
- Charmarke Omar Omar
- Sara Saddiki
Best poster Award:
- Xinglin Li
- Chuqiao Liu
We would like to thank all judges: Kash Pashootan, Homam Alattar, Danika Chilibeck, George André Skaff and Miguel Jutras and Mike Reynolds.
- Category: Latest News
Startup Weekend is a non-profit organization headquartered in Seattle, Washington that brings people together for weekend-long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.
Now in its 2nd edition, Startup Weekend will be held at uOttawa in February 2016 and is geared for current uOttawa students and recent graduates. The objective is to connect students across all faculties to encourage and promote entrepreneurship regardless of discipline of study. We look forward to seeing the different types of innovative ideas that can come to life when students branch out and connect with those around them with different skill sets and areas of expertise.
The event will be held February 26-28, 2016.
Details and registration information to follow
Please contact Stephen Daze,
A can’t miss event for students interested in entrepreneurship
“Startup Weekends are an international phenomenon being held in the most innovative cities around the world” said Stephen Daze, the Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence at the Telfer School of Management. “The Telfer School and the University of Ottawa are bringing this event on campus to provide our students an opportunity to learn, network, start a business, meet potential co-founders and much more.”
Entrepreneurs, innovators, makers and those curious about starting a new venture that attend this event will benefit from 54 hours of fast-paced start-up experience working with a team of like-minded students, mentored by seasoned veterans from the local start up community.
“Nowhere else can you experience entrepreneurship/start-up in a more concentrated and curated format” said Stephen Daze. “This venue brings together business students, coders and designers, and provides training and mentoring in a cool atmosphere targeted at creating start-ups.”
The Telfer School’s commitment to Entrepreneurship
We are committed to helping students succeed. For many, success will be starting a new venture or contributing to one as co-founder or team member. We provide the tools and resources you’ll need to learn, network and build your innovation and entrepreneurship skills. In addition to hosting Startup Weekend uOttawa, here are some of the other initiatives that are available:
Entrepreneurship Bridges Speaker Series – Co-hosted with the Faculty of Engineering, this 5-part annual speaker series is targeted at students looking to or considering entrepreneurship. The speaker series features local young entrepreneurs who tell their start-up stories and act as a source of inspiration, education and mentoring. The series is also the home for other entrepreneurship-related announcements and competitions such as the final pitches in the Entrepreneurs' Club Elevator Pitch Contest. The series averages 150 students per session and includes the formal talk or panel, as well as networking and refreshments.
Entrepreneurship Foundry Course - The Entrepreneurship Foundry is a new Telfer-led initiative that brings together collaborators from across campus to build, manage and deliver a semester-long, for-credit course that sees participants apply for entry in order to start a venture over 13 weeks. Working in multi-disciplinary teams, students will learn from experts in lecture and workshop environments and complete evaluated work leading to the start of their new venture. It is anticipated that the course will see 25 students in the first session scheduled for Fall 2015.
Telfer Business Traction Competition – Now in its second year, this business competition is a new take on traditional business plan competitions. It's open to full-time undergraduate students at the Telfer School of Management and/or teams comprised of at least 50% Telfer students. It is not about ideas and proposed business plans, it’s about traction. Contestants will demonstrate the achievement of real milestones towards starting, or validating their business ideas as well as realistic goals moving forward. Applicants can be at any stage of their business idea but must be able to demonstrate real milestones completed and future goals. External judges will determine the winner based on actual work to date and planned milestones. $10,000 in prize money is available to be won.
- Category: Latest News
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, and for MBA students.
From November 11 – 15, 2015, 39 BCom teams and 9 MBA teams participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the members of the winning BCom team
- Brandon Brown
- Euan Smith
- Kelsie Throop
- Andrea Howland
- Filipus Tjong
Congratulations to the members of the winning MBA team
- Alexandre Beaudoin
- Wendy Hopkins
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the BCom’s 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 blog post was submitted by Linda Mouhamou, BCom student.
Leave everything you know about conferences at the door, including a dress code, because when it comes to C2 Montreal’s international conference you can certainly expect them to defy the conventional. Imagined by the Sid Lee creative agency and founding Partner Cirque du Soleil, C2 brings a sensational avant-garde approach connecting intellect with immersive experiences through the dynamic interaction of commerce and creativity.
From May 26 to 28, I was able to represent the Telfer School of Management as one of 100 student delegates from across Canada at this prestigious event. My stimulating experience commenced as I was greeted by a large artistic display of hanging doors that guided me into the contemporary “Innovation Village”, a completely transformed industrial warehouse. C2 exclusively created a mesmerizing venue to ooh and ahh the crowd of ambitious visitors. There were clothing boutiques, exhibits fusing art and technology, activities, scrumptious and artsy food displays, creative seating arrangements, and of course, the always impressive C2 Labs. The labs were out-of-the-box workshops that used virtual reality, a gigantic nest, a fog-filled igloo, and chairs suspended over an 5 meter high net. But it didn’t end there. Making my way outdoors, the circus-like decorum, complete with a Ferris wheel and ship container booths for VIP sponsors instantly made you feel like a big kid. This made it the perfect location for the evening social networking, performances, and the massive final celebration.
All the activities, including over 37 keynote speakers and 30 workshops, were devised around this year’s central theme: choices. Each day conversations took place around food, health, and energy by examining how innovation, social entrepreneurship, investment and technology are shaping our future as a society. The key takeaway of the conference seemed to be the importance of instrumenting projects by building eclectic teams, from strategists to musicians, creatively driving change.
On day one, it quickly became evident that despite setting the bar very high, this year’s C2 had missed the mark in terms of instilling inspiration and delivering valuable content. Nevertheless, being surrounded by 5,000 executive attendees representing 42 countries was enough to give me an adrenaline rush. I wanted to meet everyone! Thus, the biggest lesson that I learned was how rewarding it can be to adapt and turn unfavorable situations into even bigger opportunities. ‘What matters’ to me, as the new Telfer brand goes, is personal development and expanding my network. So, I quickly turned my disappointment around in time for day two by re-strategizing and re-focusing my energy on drawing inspiration and content from dating – ‘brain-dating’ that is. ‘Brain-dating’, the buzzword of the conference, is like your typical online matchmaking tool designed to connect people together to share their life experiences, with one key difference: it’s done platonically.
Now, I should note that I was attending this conference alone, an intimidating feat even for an outgoing person. But it presented a clear benefit: I would be pushed to approach more people, and I could do so at my preferred pace. First, I did my homework. I spent hours every day searching through the participant profile database to find my ideal matches, get to know more about them, discover where sponsors were located, and which attendees were attending what workshops. The next step was reaching out to people I wished to meet. I either requested a ‘brain-date’ on the C2 portal, via social media or I simply approached the keynote speakers at the end of their presentations. Finally, it was time to have fun networking! I had the chance to ‘brain-date’ the CMO of Deloitte Canada in the VIP container, the President of Sid Lee Toronto, the Innovation Leader at PwC, and the Senior Insight/Strategy/Innovation Director at Marriot International.
Although I had the privilege of meeting with these high profiled individuals, I made a point to value each attendee, from students to strategists, equally. Everyone has something to offer, be it as a new friend, business contact, or an opportunity to be exposed to that person’s network. Leaving my resume at home gave me the power to expose my vulnerabilities while paradoxically demonstrating my know-how to these truly fascinating human beings. This resulted in genuine open-minded conversations about career and life paths, and facilitated the exchange of ideas, insight and knowledge.
Post-conference, I find myself with potential business partners for my consulting work, mentors, “ins” in my job pursuit, more ‘brain-dates’ and opportunities waiting to happen. I entered C2 Montreal expecting to have my mind blown with its grandiose approach, but at the end of the day, it was the conversations I shared through networking that evoked the powerful effect. This conference proved to be exceptionally invaluable for ‘what matters to me’. I can’t wait to return next year as a volunteer!
N.B. Presale tickets are on sale for 50% until September 30, 2015. Next year, Martha Stewart and Dr. David Suzuki have already been confirmed as keynotes.
- Category: Latest News
What do Queen’s, Cornell, Princeton, Columbia, Peking and the London School of Economics all have in common? These are just some of the schools who were surpassed by Telfer’s team in the 2015 Rotman International Trading Competition (RITC). Following an intense two days of competition (Feb. 20 – 21), among 50 different teams from across the globe, Telfer’s team emerged 9th. This is all the more impressive considering that the competition was largely made up of graduate-level students in finance and quantitative engineering.
This year’s team consisted of six of our highest-performing finance students: Ian Harten, Cassy Aite, Malanga Mposha, Ethan Zhang, William Tu and Daniel Shannon and coached by Pouya Safi, the Manager of the Financial Research and Learning Lab. The team was formed following their exceptional performance at the Telfer Trading Competition in October. Since then, the team had been meeting regularly to devise their strategies and practice on the RIT software. Anyone passing the Financial Research and Learning Lab was likely to have seen these team-mates preparing for the competition. This preparation only became more intense as the competition approached. By the time reading week had started, RITC team members could be found practicing round the clock. Even on the train ride down to Toronto, the team continued to fine-tune its strategies.
RITC is an annual competition that pits teams of finance, economics and mathematics students against one another in six intense competitive events.
First among them was the BP Commodities case. Here team members were assigned roles as traders, producers or refiners. The team had to work together to interpret market signals and trade various petroleum commodities and futures contracts.
The Optiver Options case, in which the team finished 9th, had the team analyze market data to trade different call options on a fictitious exchange-traded fund. Competitors devised a model that collected, interpreted and modeled this data and devised a strategy to successfully trade on this model’s data.
The Sales & Trading case, in which we finished 10th, required participants to take on the role of a trader and make rapid evaluations of liquidity risk. Throughout the case, the traders had to assess the value and risk level of dozens of tender offers and execute trades on the positions gained through these tender offers. Success was determined by the team’s ability to manage its market exposure while exploiting market-making opportunities.
The S&P Capital IQ Equity Valuation case consisted of building a discounted cash flow model for four companies. As news items were released during the competition, updates had to be incorporated in to the model. As these new data emerged, players traded all four stocks to exploit possible market mispricing.
The Algorithmic Trading cash, in which the team finished 9th , focused on the development of a trading algorithm that would analyze market data and trade on that data, all while avoiding market penalties. Requiring a tremendous amount of preparation, this case was carried out by a single team member, Ethan Zhang, sequestered in a closed room.
The most colourful competition was definitely the Quantitative Outcry Case, in which Telfer placed 2nd. This involved two team members acting as market analysts and incorporating market data in to a model of four countries’ GDP in order to price a market index. This estimate was then transmitted via silent hand signals to two other team-members working in an open-outcry trading pit. These players, dressed in bright costumes to make themselves more visible to the analysts, bought and sold based on the analysts’ instructions.
This was only the second time for Telfer to participate at the competition, and they saw a huge improvement from last years’ 40th place finish. The practice, hard work and dedication played an instrumental role. Those on the team that are not graduating are already thinking about next year’s competition. However, no one is guaranteed a returning spot, they must all earn their spot next year. The bar is set high for a top 5 finish in 2016. A special thanks also goes to the Telfer Marketing Department, SFUO and Career Centre for their help in funding the expenses of attending the competition.
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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