Telfer BCom students know a big project is coming when they enroll for their fourth-year capstone course, Strategic Management (ADM 4311). The course includes an online strategy simulation that counts towards much of their overall grade in this course, the Intopia Strategy Simulation.
This summer from July 10 to 11, fourth-year Telfer BCom students participated in Intopia, which allows them to apply the strategic management concepts that they have learnt in class in a virtual simulated business world. During the simulation, students are required to make quick decisions and negotiate with classmates to grow their business over the weekend, acting as producer, wholesaler, or distributor organizations within the same industry.
Teamwork at its Best
While the competition comes with many challenges, the most positive and memorable aspect is often the collaboration between players: “Spending the weekend working on the competition with friends and colleagues was the most enjoyable part. Collaborating with other teams and fellow students whom we have gotten to know over the past four years was a gratifying culmination of our time at Telfer,” shares Aarun Senathirajah, accounting student and member of the winning team.
When asked about the greatest challenges Intopia had in store this summer, Aarun shared: “Adapting to the ever-changing market dynamics and power changes between producers and wholesalers was a significant challenge we faced throughout the game. Ultimately, by ensuring our strategy was flexible and dynamic, we were able to predict the changes in the market and adapt accordingly. Clear communication and an open environment between all our group members proved to be vital when adapting quickly.”
Congratulations to the overall winning team and Best Integrated Producer: Team 18
MacKenzie Erbach
Philip Kaczmarczyk
Julia Magahey
Aarun Senathirajah
Liam Woodside
Congratulations to the following teams who placed in other notable categories
Telfer’s fourth-year Finance students complete their capstone course, Equity Valuation (ADM 4350), at the culmination of their studies. It is an opportunity for students to take all that they have learned throughout their years of study and apply it to a real-life situation. The students perform a case analysis of a chosen company to estimate the value of the organization and create an action plan to enhance its economic performance.
This semester, another great capstone competition commenced on April 9th, when the Equity Valuation class worked on their live case study to value Clearwater Seafoods Inc., the largest shellfish producer in North America. Based in Bedford, Nova Scotia, the company was recently acquired by Premium Brands Holdings and a coalition of Mi’kmaq First Nations on January 25, 2021.
After an exciting competition, the finalist groups went on to present their work online to a panel of judges to compete for the first-place position of strongest strategy.
Congratulations to the first-place winners:
Griffin Brown
Fawad Hedjran
Harley K. Hubbard
Melissa Reyes Chinchilla
The winning team’s experience
We spoke to the first-place team and judges panel to learn more about this semester’s competition. Hubbard shared his highlights from the experience: "Our favourite part was hearing from the panel of nine distinguished judges. Ken Paul, the Director of Fisheries with the Assembly of First Nations, was very enlightening, and Alexander Comeau, of Fiera Capital, was also very knowledgeable. Overall, it was a great experience made possible by the tutelage of Professor Michael Reynolds."
When asked about their team’s greatest challenges, workload is the first thing that came to Hubbard’s mind: "Our greatest challenge was the time commitment and workload required; each of us balanced the competition with a full course load, extracurriculars, and internships. By leveraging each other’s strengths and working as a team, we succeeded,” he concluded.
Furthermore, Ken Paul provided enlightening comments from the indigenous perspective. He indicated that the Clearwater valuation, mergers and acquisition (M&A) provided students the opportunity to reflect on important indigenous ethical considerations: "One of the biggest differences between Indigenous fishers and non-Indigenous fishers, is that in our Canadian society, we always think about maximizing economic gain," Paul shared. "In the indigenous world, a critical consideration is the need to leave some of the resource for future generations. Concepts such as corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability really mean something and are embedded in the value system of First Nations peoples."
Paul emphasized: “we had had to ensure the First Nations communities approached this M&A on a commercial base, which will benefit the communities economically.” He stressed that the Clearwater acquisition was commercial and did not involve treaty issues, such as the Indigenous maritime lobster fisheries issue that was in national news during the fall of 2020.
Congratulations again to the winning team for their work and excellent presentation!
On April 6th, the Telfer School of Management hosted its annual Michel Cloutier Competition, a live case competition where fourth-year marketing students are required to present a marketing plan which aims to solve a real-life business issue for an existing company. This year's organization for the case was Canada Post.
Students were asked to build an integrated marketing plan to generate awareness, drive interest, build long-term relationship with identified target consumer segments through repeat purchases of Canada Post’s new simple loan product. Finalists presented their recommendations in front of a panel of 6 judges of industry professionals.
Congratulations to this year’s winning team:
James Cormier
Estevao Costa
Ryan Coughlan
Jackson Hines
Paula Jaramillo Palacio
Maclain Van Eindhoven
Team member, Estevao Costa, reflected on his greatest challenge throughout the project as well as how important it was for his team to get organized: “I believe our greatest challenge was finding the right pieces of information to focus on and develop our ideas when there was so much available data and information to explore. And we knew this would be key, since having the right information would form the basis of everything moving forward. In fact, this was so challenging for us that our marketing research project for the competition was the longest out of all teams - but luckily, it was ranked the best too!”
Estevao attributes his team’s success to great team chemistry and equal ambition from each of its members. This allowed them to foster a strong, creative space, enabling them to come up with new and cohesive ideas: ̎For me, the best part of the competition was the brainstorming sessions my team and I had when we were working on the final presentation for Canada Post.” He continued: “We were a great team that worked well together. The results we achieved are 100% due to quality teamwork, where everyone got along, and knew what they had to do for the team to succeed – everyone was willing to do what was necessary, without feeling pressured by each other. I think that was my favourite part about this competition - it’s rare to have groups work so well together, and it’s not until you’re in a group like this that you see the difference that it makes," he concluded.
Congratulations to all fourth-year marketing students who completed their marketing capstone this semester.
From March 19 to 21, fouth-year Telfer BCom students participated in the Intopia Strategy Simulation, as part of their fourth year capstone Strategic Management class (ADM 4311). Students had to apply strategic management concepts in an online-simulated world, where they are required to make quick decisions in a determined period and negotiate with their peers to grow their simulated business over the weekend.
This winter, the competition was held in an online setting for the second time. When asked about the greatest challenges Intopia had in store this semester, Hanae Merdas, member of the winning team, shared: “I would say selling our inventory to the fullest [was the biggest challenge]. As we were moving forward in the game, some teams had financial difficulties in respecting contracts. However, we decided to add a clause in our contracts to respond to such situation in order to protect ourselves as Producer X and make sure the inventory was being delivered to each team.” Overall, Hanae’s experience wasn’t affected by the online environment: “Even though it was online, I had such an amazing time meeting new people and especially working within my team,” she concluded.
As a matter of fact, while the simulation was held virtually, this did not take away from the collaborative aspect of Intopia. “My favourite part was to collaborate and negotiate with the other teams and try to see what their strategy was,” said Jade Ladouceur, another member of the winning team. She continued, “I really enjoyed interacting with the others and making contracts with them! We were really all working together to try to be successful as much as possible, and at the end, a lot of people from our partnership took the time to congratulate me and my team which I really appreciated! I think this shows how we were all rooting for each other.”
Congratulations to the overall winning team and Best Component Producer:
Hugo With
Hanae Merdas
Jade Ladouceur
Katerine Delev
Martin Arnold
Congratulations to the following teams who placed in other notable categories:
From November 13th to 15th, our fourth-year BCom students participated in the Intopia Strategy Simulation, as part of their fourth-year Strategic Management class (ADM 4311). Students had to apply strategic management concepts in an online-simulated world, where they are required to make quick decisions in a determined period and negotiate with their peers in order to grow their business over the weekend.
This fall, the competition was held strictly in an online setting, which certainly came with some challenges. "My greatest challenge during the competition was having to do everything virtually. Instead of chatting face-to-face, you’re monitoring your inbox and trying to type back to people as quickly as possible. But, by the end of the weekend, you get into the groove of things, you feel more confident in your process, and it gets easier," shared Madison Woo, a member of the winning team.
A Final Challenge
The team was also challenged when the game administrator changed the market dynamics, forcing them to change, in just two days, a strategy that had taken 3 months to develop. "The challenge was to make all the correct changes proactively before it was too late. To accomplish this, we analyzed the strategic implications early on, determined how our models and strategies needed to pivot, and swiftly executed our action plan," said Howard Feng, another member of the winning team.
Congratulations to the overall winning team and Best Service Provider: Emily de Witte, Howard Feng, Nic Renaud, Rebecca Stiletto and Madison Woo.
Since 2010, Project F.L.Y. (Future Leaders in Youth) has been run by Enactus uOttawa as a leadership program with the dedicated mission to empower youth. These university students strive to teach youth some of life’s most important skills through engaging workshops that will benefit them with the opportunity to grow personally and professionally.
Last week, Project F.L.Y. was mentioned in an article posted by The Star in Toronto, which highlighted the team’s ability to help students navigate through mental wellness: a topic that is becoming increasingly important especially with the COVID-19 restrictions put in place.
With the help of Jack.org, ambassadors of Project F.L.Y. have created a mental health curriculum across local schools, community groups, and rural communities in order to educate youth of all ages about mental wellness, while also increasing their ability to seek for help and support when needed. Content topics within the elementary curriculum includes positive self-talk, care activities, and mindfulness instruction.
Enactus uOttawa has grown tremendously over the past year, collaborating with 8 new partners, and attracting 500 attendees to their workshops.
Learn more about the various initiatives prepared under Project F.L.Y. shared in the Star.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the globe during the past few months, the stock market plummeted to new lows creating havoc for investors and financial planners. During this unprecedented time, a team of students at Telfer School competed against 37 teams from 20 different universities and colleges on an international stage in an investment competition.
Sponsored by The Vanguard Group, an investment management company based in the state of Pennsylvania, and hosted by Temple University’s Fox School of Business, the annual Vanguard Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) Challenge requires teams of four students to manage a portfolio of $1 million for three months. They analysed ETF from both a fundamental and technical point of view, evaluated risks, performed an economic analysis using micro and macro trends, and finally set up a strategy about a new ETF at Vanguard. The top 15 finalists were chosen based upon the overall performance of their portfolio. Given the exceptional circumstances this year, each team had to present its investment strategy online before a combined panel of Vanguard and Temple representatives, who selected the top two teams, one for each division (undergraduate and graduate).
Four students represented the University of Ottawa at the competition, including three Telfer students: Anh Nguyen Nguyen (Finance), Abdul Shunbuli (Finance), Daniel Tian (BCom/JD), and Jad Izgua (Financial Mathematics and Economics). The team won in the undergraduate division.
“There were many uncertain days, as we were afraid that the market would go wild. So we had to pay attention to the market and news everyday,” shared Anh. “A lot of emotions were involved. We sometimes freak out when the market drops, rush selling and we end up buying high, selling low, but there were days of enjoyment as our portfolio gained more than we expected.”
As the market was highly volatile, the uOttawa team sometimes prioritized patience, but it sometimes meant having to take big losses. “We forgot to liquidate one time before the weekend and lost 8% on Monday,” remembered Anh. “Timing the market was extremely difficult. Although we had the correct expectation for the market movement, it sometimes took time for the market to correct itself.”
Overall, Anh and his team enjoyed the three-month competition, and personally grew throughout this competition. “Not only have [we] learned a lot about ETF management and trading strategy, but we have also learned that emotional involvement might destroy a portfolio, and that the news has a huge impact on a stock movement. Good earnings coming out might not make the stock go up if people front-run already based on anticipation,” added Anh.
Congratulations to the 2020 Vanguard ETF Challenge winners and for representing Telfer Nation on an international level!
During their final year of undergraduate studies, the Telfer Bachelor of Commerce students must complete their respective capstone courses. A capstone project is an academic experience where students conduct a live case study on a subject that targets a specific issue. The students in Finance, Accounting, and Marketing participate in these final presentations at the end of their studies. The students must present their conclusions in front of a panel of judges and peers, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year's Capstone projects were not presented in front of a live audience, but they had the opportunity to still showcase their final presentations online to a panel of judges.
Finance Capstone
All Finance students must take the Equity Valuation course in which they will undertake a case analysis to estimate the value of a real-life company and elaborate an action plan to enhance the company’s economic performance.
In the last few weeks, the Finance 4th year students completed their capstone courses. As a team, students conducted a live case study on specific issue related to a real company.
This winter 2020 Capstone Live Case involved valuing NFI Industries, North America's largest bus (transit & coaches) manufacturer. NFI Industries is head quartered in Winnipeg (Manitoba), and has manufacturing facilities throughout North America and Europe.
Both groups delivered outstanding videos which were forwarded to a panelist of three judges. Abul Kane, Telfer's Instructional Designer, was able provide the groups presenting with "best practices" regarding creating videos and submitting the videos to the judges.
The School would like to show its appreciation for all of the work done by Professor Mike Reynolds as the Finance Capstones final presentations would not have been possible without his hard work and flexible accomodation to the current coronavirus situation. Thanks to him, our Finance 4th year students are able to conclude their journey at Telfer with a sense of accomplishment.
Congratulations to the first-place winners of the case competition: Philip Kaczmarczyk and Joy Xu.
"Although it was challenging to work remotely, my group was able to take advantage of the various collaboration platforms available and the Management Library's research tools. The current circumstances made the analysis of the company more complex and dynamic, which challenged my group to reconsider many factors as the situation continuously evolved. Participating in the competition allowed us to apply our learnings from class, while developing many skills along the way" - Joy Xu
Congratulations to the second-place winners: Yacine Amalou, Liam Blevins, Bashir Hussen and Jared Sullivan.
Intopia Strategy Simulation
From March 13 to 15, 4th year students from the Bachelor of Commerce participated in the Intopia Strategy Simulation, as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class (ADM 4311). The aim of the simulation is for students to apply strategic management concepts in an online-simulated world, where they are required to make quick decisions in a determined period and negotiate with their peers in order to grow their business over the weekend.
Congratulations to the following teams for their respective titles:
Team 62, Best Component Producer: Chris Gent, Eshmam Khan, Benjamin Ottenhof, Phoebe Sipa and Sam Sutherland.
Team 7, Best Service Provider: Hamza Benzakour, Badr Ghilani, Mehdi Lahchimi, Annalisa Lemieux Barsetti, Ali Rais and Juliette Libersan
Team 37, Best Finished Goods Producer: Feyisope Adedotun, Tanya Frlan, Eric Methot and Joshua Powers.
Finally, congratulations to the members of the overall winning team and Best Integrated Producer: Liam Blevins, Marina Bossio, Garrett Galvin, Heather Officer and Christoforos Pietrobon.
A passionate and driven leader, Alyssa Bourjolly is a promising third-year BCom student studying in accounting. She was inspired to study at the Telfer School because of its international recognition and faculty expertise, two key elements in providing an excellent education in Alyssa’s opinion.
Alyssa understands the importance of getting involved and how crucial it is to flourish personally and professionally. She has been involved with the School in many ways, from joining the Telfer Accounting Club (TAC) to working as Director of student engagement for the Telfer Student Council (CéTSC).
Most recently, Alyssa was elected President of the CéTSC! She is responsible for the daily operations of the Council and ensures its Executive members are fulfilling their responsibilities. Some of her tasks include serving as the liaison between the Council and the faculty and being the chief spokesperson and official representative of the CéTSC and its 13 clubs.
Alyssa benefits from her involvement, by meeting new people and creating long-lasting relationships that have greatly contributed to her student experience. She urges everyone to do the same “as it allows you to develop great academic, social and professional skills”.
Alyssa has achieved a lot since she started studying at the Telfer School, but her proudest accomplishment is being able to balance her studies, work and volunteer work. She manages to work three part-time jobs and volunteer at the CéTSC, all while maintaining a good GPA as a full-time student!
Her success would not have been possible without the support of her parents who believe in her ability to succeed in any initiative she undertakes and never fail to encourage her hard work.
Five years from now, Alyssa hopes to work in an accounting firm where she will have the opportunity to put into practice the skills she gained from Telfer – and we have no doubt she will find success in this field!
Alida Burke was born and raised in Ottawa, and made the decision to study at the Telfer School of Management to have a positive impact in her community. She recently completed her fourth year of studies, specializing in Accounting. Alida has always been interested in making a positive impact in communities across Canada, which is why she joined Enactus in her first year of studies. Enactus is a student club at Telfer aimed at building social enterprises to tackle social and environmental issues in our community. During her fourth year, she held the Vice-President of Finance position. Through Enactus, Alida met another student who shared the same passion as her for the wellbeing of Canadian communities. Together, they created their own startup called The Growcer.
It all started when Alida decided to do something about the issues regarding food security in the Northern communities of Canada. Her company provides state-of-the-art farming systems that allow people to grow fresh produce with ease all year long. These systems are suitable for virtually any temperature, and do not require any farming experience to operate. What is interesting is the fact that this business lets people grow produce in a sustainable way, while still making profits year-round. You can find one of her farming systems at the University of Ottawa, near the Morisset library. Alida even appeared on the show “The Dragon’s Den” with her business partner to pitch her business, where she astounded everyone with her ability to manage such a revolutionary business while still studying at Telfer.
Not only has Alida been involved in Enactus, she has also been a Telfer Peer Mentor, a Career Centre ambassador and a Teaching Assistant for Financial Accounting! When she is not getting involved in her community, you can find Alida hiking in Gatineau Park and finding great local bookshops. Her involvement in the Telfer community has granted her many opportunities, and allowed her to meet likeminded people who have strongly enriched her student experience. Alida encourages everyone to do the same!
Her current work aspirations are to obtain her CPA and to work in a field she is passionate about, which is currently at The Growcer. Her impressive accomplishments lead us to believe she will undoubtedly find success in any field she chooses to pursue.
We wish Alida luck with her future endeavors!
Connect with Alida Burke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alidaburke/
During their final year of undergraduate studies, the Telfer Bachelor of Commerce students must complete their respective capstone courses. A capstone project is an academic experience where students conduct a live case study on a subject that targets a specific issue. The students must present their conclusions in front of a panel of judges and peers. The students in Finance, Accounting, and Marketing participate in these final presentations at the end of their studies.
Michel Cloutier Marketing Competition
On April 2, the Telfer School of Management hosted the Michel Cloutier Competition, a live case competition where fourth-year marketing students are required to present a marketing plan to solve a real life issue. This winter, the students’ mandate was to present to the Ottawa Senators a marketing plan for the Sens Student Army, aiming to attract more student to the Senators’ games. We were happy to welcome members of the Ottawa Senators Executive team as our esteemed panel of judges.
Congratulations to the winning team: Amy Wakerell, Mariah Thom, Maxime Alarie and Véronique Sabourin.
Finance Capstone
All Finance students must take the Equity Valuation course (ADM 4350) in which they will undertake a case analysis to estimate the value of a real-life company and elaborate an action plan to enhance the company’s economic performance. This semester, students had to work on the children’s entertainment company Spin Master. This year a sum of $1,400 dollars was allocated to the first place winners. The students also had to create posters to explain the company’s financial value.
Congratulations to the winning team of the case competition: Yining Hou, Yufeng Zhang and Bohan Li.
Congratulations to the poster competition winning team: Amaresh Parameswaran, Sagar Kaushal and Ashok Baldeo.
Accounting Capstone
This winter, accounting students enrolled in the ADM 4340 course were tasked to analyze a company and report on accounting issues. This year, the case study was about the Valeant Pharmaceutical case (now known as Bausch Health). The winning team has received a sum of $2,000.
Congratulations to the winning team: Natalija Karajovic, Matthew Kreuk, Peter Li, Garrett Reed and Kyle Weedmark.
I am a third-year student currently in my first coop term at the Costco Canada Head Office. I come from Montreal (Sec 5). I started university at 17 years old. From my first week at school, I was able to get a job as a student ambassador. It contributed immensely to my professional development. In second year, I had the pleasure of joining Telfer Finance as Marketing Director, which gave me the opportunity to widen my social media knowledge from a new perspective. Thanks to my maturity and my skills in management, I was promoted to supervisor on the student ambassador team even though I am the youngest member of the team.
At Costco, after a week of work, I am already trusted to plan very large orders and I am able to write marketing contracts with suppliers, being an inventory control specialist.
I am part of an extremely motivated team of 7 people who trust me in my day-to-day operations. We manage an entire department of the Costco.ca branch, and each day brings a new challenge. I already feel at home after a few days at work and I am considered an important member of the team.
In short, thanks to the School of Management, I was able to quickly launch my professional career.
What are you currently studying at uOttawa’s Telfer School of Management?
I am currently studying in B. Com option in marketing with coop.
Can you tell us about your involvement at the Telfer School?
I have a huge sense of belonging to the Business School (That guy with the Telfer Shoes) and I am involved in all kinds of events. Whether it's case competitions as a participant or coach (mentor) I like to take on new challenges while helping my community (the Telfer school). I was a mentor for Perfect Pitch with Enactus, I participated and won TICC with my team. I taught twice in front of young people as part of “Destination Réussite” on how to start a business. I participated in a promotional video with over 15,000 views on the university's YouTube channel. I was a guide for 101 week.
What do you love the most about the Telfer School and/or uOttawa? (profs, courses, clubs, social network, etc.)
People who know me well know that I like to put on my suits. In Telfer, there are enough networking events relevant to my program so I can wear my suits almost every week. In other words, it's possible to network and get to know a lot of people from different places and fields. I like it to be simple to progress and develop, but it is also only those who make the necessary effort that will get there. In a word, it's a very rewarding school.
Do you have a fun fact about yourself? If so, what is it?
Eight months after I started learning English, I found myself in front of a group of 50 English-speaking people on a 1h30 campus tour. Evidence that the university gives us the chance to get out of his comfort zone...
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time in Ottawa?
Coming from Montreal, I knew absolutely nothing about Ottawa. My pleasure recently is to discover what the city offers restaurant wise. I'm always available for a coffee in one of the many local coffee shops for a little networking session!
Whom or what inspires you the most?
A great source of inspiration for me is the students who rub shoulders with me. I realize that we are many to work hard to succeed and to break into the realm of our dreams. With that in mind I think that I am able to go ahead, and I am motivated to give everything to stand out. But this motivation comes from my surroundings. Whether it's my parents who encourage me at every step of the way, my friends and co-workers on campus inspire me a lot.
What are your career aspirations?
I would love to work in the marketing field for a company that trusts me to represent it externally. I like talking with people and I like to present / sell my ideas and beliefs.
If you are a bursary or scholarship recipient, how has the additional financial aid impacted your student experience?
I am the lucky recipient of several awards
Legico-CHP Fleur de Lys
Ethics of the new millennium
Roger Guindon
Admission scholarship
These scholarships allowed me to take a huge amount of stress off my shoulders so that I could focus on my studies and my professional career. They allowed me to pay a large part of my tuition and encouraged and motivated me to continue my studies.
Optional: What would you like to say to donors who give to enhance the Telfer student experience?
A huge thank you. These scholarships are more than just money for students. It's an incredible source of motivation when you realize that a person / organization believes in us and encourages us to continue.
Please join your LinkedIn to this questionnaire. www.linkedin.com/in/tristanlanglais
Name: Marisha Sesto Program (and Option, if applicable): Bachelor of Commerce, Marketing, with Coop Year: 4th Year Fun fact: I have a twin brother… who loves marketing almost as much as I do!
Link to Linkedin profile (optional): www.linkedin.com/in/marishasesto
Why did you choose the Telfer School of Management? Why did you choose your program?
I chose Telfer because it was in the core of the capital city. Coming from London, Ontario, I knew it’d be an exciting change and something that could allow me to experience independence and opportunities that I wouldn’t find in London. I chose my program, Marketing with the Coop option, because I’ve always been a creative at heart, I knew business degrees provided unique opportunities, and the Coop experiences would give me an edge, to differentiate myself from my peers when it came down to knowledge, skills, and relevant work.
Do you participate in any student clubs or associations at Telfer/uOttawa? If so, what motivates you to do so?
I do! Throughout the years, I’ve been involved as a 101 Week Guide, 101 Week Captain, VP Internal for The Entrepreneurs’ Club (TECDE), a sports delegate for JDC for 2 years, and an academic delegate for Happening Marketing. I just finished up my largest position this year as the President (Co) of the Entrepreneurs’ Club (TECDE) with my bestfriend Aveen!
I was motivated to get involved after seeing the high-spirited, like-minded students in the lounge looking like they were having the time of their lives – even if they were just hanging out, studying. This same level of spirit and community or “family” as we called it at TECDE, runs through all club events, teams, and competitions.
I wanted to meet new people, make new connections, and to find a group of friends that I really jived with – inside and outside of school.
Getting involved made my university experience. When I think about my favourite moments and memories, most of them involve one of the clubs I was involved in, or one of the events I attended. The friends I truly believe I will have throughout my life, are people I met through being active in the Telfer community.
What do you love most about the Telfer School and/or uOttawa?
The people and opportunities is what I love most about Telfer.
Being involved, definitely. See question 2!
Also, the opportunities that Telfer provides. I’ve had an amazing experience hands-on learning the real-world skills I need through coop, gaining many valuable connections through networking, the faculty members and advisors, who go out of their way to share advice and provide mentorship, even when it’s not course-related. I could go on…
Which class (or classes) have you taken to date that has left a particular impression with you, and why?
Digital Marketing with Jonathan Simon. We’re in a digital era, and in a marketer’s world, we need to be adaptive to the fast ever-changing environment. Jonathan gave his class a crash course on “everything” digital marketing, giving us the brief on topics and skills we need to know when we graduate. We also worked with him and PageCloud to develop our own personal brands, and build our own website and blog, using what we learn in class. This course, and Jonathan specifically, truly takes the time to set up marketing students for success in that first big interview, or first big work project.
I also loved Personal Leadership and Development with Matt Archibald. It pushed me outside of my comfort zone, I learned a lot about myself that I didn’t know before, and definitely grew as a person in my everyday life and in a professional setting.
Whom or what inspires you the most?
My parents definitely inspire me the most. They worked hard to get to where they are today and are successful in their careers, they are passionate about what they do everyday, and most importantly, they are happy. I look up to them everyday, they’ve set me up on my path to success and happiness, and I can’t thank them enough!
What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?
-*Running the club that won Event of the Year, The Entrepreneurs’ Club’s Business Dinner, that was so successful that the Ottawa Business Journal even wrote about us!
-*Being an ADM2381 Presentations TA. Helping students minimize their fears of public speaking, getting them comfortable in front of an audience, and watching their confidence spike in only a few weeks of teaching made me feel great. I’ve had many students thank me and reach out to me privately about how much it positively impacted them.
-Completing my final coop term with Klipfolio as a Digital Marketing Specialist this summer.
-Getting first place for JDC snow volleyball in Moncton, New Brunswick.
What is your favourite Telfer memory/moment?
I have way too many to narrow it down to only one!
What are you most looking forward to after completing your program?
I’m most looking forward to the continued learning and challenges that lie ahead of me. The marketing world, trends, and tools are constantly changing. I’m excited to see what trend I need to learn about next! I’m looking forward to the freedom in choosing a career opportunity that excites me everyday, that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning! I’d also love to travel and volunteer outside of Canada!
Do you have any advice for students considering Telfer?
Get involved. Do coop. Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone – you’ll learn that much more! Ask questions. Ask for help, advice or mentoring when you need it – from Telfer faculty members, advisors, ambassadors, club executives, that’s what they’re here for! Telfer is filled with amazing people and amazing opportunities. Telfer has something for anyone.
Are you a Telfer scholarship recipient? If so which one and what was the impact.
Yes, I received the Kevin Vollett Entrepreneurial Award/Scholarship. The money went towards my tuition, and the award went towards continuing my drive and passion for entrepreneurship and making a positive impact at Telfer and in the world.
Also – you can follow Telfer’s LinkedIn activities here!
The RBC Training Ground competition recently took place across multiple cities in Ontario in the search for the next Olympic hopefuls. One of the participants, David Ephraim Butumbi, a second year accounting student from Telfer impressed the top coaches and sports officials in the nation with his speed, power, strength and endurance during the competition. He was selected to participate in the RBC Training Ground Ontario finals taking place Saturday, June 2, 2018 at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Complex. Set to compete against the top 100 athletes in Ontario, David has been training full-time for the past five weeks and is aiming for nothing other than to win.
“I didn’t aspire to anything at the beginning but found a competitive drive early on during my training. I’m more than ambitious, being selected in the final wasn’t a coincidence. There’s talent to showcase and it’s not too late for me” explains the 21 year-old athlete.
The amateur athlete manages his Instagram page (@Dev_ephr) and offers tips for developing flexibility and mobility, strength and endurance. This passion was the beginning of David’s journey towards the RBC Training Ground final.
“The ad gave me a challenge and pushed me to see if I can measure up”.
Building on past experiences, such as competing in soccer championships and with support from friends and trainers, David is training with much gusto in the Gee-Gees High Performance Centre and is looking forward to the next step. With recruitment offers from varsity Gee-Gees teams, currently, he is focusing all his efforts on the RBC Training Ground competition. “I haven’t decided anything yet but I think everything will take shape after this weekend. All I can think about now is the final.”
Visit the RBC Training Ground website for more details about the competition.
Aïcha Traoré – Honours Bachelor of Commerce (Finance)
Aïcha Traoré is in the fourth year of her honours BCom (Finance) degree. She worked at Elections Canada, where she was greatly appreciated. Aïcha’s supervisor, Annie de Bellefeuille, describes her as “outstanding in her work and in her ability to deal with both colleagues and clients on major and critical projects.” With a CGPA over 8.5 for three consecutive years, she was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma in April 2017.
As a renowned management school, Telfer prides itself on connecting students to what matters. One of the ways it does this is by outlining strategic goals to inspire continuous improvement and innovation. One of the main goals of the 2017-18 academic year is to encourage and stress the importance of a global mindset in all students. Eric Muellejans, a 2nd year BCom student has benefitted from being recently appointed to the position of Director of International Relations for AIESEC , the world’s largest student run organization that provides volunteer and career opportunities for students abroad in over 126 countries.
In the 2016-17 academic year, Eric served as the President for AIESEC Ottawa; one of many Telfer Clubs at the University. Eric reflected that, “Being President of a Telfer club gave me the skills and confidence I needed to incorporate a global mindset into every work environment. It’s fantastic to be at a school where professors are teaching lessons that are relevant and applicable on many scales. This equips students with the skills to thrive in ever-growing international business situations.” In April, 2017, Eric travelled to Peru to represent AIESEC Ottawa and AIESEC Canada for the Americas Congress which featured young leaders from over 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere. Eric noted, “AIESEC is run by youth, for youth. This enables participants to interact with people of many different nationalities, get new perspectives and hear about their respective ambitions for their home countries. It’s truly an inspiring atmosphere.”
As Director, Eric will be travelling to Colombia, Mexico, and a variety of other countries to negotiate and collaborate with other entities on creating job opportunities for Canadian youth abroad. His, and AIESEC Canada’s, ambition is to deliver over 1100 professional exchange opportunities for Canadians in the next 6 months. Eric stated, “This job is going to be very demanding with travel and meetings, but I am fortunate to be in Telfer where my classmates and Professors can support me in my role”.
If you are interested in going on an AIESEC experience this summer to gain much needed professional skills, you can visit aiesec.ca to learn more and begin applying.
The Women in Management Network (WMN) is a newly founded initiative at the Telfer School of Management that aims to equip women to succeed in their personal and professional endeavors. The three-tiered initiative’s goal is to support females to excel in their careers through mentorship and increase female participation in the management sector; build a positive, supportive, inclusive community; and develop their skills to foster creativity and innovation.
The woman behind WMN is none other than Polly Leung. Polly Leung is a fourth year BCom student in International Management from Markham, Ontario and a recipiemt of the Merit Scholarship of the Telfer School of Management. She has become passionate about making a way for herself and other women alike in professional industries. Polly noted that she’s had many ideas over the years but commitment waned and they didn’t take off. Polly detailed how she envisioned the WMN network as a program where women built each other up in a community atmosphere and where they could celebrate their successes and acknowledge and learn from struggles. “You can have as many good ideas as you’d like, but without the demand, passion, and commitment from yourself and your support network, it won’t happen. This idea stuck and took off.” Polly herself acknowledged that without the support and encouragement from the Telfer School, particularly the Career Centre that the WMN network would not have been possible. Polly also notes that she has had many professors who have taught her to dig deeper, ask the tough questions in and outside the classroom, and to always strive for more.
“Transformational over informational,” is Polly’s mindset behind the WMN network. She aspires to host events that bring people together and allow them to share and learn from one another and create transformational relationships rather than strictly host informational sessions. Polly said that she works to mimic Oprah’s ability to connect with people, and inspire purpose and drive in everyone around her.
For Polly, the future is bright. She strives for a career in an executive level marketing position where she’s able to have a healthy balance between her commitments, her creativity and following her passions, hopefully, she notes, in a big city. But for now, Polly continues to work with an incredible team of people involved in the WMN network, to take inspiring, insightful classes, and on top of it all, she’s just submitted an application to do an international exchange.
WMN is launching a series of events in the upcoming three months, including a finance workshop series, and an entrepreneurship program. To register for an upcoming event: telfer.uOttawa.ca/careercal
From the moment Gabriel Chapman toured the Telfer School he knew it would be a unique place to study. Gabriel mentioned, “Telfer’s diverse opportunities for student involvement, its CO-OP program, and many scholarships were what drew me in. The student guides were genuine and passionate about their experience and I felt a sense of connection and belonging since Day 1.”
The Telfer School is proud to have so many exemplary students like Gabriel who take advantage of the many offered opportunities and make the most of their undergrad. As a fourth year BCom student with a specialization in Management Information Systems & Analytics (MISA) with the CO-OP option, Gabriel has been the recipient of the Chancellor’s Scholarship, the Peter and Ann Koppel Scholarship for Excellence, the StoneShare Scholarship, and the Kevin Vollett Entrepreneurial Award. Gabriel gratefully acknowledged how without these scholarships he would not be able to dedicate the same time and energy to his extracurricular and academics.
Taking the ADM 2302 Business Decision Models course was a turning point in Gabriel’s undergrad as it inspired him to add the specialization in MISA. In this course, Gabriel was introduced to problem solving through algorithms and saw the potential that this could have in real life business scenarios, thus, influencing him to narrow his scope of study.
Continuing to make the most of his undergrad, Gabriel has been incredibly involved in a number or organizations and initiatives. To name a few, Gabriel has been involved with the Telfer Management Competitions de gestion Telfer (TMCGT), the Entrepreneurs’ Clubs (TECDE), and Telfer Student Council (CéTSC). On top of his club involvement, Gabriel has incredible philanthropic drive that has allowed him to fundraise over $25,000 for Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Special Olympics Canada and the Government of Canada’s Workplace Charitable Campaign.
When asked about a fond memory of Telfer, Gabriel reflected on his CO-OP term at BDO Canada LLP where he had the opportunity to fly to PEI in the middle of a snowstorm to work on Renewable Innovation Strategies. During this trip, he mentions, “I got to conduct stakeholder interviews for our economic development projects. It was an amazing experience meeting people from diverse business sectors who were really engaged in the process and would benefit directly from our team’s recommendations.” He emphasized the trips were also a great way to develop foundations for professional networking with colleagues.
Gabriel advises future students to take advantage of all that Telfer has to offer, including financial assistance, clubs that provide relevant experience and skills, the CO-OP program, the French immersion opportunities because they will take your undergrad, to a life changing and fulfilling four years.
You may have heard the name Montana Champagne recently if you follow local news. This winter semester, he won his first national title in the 400 IM in the winter semester of 2017 and the 5th fastest time in Canadian history. He was named Gee-Gees Athlete of the Year and First Team All Canadian. He was also given the Directors’ award and was name MVP of the swim team. As you can see, Telfer’s very own varsity swimmer has a lot to brag about.
Though his results at the U-sports championship may impressive, it should be noted that Champagne still manages to gracefully balance his academics with his sports. With regular A and B returns from his assignments, he is committed to coming out of University not only with an incredible reputation as a world-class swimmer, but also as a Telfer alumni with a well-rounded knowledge of Business.
Champagne credits a part of his success to the services offered at Telfer, saying, “I love the amount of resources and help that are offered to students. Telfer has a team of academic advisors that specialize in helping out students who may need some advice or guidance throughout their academic career.”
Currently enrolled in BCom (no option), Montana decided to switch to Human Resources Management option after taking the Human Resources Management and Organizational Behaviour class: “It left the biggest impression on me because it showed me the more personal and human side to the business world.”
As co-captain of the Varsity swim team, Montana is no stranger to leading people and helping people to improve, two of the characteristics that are often sought out in Business professionals. His future is looking bright, with plans to represent Canada on the international stage for swimming, and to benefit as much as possible from his time at Telfer to find a job after he graduates.
“Coming to the Telfer School of Management gave me the opportunity to have a fresh start; I knew very few people, and really wanted to maximize my university experience. Becoming involved in the school community through a number of clubs and associations proved to be the perfect way to achieve this,” said Spencer Lee, a fourth year student pursuing his BCom with option in Finance. Spencer explains, “The Telfer School of Management has been incredibly instrumental in connecting me with unique learning experiences, professional contacts and lifelong friends. Through my coursework, club participation, and extracurricular activities, I have truly been connected to what matters to me time and time again, as I develop and grow as a student and a person.”
The Telfer School’s dynamic tagline “Connects you to what matters” has been especially true for Spencer, who has taken full advantage of the multitude of opportunities available to him by getting involved on campus with initiatives like the Capital Markets Mentorship Program (CMMP), the Telfer Capital Fund, being a Teaching Assistant, and being a uOttawa ambassador for the Montreal Exchange program. During the summer, Spencer worked as a Summer Associate at the TMX Group and he will be Telfer Peer Mentor for the 2017-2018 school year. He was also recently accepted into the Telfer Executive Mentorship Program, which will allow him to be mentored by an industry executive, receiving career guidance, one-on-one learning, and networking opportunities.
Always eager to learn new things, Spencer says that being involved in clubs and initiatives that interest him has allowed him to share his passions, while also learning from his peers and industry professionals. “I am constantly motivated by upper year Telfer students who have taught me a great deal and have shown me the countless opportunities available through participating in these clubs and associations, which has been a truly invaluable experience.”
Through his studies at Telfer, Spencer has been able to network, gain practical experience, and travel. He credits much of his success to the initiative he took to get involved. Outside of Telfer, Spencer plays intramural hockey, which he says “provides a great opportunity to stay in shape and socialize with other classmates.”
Spencer concludes that, “One should never stop learning and growing, and it is this concept that really inspires me to get involved and try to gain new knowledge and understanding from any opportunity available to me.”
“I believe it is important to continue learning – learning never stops. I love that Telfer supports personal growth and development through learning. It also connects its students to experts in their field,” said Andrea Ghazzawi, a PhD candidate in the Management Program with a field of study in Health Systems.
Inspired by Dr. Craig Kuziemsky and driven by the opportunity to contribute to improving the Canadian healthcare system, Andrea chose to continue her studies at the University of Ottawa in the Telfer School of Management. She completed her masters and is now currently working on her PhD.
Andrea went on to mention that the many opportunities available at the Telfer School of Management attracted her to begin and continue her studies here. “Having the chance to learn from a multidisciplinary group of professors with varying areas of expertise was an incredible experience for me.”
When asked which classes left a strong impression on her, Andrea answered, “The health systems courses stood out to me, especially the classes that covered the use of information technology in healthcare and the application of quantitative health research methods.”
While fulfilling the duties of being a mother, fulfilling her passion for cooking, and spending time with family and friends, Andrea works to maintain her academic success and continues to think about improvements needed in the healthcare system to benefit all Canadians, and how she can contribute.
“Thinking back, I would never have thought that I would be doing a PhD—it just wasn’t on my radar—but I am thankful to be here and to be participating in this program,” concluded Andrea.
Maybe you’ve seen her around campus, or was it her identical twin sister?
Fourth year BCom student Holly Todd has been extremely active in the Telfer School community, serving as President of Enactus and participating in Jeux du commerce central and Happening Marketing case competitions, as well as an international exchange to England.
Getting involved with Enactus has shaped Holly’s experience at Telfer. Enactus’ mission is to use the power of entrepreneurial action to better their community. One great example of this is Sprout, an Enactus uOttawa social enterprise that aims to address urban food security by stocking fresh produce and instructional meal kits in corner stores. Holly explains, “Enactus gives me the opportunity to gain real-world business skills and impact people in communities across Canada by running social enterprises, which I find very rewarding. I love the challenges that Enactus presents, as well as the ability to experiment and go outside my comfort zone”.
In fact, Holly enjoys working for Enactus so much that she applied, and was selected for, the RBC CO-OP Entrepreneurship Program, which allows her to work full-time on Enactus’ social enterprise, Sprout. The RBC CO-OP Entrepreneurship Program allows students to learn how to become successful entrepreneurs by doing a CO-OP placement either in an existing startup or working on their own startup to get it off the ground. Being selected for the program allowed Holly to work on Sprout full-time, focusing her time and energy on bringing Sprout to the next stage in its evolution and giving her valuable transferable skills that she can use in her career moving forward.
Holly was drawn to Enactus because of the drive she saw in other students. She states, “My fellow Enactus students continue to inspire me – they dedicate thousands of hours per year to causes that they’re passionate about, all while juggling classes, social obligations, part time jobs and other involvement. It always amazes me what a group of students can do when we put our heads together and work towards a common vision.”
Holly says that she initially chose Telfer because it had a good reputation as a top business school and says that she chose marketing because of her goal of working in advertising. Now, a few years since she first chose Telfer, Holly has travelled to eleven countries, grew as a person, explored her passions and got great work experience, all while helping communities in need.
Goldy Hyder, CEO of Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada, with 2017 CEOX1Day finalist, Anna Halawa.
The CEO1XDay 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, CEOx1Day has matched close to 70 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, there is another fantastic line-up of CEOs from organizations in the private, public and not-for profit sectors including the Ottawa Senators, PayPal, Edelman, Amnesty International, Kellogg’s, and Purolator.
Past CEOx1Day 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 28th until October 27th and the actual day spent with the CEO occurs in February of 2018.
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 CEOX1Day application process – even if you don’t reach the finals:
2 out of 3 applicants will have the opportunity to receive a personalized leadership report from Hogan Assessments
Semi-finalists will be considered for an interview with McKinsey & Company for a summer internship or full-time job
Semi-finalists will spend a half day participating in group exercises and one-on-one interviewing which will strengthen their presentation and interviewing skills
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
For Shokoofeh Manesh, her BCom studies with option in Accounting at the Telfer School of Management have presented opportunities to get involved on campus, allowing her to grow her network and gain invaluable skills. “They say that your university experience will only be as good as what you make of it, and getting involved with clubs at Telfer has allowed me to make my experience truly great,” stated Shokoofeh. “My involvement with clubs and associations has allowed me to make the most of my time at Telfer: not only have I made amazing friendships by getting involved, but I have also grown as a leader in my community.”
Getting involved in the Telfer Accounting Club (TAC) is where Shokoofeh found her place to thrive. She’s been part of TAC since her first year of studies, slowly climbing up the executive ladder to now serve as Co-President for the 2017-2018 academic year. In addition to TAC, Shokoofeh has been involved with Enactus, the Telfer Internal Case Competition (TICC), Jeux du commerce (JDC), and 101 Week. As a recipient of the Peter and Ann Koppel Scholarship for Excellence, Shokoofeh was able to prioritize her involvement and academic success. The scholarship rewards students who exemplify academic achievement, social responsibility, and involvement in the Telfer community. In fact, Shokoofeh noted that the skills she gained by studying at Telfer and participating in these clubs have been integral in securing and excelling in her CO-OP work terms, and most notably, her placement as Analyst for Deloitte’s Risk Advisory department.
In addition to having the opportunity to get involved, Shokoofeh said one of her main reasons for choosing the Telfer School was its French Immersion stream, which allowed her to study what she loves, business and math, while also continuing to improve her French. For high school students who are going through the process of choosing a university themselves and are considering the Telfer School of Management, Shokoofeh says, “If you want to surround yourself with students who are resourceful, innovative, and passionate, the Telfer School of Management is the place for you.”
“From the staff to the exchange opportunities, the experience has been great. Take it from a student who has graduated twice from the School and just keeps coming back! I’ve really enjoyed my time here,” said Nicolas Legendre, a PhD candidate in Management with a field of study in Finance. Nicolas has shown true commitment to the Telfer family over the past 7 years, completing a Bachelor of Commerce with an option in Finance, a Master of Science in Management with an option in Finance and now a year into his PhD. He continued, “I wanted to continue my studies here because of all the great people I’ve met at Telfer and in other faculties at the University of Ottawa.”
Looking back on his experience as a Teaching Assistant for different statistics courses, completing his MSc, and now working on his PhD, Nicolas noted, “As PhD students, the relationship with faculty changes, becoming more collegial. With professors for example, the relationship is less student-teacher and more of a co-worker kind of relationship, where both parties bounce ideas off each other and learn from one another.”
Through hard work and dedication, Nicolas was the winner of the prestigious Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship. He said, “As a recipient of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship, I was able to apply for the Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement, which I was pleased to be granted. Through this scholarship, I am currently in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, investigating their loan guarantee program with Professor Jonathan Scott at Northumbria University. This gave me the opportunity to not only study abroad, but to research a topic that matters to me: as my PhD thesis investigates the Canadian loan guarantee program, this research period abroad is directly related to my PhD thesis. I’ve also had the opportunity to spend weekends traveling around Newcastle, visiting monuments such as Alnwick Castle from the Harry Potter films, and slowly learning the culture here in the Northeast of England. It has been quite the experience so far!”
Nicolas is also the recipient of the Lilian and Swee Chua Goh Doctoral Scholarship. Lilian and Swee Chua Goh will be recognized as Donors of the Year at the Telfer Gala of Excellence on October 21 2017.
Jordan Samaroo is a BCom-JD student who benefitted from the Telfer School of Management’s First-Year Advising initiative and is now beginning his second year of study. According to Jordan, what’s unique about Telfer is that it "acknowledges the entrepreneurial spirit innate in all business students. Whether it is through the extensive list of clubs offered in every commerce discipline, the Telfer Capital Fund, challenging case competitions, or academic excellence, Telfer ignites ambition in all its students. In my opinion, such ambition breeds the type of healthy competition that drives the business world and pushes students to do their best.”
Involved in the Telfer Business Law Association (TBLA), Jordan says that as a student studying both commerce and common law, he has enjoyed being able to be a part of a club whose goal is to connect with undergraduate business students who are curious about the field of law and the prospect of going to law school. Through TBLA, Jordan has been able to participate in events like the TBLA Mock Trial, help coordinate the planning of the TBLA executive leadership retreat, and speak on behalf of TBLA at the Place à la jeunesse academic competition. Jordan says that he is motivated to participate in all of the opportunities that Telfer and uOttawa have to offer because he believes student engagement is an integral part of being involved in the university community.
Reflecting on the difficult decision of choosing the right university for him, Jordan explained, “My decision of choosing where to study was not easy, but Telfer has definitely proven to be the right choice. Being a bilingual student, Telfer offered an unparalleled bilingual experience. Having the opportunity to study in both French and English, coupled with the opportunity to study two fields that I’m passionate about - Commerce and Law - allowed me to enhance my language skills while being passionate about what I am learning. A bilingual university as a whole offers an enriched learning experience for all students.”
For high school students going through the process of choosing a university, Jordan advises, “Committing to a university is so much more than simply evaluating averages; it is about choosing the institution that can provide you with the best student experience. For me, Telfer offered it all: from intensive case studies and competitions, to high quality professors, to a great CO-OP program and career prospects. The School is actively working to connect each and every student to what matters to each of them. For these reasons and so many more, I recommend you choose Telfer; you won’t regret your choice!”
“At Telfer, you won’t only gain knowledge; you’ll also acquire valuable skills and experience – that’s something I always say at Telfer open houses and I think it really sums up why I feel Telfer stands out. At any business school in Ontario, you will find great in-class learning opportunities. But Telfer excels at offering students a plethora of hands-on experiences like case competitions, CO-OP, and mentorship programs that will make them stand out against the 20,000 other business graduates each year,” stated Lawrence Quan, a student completing his Bachelor of Commerce with option in Marketing.
Throughout his undergraduate studies, Lawrence took advantage of the opportunities available to him and got involved with a variety of initiatives including CASCO, 101 Week, the CO-OP program, working as a Teaching Assistant, and participating in the Digital Marketing Development Program.
“Joining clubs is a great way to get to know people. I can look back and say that my involvement in the many clubs and activities available at Telfer made up about 80% of my university memories. If I just went to class, went to work, and went home, I would have missed out on the many other amazing opportunities and experiences that Telfer has to offer.”
Lawrence was able to combine his passion for hockey with his career goal of being a marketing strategist through a dream CO-OP placement at Telfer: “My final CO-OP term was at EA SPORTS NHL on the Global Brand Management team. Every Canadian hockey fan has grown up playing their video games. Getting this job was a dream come true and allowed me to get paid to think about hockey all day, every day.”
As Lawrence explained, it’s not just the hands-on experience that is valuable to students, but also the professional network they can build through their studies. “Telfer exists within the great business community in Ottawa. Professionals are happy to help students, share advice, and provide mentorship. Telfer helps students connect with these professionals, pick their brains, and take advantage of the knowledge in the community.”
Lawrence is now working at FarmLead, a Canadian AgTech Startup, as a Customer Acquisition Specialist. He is responsible for FarmLead’s digital advertising and search engine optimization strategy. He credits his success in the workplace to his involvement. “Your success in getting a job will rely on so much more than just grades. Your grades may get you the interview, but it is your other experience that will get you the job.”
Each semester, students in the final-year Equity Valuation classes (ADM 4350 and ADM4750) take part in a real-world, real-time project, competing with each other to advise a business that is facing a difficult situation. Led by Professor Nitani, students during the winter 2017 semester tackled a challenge being faced by Dragonwave Inc., a company that offers high capacity broadband wireless networking systems for network operations and service providers.
Scott, a member of the winning team, described his experience: “The competition challenged my team’s ability to separate the information that truly mattered from all of the noise. We also had to actively fight our own biases as we created our valuation and storyline for the company.” According to Scott, his team brought many different strengths to the table, which ultimately sold the judges on their investment recommendations. Scott has one semester left of his undergraduate studies before he graduates in December. He’s currently one of the Capital Fund’s Portfolio Manager Leaders and will be working in investment banking at BMO Capital Markets this summer.
For Roma, another member of the winning team, the Equity Valuation case competition was the most all-encompassing and fun competition of his undergraduate studies. He really enjoyed the challenges associated with valuating a small public company, exploring the possibility of an acquisition, and presenting his team's hard work to fellow classmates, faculty, and industry professionals. After his graduation in June, Roma will be working as a Private Equity Associate at an Ottawa-based firm while pursuing his CFA designation.
In April 2017, students in the 4th year class Case Studies in Accounting (ADM4340) presented their final project in the context of the CPA Accounting Case Competition.
Congratulations to the winning team:
Jordano Gonzalez
Sarah Morin
Zachary Princi
Vaughn Asher Sapers
Iskandar Nasrallah
We asked the winning team to share their experience with us as well as their plans after graduation since most are graduating this term.
Jordano began by sharing a few tips for students who taking the class next year. He said that being confident in a presentation is key to having the audience agree with what you’re saying. He also suggested being prepared for the question period since it can be quite stressful. After graduation, Jordano will be joining RCGT (Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton) as a Consultant.
Like Jordano, Sarah will be graduating this semester and will be working for the government as well pursuing her CPA designation. This competition was her last as an undergraduate student. She explained “this presentation is not something I’m going to forget any time soon and quite honestly, it's pretty cool that this was the last presentation of my undergraduate degree”.
Zach has a strong passion for entrepreneurship and has co-founded a startup called Eephorea. Eephorea is an entertainment production company that produces and promotes live entertainment experiences. After graduation, he hopes to expand his startup and help pioneer the live entertainment and music industries here in Ottawa. In addition to that, he is being bridged in full-time at the House of Commons as an Accounting Officer.
As for Vaughn, he currently works for the Canada Revenue Agency and will be bridged into a full time position there after graduation. He strongly feels that he wants to use his degree and the knowledge and experience acquired during his studies to help fight those that abuse our taxation and financial systems.
Finally, Iskandar started his own tax prep company specializing in student taxes. His aim is to give accounting students the opportunity to gain experience by doing other students’ taxes at a very low cost. He and his partner won a government grant and have been featured in Glue magazine's business journal.
We would like to congratulate the winning team, and wish them the best of luck on their future endeavours!
As is done at the end of every term, the Telfer School of Management was pleased to organize the Intopia Simulation for 4th year students as part of their Strategic Management class. The competition starts on the Friday afternoon and ends late on Sunday. Students spend the three days at Desmarais Pavilion and often stay late into the night on Friday and Saturday night.
One of the winning teams shared their impressions with us. Team 38 includes Sogui Sylla, Mohamadou Barry, Philippe Langlois, Philippe Émond and Yazid Agougou, who are all 3rd and 4th year students. The majority of them are planning to finish their studies this term or in December 2017. Yazid explained that this weekend was extraordinary and memorable for all team members. They worked hard day and night, throughout the weekend. They were so committed that they even stayed overnight to negotiate sales contracts for their products with other teams. Surely, very few students slept during their Intopia weekend!
Intopia participants are required to make quick decisions before a predetermined time elapses. Students must negotiate with each other in order to grow their business over the weekend. Intopia participants get immediate feedback on their decisions and are given the opportunity to apply what they learned during their 4 years at the Telfer School.
For participating students, the simulation is very realistic. Some of the members of Team 38 even dressed up in suits to negotiate with the other teams found throughout Desmarais. In the early decisions, Team 38 did not rank among the top teams, but thanks to their hard work, perseverance and team spirit, they won first place in the category of Best Strategy – Finished Goods Producer.
Team 57, a small team comprised of three members, won first place in the category of Best Strategy – Component Producer, despite their small size. Members Alexandre Ranger, Benoit Guilbault and Francis Grenier, also said that they found the weekend beneficial. Alexandre, a student who hopes to get his CPA, shared that the Intopia simulation was not only a very rewarding and fun experience, but it helped him put into practice a lot of the knowledge he gained throughout his studies. In addition, participants apply skills learned outside of class, such as negotiation skills.
The three team members learned a lot from this simulation, but they said that the primary benefit of this experience was the networking aspect. For them, being able to network with students from the English classes was representative of the real job market and this experience will play a positive role in their professional lives.
Congratulations to Team 19 (Anita Mahava, Cody Miller, Mike Bowen, Miroslav Gacic and Mussie Hailu) on winning first place in the category of Best Strategy – Service Provider. Congratulations also to Team 53 (Matthew Monteith, Miranda Chan, Stefanie El-Beyourti and Isra Sabunju) on earning first place in the category of Best Strategy – Integrated Firm.
“I believe you can accomplish much more when you focus on things you are naturally attracted towards,” stated Maxime, a 4th year at the Telfer School of Management.
His passions? Surfing, problem solving, and international management – his specialization. “I happen to be one of the few surfers at the University of Ottawa. I believe that having a hobby you are passionate about is essential, because it makes you go out of your way to do it and push your limits. It is only this way that you can accomplish great things.”
Going back in time to four years ago, Maxime was in high school, visiting the University of Ottawa during the Open House. “I was interested in management and was hoping to get specialized right away.”
Today, Maxime is the perfect example of an engaged, opportunistic student. Throughout the past four years, Maxime has attended many networking events, met with plenty of students and professionals in all fields and interests, and participated in a mentorship program as well as career counselling.
What’s more, Maxime went on two different exchanges in France and Australia. “I take pride in the two exchanges I had the opportunity to take part in during my third year of university. Adapting to a new environment personally, professionally and culturally should be mandatory. Adjusting to a small city in France, attending English immersion in Australia, leaving for a long period of time and going outside of my comfort zone was a challenge, but an amazing experience. I made friends from all around the world and developed my professional skills by taking part in seminars, very interesting projects and, of course, networking.”
When asked what advice he can provide to future students, he urges them to get involved in the mentorship program, to join student clubs, to go on exchange and to take each and every opportunity that Telfer has to offer.
“Today, I feel ready to take on the many challenges of the business world.”
Congratulations to Brenda Lam, winner of the CO-OP Student of the Year Award from the Telfer School of Management as well as the University of Ottawa!
Brenda is completing a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), specializing in marketing in the French Immersion stream at the University of Ottawa. Brenda is passionate about learning and never shies away from a challenge. Over the past few years, she has participated in an international exchange to France and in the French Explore program in Moncton to hone her French-language skills. Her latest employer, Sun Life Financial, hired Brenda to be the company’s Campus Ambassador following her exceptional work as a marketing CO-OP student. Brenda is very involved in her community and has volunteered with a variety of organizations including CASCO, a university-based charity of which she is vice-president of sponsorship. She also volunteers at CHEO, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, where she has organized multiple fundraising events.
When Rebecca isn’t busy reading from Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels list (at last count, she had read 94 out of the 100), she takes advantage of any and all opportunities offered by the Telfer School of Management, namely the Profession of Management Consulting Program (PMCP), a two-year development program for students interested in consulting.
Every Thursday evening, the small cohort meets with consultants for workshops, mock interviews and case presentations based on real consulting projects. “I feel a stronger connection to the Telfer School of Management than ever thanks to the PMCP. In fact, I became a Peer Mentor in my fourth year because I wanted first year students to experience that connection too. It has been rewarding to encourage new students to get involved in associations, ambassadorships, special seminars, career development programs, events and panels, and to access the many support services available on campus.”
Following her own advice, Rebecca made it her personal goal during her time at Telfer to attend a networking event every month. “Though I chose the school for its location, what I love most are the experiential learning and networking opportunities. Most of my courses have a group project component and many of my classes have had an experiential learning component, such as a simulation or a business process like customer discovery.”
When asked which classes she recommends to future students, Rebecca highlighted two of them. The first, Change Management with Professor Samia Chreim, “was built on experiential learning through case studies, personal reflection, and an online simulation. I finished the class with a better understanding of the theory and practice of change management and a desire to learn more throughout my career.” The second class, the seminar on Leadership and Personal Development, enables students to build their own personal mission statement, develop and accomplish personal development goals, and coach another student to do the same. “Many students have told me that this seminar is a life-changing experience, so I knew that I could not miss out!”
Rebecca, who is in her last year at Telfer, will be working at Accenture starting in May, an opportunity she secured in part through her connections at PMCP. “This validated the work that I put into the PMCP and gave me an opportunity to explore the profession before graduating.”
On March 3-4, 2017, the Telfer School of Management, in partnership with Export Development Canada and Deloitte, hosted the second annual Diversity and Inclusion MBA Case Competition.
During this case competition, teams examined emerging challenges and proposed solutions pertaining to the frequently overlooked issues of diversity and inclusion in organizations. This innovative competition gives future leaders a better appreciation of the opportunities for businesses to change and grow because of the Canadian workforce’s diverse nature.
“Diversity and Inclusion is a survival issue for organizations that needs to be owned by the CEO and no longer a check box exercise for HR,” stated Kate Morican, Partner Human Capital, Deloitte Canada. “At Deloitte, we focus on developing leaders who practice inclusive behaviors each and every day to help our clients and our people excel. We are delighted to support this important initiative, in partnership with Export Development Canada and the University of Ottawa.”
The Telfer School of Management’s delegation proved their skills in leadership by winning the case competition. The winning team included Matt Chesser, Vikas Kumar, Abhijit Doiphode, and Taro Abarbanel-Ueumura. Here are the overall results from the competition:
1st Place - Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
2nd Place - Schulich School of Business, York University
3rd Place - John Molson School of Business, Concordia University
Honourable Mention 1 - HEC Montreal, Universite de Montreal
Honourable Mention 2 - Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta
“To harness the benefits of a diverse workforce, we are working to create a culture that is inclusive and welcoming to all employees”, says Robert Fosco, Vice President, Talent, Learning and Culture, EDC. “Sponsoring this competition for the second time provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate to future business leaders that diversity as well as inclusion are critical for the competitiveness of Canadian companies.”
“Beyond being the right thing to do, the business case for having a diverse and inclusive workforce is extremely compelling and backed by a growing body of research,” stated Matt Chesser, who was part of the winning delegation at the competition. “Reading recent research on inclusivity and sitting in on workshops by EDC and Deloitte - two leaders in diversity and inclusion - was fascinating. The fact that we won was just a pleasant surprise to end a great two days. We were fortunate to have a team with a diverse set of experiences that we could draw on for the case."
We thank all the schools for sending excellent representatives for this competition.
Written by Alexis Cawadias-McGeadie, assistant, Student Experience and Events
From February 22nd to 26th, seven Telfer School of Management students took on the challenge of representing the University of Ottawa at the 2017 National Model African Union Conference at Howard University in Washington, DC.
The 2017 National Model African Union Conference involved Canadian, American and Korean Universities representing various African nations. The conference provided participants with the chance to learn about roles, structures and activities of the African Union including economic, social, security and political issues facing African countries. The negotiation simulation is completed in accordance with real-time information provided by African Union Diplomats at the embass of the respective countries.
The University of Ottawa represented the Kingdom of Swaziland, a small African nation bordered by Mozambique and South Africa. As diplomats of Swaziland, the students had to have a very thorough understanding of the country by studying a variety of current conflicts affecting Swaziland.
The six committees were represented by the students below, and each student was responsible for negotiating resolutions on behalf of Swaziland:
Executive Council: Gaëlle Faye
Committee on Peace & Security: Audrey Marie Traoré
Committee on Economic Matters: Marilyne Vidjanagni and Rainatou Ouedraogo
Committee on Democracy, Human Rights & Governance: Alexandrine Silga
Committee on Social Matters: Marie-Emmanuelle Kouadio
The simulation gave students an opportunity to practice skills that will be greatly beneficial in their careers going forward. In addition to the simulation, there were many networking opportunities with African Diplomats.
After months of preparation and fundraising events to finance the conference’s expenses, two Telfer students went the extra mile and brought home two Outstanding Performance Awards: Gaëlle Faye and Marie-Emmanuelle Kouadio.
“The delegation would like to thank everyone who supported and believed in us from the beginning,” says Gaëlle Faye on behalf of the delegation. “We are all proud to have represented our University as well as the colours of Swaziland. As international students, we have been waiting to take part in an activity that allows us to learn and contribute to our African communities. Through this program, our goal was to demonstrate how students can leverage various Telfer resources in coordination with cultural insight to better connect students to what matters. We were the first to participate in this simulation and we hope that this won’t be the last time.”
In preparation for the 2018 National Model African Union, any students interested in participating or learning more about this amazing opportunity are invited to contact this year's delegation.
Written by the 2017 National Model African Union delegation
"I chose to continue my doctoral studies with the Telfer School of Management based on the expertise at my disposal within the faculty and the school’s proven commitment to providing its graduate students with a comprehensive educational experience tailored to their research objectives. Telfer’s research programs are designed for flexibility, allowing candidates to align their coursework and assignments with their own field of research, and enabling them to explore their thesis topic from day one. The interdisciplinary nature of these programs and the diversity of topics that are being addressed by candidates and faculty members also encourage rich exchanges, and allow candidates to be sensitized to a variety of fields and methods that enrich their own projects.”
Caroline is a PhD student in Management, in the Health Systems specialization. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Development and Globalization, and a Master of Science in Health Systems from the University of Ottawa.
While completing her MSc in Health Systems at the Telfer School of Management, Caroline focused her attention on human resources for maternal health in the context of development. Accordingly, her thesis research involved a case study of the obstacles and enablers to the professional development of skilled birth attendants providing perinatal care to migrants and refugees within a self-contained health system at the Thailand-Myanmar border.
Under the continued supervision of Professor Ivy Lynn Bourgeault, Caroline will utilize the PhD in Management to further develop her research skills and enrich her understanding of the complexities of maternal health workforce sustainability in the context of protracted displacement and fragility. Caroline has presented at the Canadian Association of Health Services and Policy Research Conference, the World Congress on Public Health, the Canadian Health Workforce Conference, and the Global Symposium for Health Systems Research, and will be presenting at the upcoming Triennial Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives.
Telfer PhD in Management
Today’s changing world demands creative, resourceful, and dedicated thinkers. The Telfer PhD program prepares a new generation of forward-looking scholars to confront complex management issues through research. Our PhD program is designed to shape visionary, influential thinkers who have a positive impact on the lives of people, organizations, and communities through their research. Above all, we have high expectations for our students. Whatever our students’ goals, we are always close by to help them reach them.
Download our brochure or learn more about our PhD Program and our five fields of study by visiting our website at telfer.uOttawa.ca/phd.
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!
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.
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)
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!
Each semester, students in the final-year Equity Valuation classes (ADM 4350 and ADM4750) take part in a real-world, real-time project, competing with each other to advise a business that is facing a difficult situation. Led by Professors Nitani and Racicot, students during the fall semester tackled a challenge being faced by the management team of Imvescor Restaurant Group Inc. (IRG). Imvescor is a Quebec-based franchisor of four leading Canadian restaurant chains: Bâton Rouge, Trattoria Di Mikes, Scores, and Pizza Delight, as well as a manufacturer of packaged food sold by grocers.
Over the past few years, the market and financial performance of Imvescor improved substantially from previous periods. Led by its CEO, Frank Hennessey and CFO, Tania Clark and their team, the price of Imvescor’s shares had more than doubled, reflecting a clear improvement in its underlying profitability and prospects. However, in late summer, some institutional investors had written to Imvescor’s Board of Directors to encourage the firm to put itself “up for sale”, arguing that its shares were thinly traded. Meanwhile, Imvescor’s management team was planning for continued growth. In this context, students were challenged with providing Mr. Hennessey and his team with recommendations on how to proceed.
Final presentations of the best submissions were held on December 8th, 2016 with the top three submissions presenting their recommendations to the management team of Imvescor and a panel of finance professionals. Several student teams not only valued Imvescor, but also recommended and valued potential strategic acquisition targets.
The Telfer School was honoured to welcome Imvescor CEO, Frank Hennessey, and CFO, Tania Clarke, as active participants in this assignment. Both met with the students during the fall, directing students to key public-domain resources, and Mr. Hennessey was present during students’ presentations. The Telfer Scool is grateful for their involvement. Likewise, we acknowledge Hugh Johnston, CPA, CA, a strategic and financial architect who specializes in the restaurant business. Mr. Johnson travelled from Toronto to hear the students’ presentations and to provide valuable feedback.
Fourth year Finance student Nick Kazaka described his experience: “The live case represents a unique opportunity for students to present to the CEO and upper-management of a company worth hundreds of millions of dollars on the strengths of its business, its intrinsic value and even provide recommendations for management going forward. The class and this live case in particular, demands an incredible amount of work during a short time frame. However the transferrable skills and experience from the case gives students a great introduction to equity research and valuation, and a taste of investment banking”.
This year, two teams tied for first place. Congratulations to:
Eric Carmichael and Valerie Brault
Evan Kerr and Nick Kazaka
Third place was awarded to:
Tina Liusun and Andy Yu
Congratulations to the winning team for best poster:
The second annual Telfer Internal Case Competition (TICC) occurred on the weekend of November 4. During the Friday night, first and second year teams improved their case competition skills by case cracking with an experienced mentor, and gained valuable feedback from upper year students. During the day on Saturday, participating teams (from first to fourth year) competed for the win in front of industry professionals and case competition veterans.
On Saturday evening, a gala of over 175 people was held to announce the winners. All in all, this year was a huge success!
TICC is hosted by the Telfer Marketing Association, the Human Resources Association, the Finance Society and Telfer International, and brings marketing, human resources, finance, and international management students together.
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
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
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.
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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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
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.”
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.
Stefan Sjöstrand, President of IKEA Canada, with 2016 CEO x 1 Day finalist, Maria Poonawala.
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:
2 out of 3 applicants will have the opportunity to receive a personalized leadership report from Hogan Assessments
Semi-finalists will be considered for an interview with McKinsey & Company for a summer internship or full-time job
Semi-finalists will spend a half day participating in group exercises and one-on-one interviewing which will strengthen their presentation and interviewing skills
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
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.
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:
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!
Kevin Smiley is a full-time MBA student at the Telfer School of Management and a strong believer in social entrepreneurship. This year, he founded SuraiTea Inc., a social enterprise tea shop which employs mostly Syrian refugees in order to provide them with job opportunities in Canada, all while also raising money for settlement efforts.
Being in the Right Place at the Right Time
Having previously studied in environmental engineering at Queen's University and worked in renewable power and sustainable real estate development, and being actively engaged with the Professional Engineers Ontario / Ontario Society of Professional Engineers' Engineering Innovation Ecosystem, Kevin was inspired to create a sustainable business model which would benefit all parties involved.
In early February 2016, Stephen Daze, Telfer’s Dom Herrick Entrepreneur in Residence, informed Kevin about uOttawa’s Start-Up Weekend which carried the theme of refugee resettling. It was then that he shifted his focus to creating a business that would help with the Syrian resettling effort in Canada. “After seeing and reading many stories about the enormous strain on limited resources which not-for-profit organizations were experiencing, I began to think that there may be something that I could do to help,” he says.
The Project
SuraiTea Inc. is a corporation that uses the power of the markets to create positive change for the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Canada. It hopes to create high value employment for refugees and establish a sustainable source of corporate donations to the organizations that are active in the refugee resettling effort in Canada. SuraiTea Inc. is a social enterprise and a ‘Pending B Corp’ (start‐up) with B Lab Canada.
Why tea? Jasmine is the unofficial national flower of Syria and Damascus, the capital city of Syria, is also known as ‘The City of Jasmine’.
Kevin contacted a wholesale tea supplier in Toronto, which uses 100% USDA and Canada Organic certified organic ingredients and Ecocert certified facilities. He then reached out to World Skills Employment Centre, an Ottawa organization that finds jobs for recently-arrived immigrants and refugees and then put the two together. So far, SuraiTea Inc. has 20 Syrian refugees working on the project. “The more our customers support us by signing on to our online store and purchasing our teas, the more positive social change for refugees we can create,” he says.
Sustainability and Business
Kevin’s long term goal for SuraiTea Inc. is to eventually grow the corporation and add additional lines of teas from other areas of the world which have humanitarian issues, such as East-Africa, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. “The areas which produce some of the best teas, also unfortunately have some of the worst problems,” he says, “Syria has over 20 million refugees currently but there are actually over 55 million total refugees in the world so it’s not just a Syrian problem.”
Kevin says that the Telfer MBA program has helped him gain the knowledge needed in order to create his business from the ground up. “Telfer has truly been a transformational experience for me,” he says, “Telfer is where I learned about B Corps, where I learned that the truly successful business are the ones that solve problems, where I learned about intrinsic motivation and where the entrepreneurial fire was lit inside me.”
CBC News has covered SuraiTea Inc.’s story. Read the news article, or watch the TV clip (starts at 43:30 minutes).
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.
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.
From March 18 to 20, 4th-year students from the bachelor of commerce participated in the Intopia Strategy Simulation. This competition was created as a component of the 4th-year Strategic Management class.
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world, known as Intopia, where students get immediate feedback on their decisions. This simulation gives the students a chance to test the knowledge they have accumulated over their 4 years at university.
Congratulations to the members of the winning team:
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.
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.
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
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.
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 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
We held the fall 2015 Michel Cloutier Marketing Competition on December 8, 2015 at the Desmarais Building.
We would like to congratulate the winning team (Natasha Mieka Loepp, Liora Raitblat, Kelsy Sullivan, Jessica Verbruggen and Irene Zourdos), who provided the best pan-Canadian strategy for the Department of Canadian Heritage to engage Canadians in the Give Back Campaign for the 150th Anniversary of Confederation.
The winning team received a cash prize of $1,500 and Kelsie Zielinski, the student with the best presentation skills, received a $600 prize.
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.
On December 7, 2015, our CASCO students took to the stage at the Delta Ottawa City Centre and raised $58,023 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). The theme this year was “Learning to fly” and had the audience travelling around the world to watch musical performances, fashion shows and high energy dance numbers.
Each year a CHEO family is represented at the Gala to share the evening, as well as their story. This year Devon and his family joined CASCO to share with the audience how they have benefited from the great work that CHEO can do thanks to the support of the community.
For the past 16 years, CASCO has been a major event for the Telfer School of Management that is entirely choreographed, organized and executed by like-minded Telfer School students. In recent years, students from other faculties have joined, as performers, in what became a spectacular show of talent and philanthropy that brings together over 500 people including prominent community leaders and ambassadors for CHEO.
In preparation for this event, CASCO students spent countless hours auditioning, choreographing, and organizing this annual gala show to raise money for CHEO. The Telfer School of Management and the wider University of Ottawa community remain very proud of students who decide to commit time and energy on this event every year for the positive impacts that they leave on our community.
In November 2015, 10 teams of students participated in a case competition as part of their Case Studies in Accounting course.
The winning team and the team that ranked second were respectively awarded $2,000 and $1,200. These prizes are courtesy of CPA Ontario and PME Performance + Croissance Inc. All members of both teams also received a gift certificate of $100 from Logan-Katz.
The judges of the competition were Denis Chainé, CPA, CA, partner at Logan-Katz; Marie-Geneviève Bégin, CPA, CA, Chief of Internal Controls at Justice Canada and Jean-Philippe Aubé, CPA, CA, owner of PME Performance + Croissance Inc., as well as Professor Sylvain Durocher, CPA, CA.
We would like to congratulate the winning teams, from left to right:
1st place: Justin Bélanger, Jia Li, Tania Fécu Dupuy, Joël A. St-Denis, Kristjan Johannes Luik
Felipe Izquierdo is a 4th year BCom Finance student who takes social entrepreneurship to heart. He was selected to attend One Young World Summit in Thailand’s capital city on the week of November 18 to 21. “Attending the One Young World summit in Bangkok is like being able -- in only a few days -- to travel the world and learn about the global problems directly from youth leaders that are working at the front lines in their countries and communities,” he says. Felipe was able to discuss solutions and projects about human rights, the environment, global business and entrepreneurship, peace, security, leadership and government with other student leaders. He admits that the atmosphere in a room where people from 196 countries all come together to be united by humanity and passion for tackling world issues is overwhelming and “hard to put into words.” He had the opportunity to attend as part of the student organization Enactus uOttawa.
Additionally to Enactus, Felipe is involved with the Legacy Conference, an entrepreneurship-focused event founded by a group of students with a goal to cultivate new ideas and kickstart business endeavors, as well as Omnium Financier Telfer, as the Director of Community Involvement, where he organizes volunteer events for finance and accounting students. He is also a Community Advisor for the University of Ottawa Housing Services. Felipe says that his favourite class taken at Telfer so far has been Stephen Daze and Hanan Anis’ new course, “Entrepreneurship Foundry”, because of the hands-on aspect of it. Felipe enjoys having the opportunity to - with other entrepreneurs from uOttawa - work on a start-up throughout the semester with the support of very successful mentors.
As President of CASCO, a student-run charity organization at the Telfer School of Management, Cameron McIntyre is a 4th year BCom student with a bright future ahead of him. “I have always enjoyed the opportunity to get involved with groups and events that are not just related to my studies and I felt that CASCO went a step further by not just letting me do things that I love, but by giving back to the community as well,” he says. Cameron has been involved with CASCO since his first semester at Telfer.
Cameron has managed to tie his love and knowledge for technology with business into every role he has held. In addition to CASCO, he has also been involved with the Telfer Marketing Association (TMA) and Management Information Systems and Analytics (MISA). He says: “I specifically enjoyed being able to come into the clubs with a different view on how to utilize technology in ways that other clubs were not yet doing.” Cameron implemented a new email marketing system for TMA which provided statistics on member engagement regarding their newsletter and also created an online database of course notes for MISA, which helped drive their first year of membership sales. In his spare time, he runs a small web development and hosting business, where he rents out space on his web server to clients that are looking for high quality, personable service for their website. Prior to Telfer, Cameron was completing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at West Island School in Hong Kong in 2009-2011.
The 4th semi-annual Telfer Trading Competition (TTC) was a considerable success here at the Telfer School of Management with over 100 students registered. Held on October 17th 2015, students were given a chance to show off their trading savvy, competing against each other for standings, cash prizes and a chance to compete in the prestigious Rotman International Trading Competition (RITC). The Telfer Trading Competition is hosted twice a year in preparation for the RTIC, which the University of Ottawa plans to send some of its brightest students to compete on an international stage. Hosted in Toronto, the RITC will pit some of the top business schools from around the globe against one another, and the Telfer School of Management hopes to display its caliber.
Beginning at noon on the 17th, the Telfer Trading Competition was launched with the students gathering in one of Telfer’s largest conference rooms located in the Desmarais building where the first case was set to begin. Upon arrival they were greeted, each receiving their own nametag and given an introduction to the competition. Soon afterwards, it was straight to the first case, the social outcry. Gathered in the Camille Villeneuve Conference room, the students we given a single index, the TELFER-500, which they could attempt to buy or sell at any price they chose, provided they could find another competitor who was willing to buy or sell it to them at the price they were offering. The index’s price was driven by the release of multiple news events throughout the case, which were projected on multiple large screens around the room. This gave insight to the competitors about the possible direction of the TELFER-500 price movement. Additionally, there was no electronic assistance in their transactions, so competitors we required to go about the group searching and competing for each other’s orders in almost all ways possible creating a very vibrant and dynamic trading pit setting à la 1980’s. The social outcry was a means to simulate the first markets, which existed prior to the largely electronic ones that are found today giving the students a fundamental understanding of the transaction and supply and demand process that drives the value of markets around the globe on a daily basis. Next the students transitioned to the Financial Research and Learning Lab to begin the core cases of the competition. There were four cases to compete in consisting of Liability Trading, Options, Equity Valuation, ETF Pricing Arbitrage and a bonus Algorithmic Market Making for those competitors really trying to display their trading prowess.
The students competed in these cases using the Rotman Interactive Trader, an order-driven market system which they had been practicing and preparing vigorously for the weeks leading up to the competition date. Each case was run one at a time, with individual cases being run three times with a few minutes in between each round allowing students to collect themselves, and make any adjustments needed to their strategies before the next round. From the start of the first case, the room was abuzz with the furious input of orders and the emotion that came with the rapid execution of each transaction. Each moment was different from the last as one second traders would be celebrating soaring profits and the next rushing to recover losses. The leaders of each case were being projected on large screens so that competitors were always aware of their performance relative to their peers. Each case was constructed unique and throughout each of the remaining cases, a variety of creative strategies were employed to maximize their capital gains, from the clicking intensive ladder trader to script filled excel run algorithms. Similarly, as the competition progressed from one case to the next, so did the emotions of the competitors. At any given moment the uproar from a sudden market spike or the groans as prices would barely budge could be heard from across the room recreating the dynamic environment of a trading floor.
Students were given an extended break halfway through to recuperate before the continuation of the cases. At the end of the last case, the competitors gathered in the conference room one last time for food and drinks as well as the announcement of the case and overall winners. Over $900 worth of prizes were distributed amongst the best performers with prizes going to individual case winners as well as overall standings. The overall top 12 performers were given a chance to apply for the Rotman International Trading competition in hopes of representing the University of Ottawa on the international stage.
The 4th semi-annual Telfer Trading Competition was the largest to date and was a massive success, giving students of all years a chance to dive deeper into the financial industry, whom many are so passionate about. From the hustle of the social outcry to the technical expertise of the algorithmic trading, students had the opportunity to learn and grow in various skills as they provided simple solutions to complex financial problems and adapted on the fly throughout this dynamic environment. A huge thank you also goes out to the Finance Society, University of Ottawa Student Investment Club (OSIC) and all of the volunteers that helped throughout the planning and preparation as well as the execution of this event, as this event would not be made possible without them. We also welcomed a visit from Alumni Alex Tyutyunnik, Brian Chan and Cassy Aite who had a big part in growing the competition to what it is today. As we closed out this iteration of the TTC, we look forward to both the Rotman International Trading Competition as well as the next semi-annual Telfer Trading Competition in early 2016.
BCom Finance Student Receives “Volunteer of the Month”
Neekita Bhatia is a driven second year BCom student in Finance who wants to leave her mark through volunteering. She has already amassed a Co-Curricular Record, an official university document that records approved and verified volunteer activities undertaken by students, with lists volunteering experience ranging from being a proxy agent with the uOttawa Residents’ Association to a tax filer with ACORN Canada.
Neekita’s favourite position, however, was leading an Alternative Student Break project with the Office of Campus Sustainability. “We conducted waste audits for DMS and MRT [Pavillons], analyzed the data, and made reports on it. I learned so much about sustainability in that week that I use every day including good recycling practices,” she says. Neekita also recently joined Enactus.
When asked what matters to her, Neekita responds: “I greatly value my networks. […] With my diverse background, I tend to appreciate the individual experiences of every person I meet. It is amazing how different people’s beliefs and personalities are, even within Canada. And I believe Telfer connects me to amazing people through the diverse student body, opportunities in student clubs, speakers at events and a professional and comfortable environment.”
Neekita was awarded the Volunteer of the Month for the month of October with the Centre for Global and Community Engagement.
Marina Kidisyuk, BCom student and co-president of the uOttawa International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) program, is happy to announce that their team has won a gold medal at the 2015 Giant Jamboree held in Boston on September 24-28. “Our tireless work has paid off and the judges loved our policy project aimed at creating a stronger link between industry and the iGEM's BioBrick Registry to which we submit the genetic parts,” she says.
The uOttawa iGem team consisted of:
Alex Ross (Biomedical Science)
Erin Nguyen (Engineering)
Ashna Parbhakar (Biomedical Science)
Martin Hanzel (Computer Science)
Marina Kidisyuk (Accounting)
The team also got to see many other exciting and inspiring projects, ranging from bacteria-producing music to oil filtration systems.
More than 2700 participants were present this year from schools from all around the world to test their knowledge of synthetic biology by showcasing their unique genetically-engineered systems. Often times, the competition leads to many winning projects and teams forming new companies that quickly make an impact across the global marketplace.
Being a Coach, I see international students every day. We make individual or group appointments to talk about anything and everything. A student may show up with a specific question about a course or can learn about student sport clubs. I am like their “Google” because I answer their questions and refer them to resources that can help them.
In addition to these daily meetings, my team and I organize academic workshops and social events for our students. We often plan lunch meetings where we talk with students while enjoying a good pizza. We also give learning techniques workshops and review sessions throughout the year. As well, we organize outings such as skating on the Rideau Canal or visits to supermarkets. These outings allow international students to be more easily integrated into society and to perform better at school.
I became an International Student Coach two years ago. I want to help new students because I was in their position a decade ago. I am an immigrant from China and I went through what these international students are going through now.
I landed in Canada for the first time on a muggy night in June 2002. I was eight years old when I came here with my parents. I did not know what to expect in my new life because I was unfamiliar with my new country’s culture and language. Integration into a new environment is certainly exciting, but can sometimes be a bit intimidating. I therefore understand that it takes a lot of courage for newcomers to open up to the new people they meet. My role as a Coach is to guide you along your road to integration so that together, we can enjoy this incredible experience that the University of Ottawa has to offer.
Being a CO-OP student at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, it doesn’t take much deep thought to realize all of its benefits. I am given the opportunity to explore different work environments, meet key people in the job market, create a network, develop my professional skills and learn more about myself and what the future could potentially hold for me. I have gained confidence, new skills and took care of my own projects during only my first work term. Students usually do four work terms during the 4-5 years of their studies and even get the option of finding a work term abroad! Can you imagine all of the possibilities?
An important part of the success of CO-OP is the willingness of companies and organizations to take students in for a short period and have faith that they will work hard and do a good job. Why do companies hire students? It’s not only the students who benefit from the CO-OP program, employers do too!
CO-OP students at the Telfer School of Management and the University of Ottawa are available year round, which gives employers flexibility and the ability to hire students during peak times to meet the needs of the season. Since students change from one session to the other, the diversity brought into the organisation is maximised. Each student’s varied strengths and interests bring something new to the table which eliminates employee tunnel vision. Employers get the opportunity to work with many different students and assess their capabilities which gives them a good chance of recruiting future full-time employees that could have a positive impact in their organisation.
At the University of Ottawa, there are CO-OP students in almost every field of study to fill multitudes of different positions. Students at the Telfer School of Management have a diverse set of skills. There are students in marketing, information technology, accounting, finance, management and more. These students are learning new concepts about not only their specialization, but multiple business facets every semester. Since it is still fresh in their minds, there is a higher chance of them bringing these theorized skills into the workplace.
It is also common for younger people to feel like they must prove themselves by showing employers that they can go above and beyond. This phenomenon influences them to be very motivated and enthusiastic which boosts the level of productivity. This eagerness also encourages creativity and has a positive effect on the motivation and morale of other employees.
To make things even better, an enhanced corporate image and a stronger connection with the University of Ottawa occur when employers hire CO-OP students. This is because they are helping the student community with their education and development as professionals entering the work force. It’s very rewarding to contribute to the training of future employees. After all, it can determine the future success of an organisation.
Thanks to the CO-OP Program at the University of Ottawa and all of the great organizations and companies that participate in the placement process, both students and organisations benefit. Not only do organisations get flexibility, diversity and productivity while maintaining good relationships in the community and setting a good example, but more students graduate from university with more than a diploma. I will graduate ready to start my career with experience already on my resume and the skills I really need to take on the world.
This year, the team will be creating a tri-stable switch, modelling cell differentiation in yeast that can ultimately lead to improved regenerative therapies using stem cells while the business outreach team will be exploring the fair use of genetic material between industry and academia via a policy paper all the while using art to create a platform for public engagement.
The uOttawa team typically consist of 20-25 undergraduate students with varying levels of experience, and 3-4 graduate and faculty advisors who work on aspects of one or more specific projects.
“I was always interested in innovative ideas and I saw iGEM as an opportunity to get involved in a project that is pushing the boundaries of future technology. The field of synthetic biology is still relatively new, but I find it exciting that it could hold many sustainable and non-invasive solutions to unanswered environmental and medical problems today,” says Kidisyuk. This is her second year involved in the program.
Marina, having a particular interest towards the biotechnology industry, chose to study at the Telfer School of Management for its focus on innovation and Ottawa’s multitude of biotechnology companies. She enjoys her field of study as she says: “It [Accounting] is the language of business, and business has the power to turn a creative idea into a real world application which can drastically change our future for the better.”
The class that has left the biggest impression on Marina so far has been Business Law with Gilles LeVasseur. “The biggest lesson I learned from him is to plan for and cover every single step in business no matter how trivial you think it is at first, which has served to be invaluable in my experience as someone who is interested in entrepreneurship and intellectual property,” she says.
Marina’s future goals are to bridge the gap between industry and academia. She hopes to be able to connect to students and industry leaders in science so that through collaboration, creative ideas can become reality. She says: “Today biotechnology is at the forefront of leading innovation, and as a business student I want to be involved in making sure that the right inventions can create solutions to unsolved real-world problems.”
Last year, the iGEM uOttawa team received the Silver Medal at the 2014 iGEM Giant Jamboree from among 245 universities world-wide. The Giant Jamboree is taking place at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston from September 24 – 28, 2015.
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 MBA students.
From July 24 – 26, 2015, there were teams from the BCom program as well as the MBA program participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to members of the winning BCom team:
Charley Wang
Chuqiao Liu
Hareesh Watson
Jun Wang
Naima Toqeer Israr
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CPA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
Vikas Gill is not only a third year BCom Finance student, he is also a member of the Gee-Gees varsity men’s basketball team. Vikas is part of an elite group of only 300 varsity student-athletes on the uOttawa campus, and of only 34 studying at the Telfer School.
Even though Vikas was recruited by the Gee-Gees to play basketball, he first chose to study at uOttawa because of the Telfer School’s reputation. “ I’m from Ottawa and wanted to stay in the region and the more research I did, the more I saw how many great things Telfer has to offer. Choosing to study here was an easy choice for me, and lucky for me, it also allowed me to keep pursuing my passion for basketball.”
Being a student-athlete and having to juggle a full course load along with the demands of playing a varsity sport does not leave much time for Vikas for much else. When he does find himself with a spare moment, this self-proclaimed “nerd” enjoys analytics. “I like to look at sports statistics and draw comparisons. Statistics are more than just numbers, they really do tell a story and I love discussing it.”
Vikas has grown especially fond of the BCom program over the last year now that the class sizes are smaller. As a result, he has been able to forge close friendships with some of his classmates and professors. “My favourite class to date is the Business Decision Models (BDM) class. The way the professor presented the course content really left a lasting impression with me. He did not leave anything to assumption or chance, including simple things like doing additions in Excel. That is a style of teaching that I really appreciate and respect.”
For Gill, what he loves most about the Telfer School is the genuine interest that his professors show for him as a person both in the classroom and on the court. “It’s very humbling for my Profs to recognize my contribution to the University beyond the classroom. They have been extremely understanding of the reality of the being a student-athlete and by being so accommodating on the academic side, they’ve allowed me to excel athletically as well.”
What matters most to Vikas is to give back to his community and he does so by volunteering in inner-city schools and by motivating youth to stay in school and follow their passion. For Vikas, uOttawa has allowed him to do just that – study in a program that he is passionate about and play a sport he loves. “Even though uOttawa and the Telfer School may seem big, I would tell any prospective student not to be intimidated. There is a great sense of community here at Telfer. The Profs and students are great and there’s a wide variety of clubs and associations to peek everyone’s interest. My advice would be to get involved and take advantage of your journey here.”
Vikas has done just that during his three years at uOttawa, having been part of the three highest ever finishes in the history of the 94 year old Gee-Gees men’s basketball program.
In five years from now, Vikas plans to have a Telfer degree in hand working either in investment banking, or perhaps working for a sports entertainment group in a finance position.
Kathleen has positively impacted the community in many ways through her entrepreneurial endeavours and is a testament to leadership and passion. Among these endeavours is her involvement as President of Enactus uOttawa, a social enterprise project focused on creating businesses revolving around the community's most pressing problems and her volunteer initiatives regarding mental health. She began her work in the community by starting a project aimed to empower at-risk youth, and help integrate them into a high school setting. Kathleen then ran a Nationally recognized non-profit organization called the Mental Health Project, which was designed to provide youth with the resources to access mental health care in their communities. In her role as President of Enactus uOttawa, she has contributed over 2,000 volunteer hours, empowered over 1,000 people, helped divert over 6,000 pounds of waste from landfills, and has helped raise over $90,000 in funding. Kathleen has grown and started several projects that work with at-risk youth, high school entrepreneurs, the homeless, marginalized immigrant women and individuals with mental illness. Her social enterprises include; EcoEquitable boutique, a fashion boutique that sells women's accessories made from repurposed fabric, which diverts harmful textile waste from landfills, and employs women, and CigBins a business that collects and recycles cigarette butts while providing meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with mental illness. Kathleen has secured multiple customers for CigBins and is projected to have over $100,000 in revenues in 2015, provide at least 5 jobs for individuals with mental illness and recycle hundreds of thousands of cigarette butt waste collected from city streets. Kathleen is a true leader and continues to inspire other young people around her to utilize their skills to have a social impact in the community.
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Throughout the weekend, we welcomed a new cohort of Telfer alumni and hosted two main events around convocation. Students first gathered at the New Graduate Reception to listen to inspiring keynote speeches from Ian Telfer, who also received his honorary doctorate this week, and Harley Finkelstein from Shopify.
After convocation, we welcomed some of our best students for our post-convocation award ceremony. Congratulations to:
Dominic Antonio Franchi (University Gold Medal, KPMG Award for Excellence, Highest Achievement in Accounting)
Jivan Maharaj (University Silver Medal, Highest Achievement in Finance)
Daniela Angarita (David Litvack Memorial Prize, Highest Achievement in Marketing)
Brendon David Campbell (Highest Achievement in Management Information Systems)
Maude Normand (Highest Achievement in Human Resource)
Angela Karr (Highest Achievement in International Management)
Adam Lyle Rouleau (Highest Achievement in e-Business)
Rally Stanovea (Highest Achievement in Entrepreneurship)
Linda Mouhamou (Alterna Social Responsibility Leadership Award)
Gabrielle Rochon-Sabourin (Highest Achievement in Management)
Rémi Nicolas Kévin Gregoire (Christian Navarre Strategic Management Award)
Kathleen Kemp and Ajmal Sataar have a nose for business and their heart set on making a difference in their community. Since 2013, the fourth-year students have combined studies in management and finance at the Telfer School of Management with running a business called CigBins, a cigarette butt collection and recycling service.
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.
The University of Ottawa has been named the 2015 Enactus National Champion by this country’s largest student leadership development organization, Enactus Canada, and a 72 person judging panel comprised of top Canadian CEOs, for their ability to enable social, environmental and economic progress through entrepreneurial action.
The team from the University of Ottawa's Telfer School of Management took home the Tim Hortons Cup in recognition of the impact made at home and abroad through a variety of projects, one of which is providing meaningful job opportunities to individuals with a mental illness.
The winning team included:
Kathleen Kemp
Ajmal Sataar
Sam Thumm
Hannah Behzadi
Sayem Reza
Timmy Guo
“Winning Nationals has been the most amazing ending to my university career. It’s surreal to see that the work that our team has accomplished over the past few years has made such an impact that we’ve been crowned the National champion” said Kathleen Kemp.
“Championing and empowering young people is as important to Tim Hortons as it is with our Tim Horton Children’s Foundation, which shares so many key values with Enactus,” said David Clanachan, President and Chief Operating Officer, Tim Hortons Canada. “Tim Hortons is proud to support Enactus and the entrepreneurial spirits of the young Canadians participating in this competition. We wish them continued success as they make a true difference in their own lives and in that of their communities.”
Enactus University of Ottawa stood victorious with their project CigBins, a cigarette butt and recycling service that has diverted 100,000+ cigarette butts off city streets and generated $73,200 in revenue.
“The Enactus team from the University of Ottawa greatly improved the quality of life for individuals by creating and implementing innovative and forward-thinking community projects,” said Nicole Almond, Enactus Canada president. “We are eager to see Enactus University of Ottawa compete and represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup.”
The National Champion team took home the Tim Hortons Cup and now advances to represent Canada at the Enactus World Cup taking place in South Africa in the fall of this year.
More than 1,200 delegates including the country’s brightest university and college students, academic professionals and top business leaders witnessed the crowning of the National Champion at the 2015 Enactus Canada National Exposition held in Toronto.
In addition, the financial Literacy team placed 3rd in their category. Congratulations to:
Mieka Loepp
Wendy Liang
Faraz Malik
About Enactus Canada
Enactus Canada, this country’s largest student leadership development organization, is shaping generations of entrepreneurial leaders who are passionate about advancing the economic, social and environmental health of Canada. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, more than 2,400 entrepreneurial postsecondary students led 250 community empowerment projects and business ventures this past year in communities coast to coast. As a global network of 36 countries, Enactus uses the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. For more information, visit enactus.ca.
All students in ADM 4350 (Equity Valuation) 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 TMX Group limited.
We would like to congratulate:
First place winners (Tie):
Group 1:
Stephanie Boucher
Alexa Lebel
Bruno Levesque
Group 2:
Cassy Aite
Daniel Julien
Third prize:
Ramy Saikaly
George Andre Skaff
Mikolaj Adam Kurman
Best poster Award:
Sepideh Ghorbani
Aryan Habib
Justin Mancni
Creativity Award:
Justin Au
Graeme Eastwood
We would like to thank all judges: Ray Yuen, Bryan Lunch, Stephen Kavanagh, Carly Shier, Pouya Safi, François-Éric Raciot, Allan Riding, and Michael Reynolds.
A total of 79 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 groups had to present on April 14th in a competition. 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:
Amanda Dai
Saqib Mehmood
Jordan Pronko
Connor Snider
Mohamed Hassan Youssouf
Second Place:
Idiris Guudle Aden
Erin Akerley
Nicholas Chretien
Elaheh Heidari-Garmesh
Julianne Selci
Thank you to CPA Ontario for sponsoring the event and to Professor Sheldon Weatherstone, Peter Brennae, Jessica Zhang, Sylvain Durocher, Debbie Rofner and Robert Collier for being judges.
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation is an exciting and integrative learning opportunity for BCom students as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class.
From March 20 to 22, there were 51 teams that participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to members of the winning team:
Daniel Julien
Emma Radloff
Julien Kang
Zach Allen
Danika Chilibeck
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CPA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
Throughout its 30 editions, the Michel Cloutier Marketing Competition has played a key role in bringing students closer to the business community by working on a real business case presented by a sponsoring organization. It was originally introduced by the late professor and Associate Dean, Michel Cloutier, in 1986. The competition was renamed in his honour in 1991.
This year, the sponsor of the competition was Canadian Heritage. It challenged students to fuse a variety of communications tools into a cohesive pan-Canadian strategy to engage youth in the 150thAnniversary of Confederation.
The judges enjoyed all three presentations and think they will use elements from each of them when Canadian Heritage develops the actual communications strategy for the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
Congratulations to team #2:
Swanie Desjardins
Fannie Jo Lehoux Duval
Rachel Lagacé
Emilie Mueller
Antoine Bégin
Antoine Bégin was also recognized as the best presenter of the evening and received a cash prize from the Marc Roy Fund.
Management student Barbara D. Robertson distinguished herself in many ways during her fall 2014 placement at Elections Canada. In addition to her outstanding academic record, Barbara far surpassed expectations during her placement, particularly through her strong sense of initiative. She showed her ingenuity by developing her own tool to let everyone know their roles and responsibilities when timelines overlap, making practical use of her management skills.
Barbara’s tool is still used as a template by her team and other senior department managers. She also takes part in extracurricular activities, holding various positions and helping to promote her faculty, while maintaining an outstanding grade point average.
Throughout her BCom, Barbara was very involved at Telfer and joined several clubs. In addition to her involvement in the Telfer Marketing Association, she was president for CASCO in 2014 and won first place in Business and Strategy at JDC the same year.
The 2015 edition of the Strat 24 case competition, put on by Enactus uOttawa, was a resounding success. Forty competitors, twenty from the Telfer School of Management and twenty from the Faculty of Engineering, worked tirelessly for 24-hours to find a feasible solution to a humanitarian problem provided by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Teams consisted of two engineers and two business students from the University of Ottawa.
The two finalist teams presented at the cocktail evening which was held at the Sheraton Hotel in Ottawa. The cocktail evening had a turnout of about one hundred people including sponsors such as IEEE, Hydro Ottawa and Ceridian. Guests at the final cocktail event also had the opportunity to hear Greg Lane, Managing Director at Cisco Canada, speak about the future of streaming and cloud technology.
The winning team and recipients of the $4,000 grand prize were Andre Smith, Joel Kapongo, Neil Gangal and Shahrukh Anis. Congratulation also goes out to the runner-up team and winners of their Pool, consisting of Anthony Tarasio, Mithun Kommalur, Kristopher Furuness and Philippe Legault. Thank you to all of sponsors, attendees and volunteers who helped make the weekend such a success.
As part of a Consumer Behaviour course, several groups of third-year students had the opportunity to look into consumption of gluten-free products for their term project. This project, under the supervision of professors Leila Hamzaoui and Michael Mulvey, was done with the help of Claude Bonnet, owner of Le Moulin de Provence and Olive & Chili in the Byward Market. Mr. Bonnet, who sells gluten-free products and dishes at Olive & Chili, introduced the students to the distinctive features of these products and to consumer perceptions and what prompted them to turn to these products. He also educated them about their benefits and, more generally, about the importance of the relationship between what we eat and long-term health.
Throughout the project, this joint effort mainly allowed the students to understand what matters to consumers of gluten-free products (i.e. the various motivations and values underlying the consumption of these products). Moreover, all of this enabled them to draw up a consumer profile for these products and make recommendations for developing the market for gluten-free products.
As a follow-up to this initiative, one female student went farther in her collaborative approach. Véronic Mageau, a third-year student in entrepreneurship and international management, has had a special interest in gluten-free products for a long time and understands the importance of a healthy diet. She therefore took the opportunity to develop an innovative project with Mr. Bonnet and the Telfer School of Management and to go from theory to practice. She started by creating social media accounts for Olive & Chili, which led her to discover other facets of marketing. With chef Serge Halbardier and operations management director Olivier Chaillot, she participated in developing new gluten- and dairy-free products to be put on the market. Finally, this collaboration should culminate in the implementation of gluten-free product awareness campaigns and the development of entrepreneurial initiatives with the help of various specialists from the Telfer School of Management.
Watch short videos made by the students (in French only):
All students in ADM4350 (Equity Valuation) 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 analyze the acquisition of 43 Kentucky Fried Chicken Outlets by Franchise Management Inc.
We would like to congratulate:
First prize:
Kyle Baker
Jeff Gottzmann
Jordan Kord
Second Prize:
Jivan Moharaj
Rebecca Mandal
Joshua Kunze
Third prize:
Stephanie Furlan
Mona Mikhael
Kailin Noivo
Best posters:
Sang Youn Kim
Justin Sweeney-Cadieux
Creativity Award winners:
Raphael Denize
Emily Lloyd
We would like to thank all judges: Jeff Drinkwater (ScotiaBank), Carly Shiler (Brookfield Renewable Energy Group), Yves Grandmatre (Owner of Oziles Marina), Fred Cotaras (Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems, Inc.), Pouya Safi and Professor François Eric Racicot.
For the second year in a row, Professor Leila Hamzaoui-Essoussi has been sought out by students at the Lycée Claudel as part of their supervised personal projects (TPE) which are mandatory research projects for students in first S (Grade 6 secondary).
TPEs are intended to diversify the ways in which students take ownership of program content by building on an interdisciplinary approach. They also aim to develop students' ability to be autonomous and take initiative when researching and using documents and information. Lycée students must then present their work in both a final written report and an oral presentation to explain their findings to a jury.
It was in this context that Professor Hamzaoui-Essoussi was solicited by a group of students in 2014 on the subject of gambling marketing: "Plans and strategies used by casinos." In 2015, she was consulted on the theme of "Coca Cola—Between globalization and rejection" in the context of the following problem: "How has Coca Cola become a symbol of the world's Americanization and a product in the struggle for identity?" The students were able to get the professor's input on a number of issues (effective marketing tactics, forms of advertising, cultural influence on consumption, differences in international strategies, etc.), which helped them gather information related to their TPE topic.
Six high performing finance students will be representing the Telfer School of Management at the 2015 Rotman International Trading Competition from February 19-22 in Toronto. RITC is a three-day intensive trading competition and conference that invites teams from 50 of the best universities around the world. The environment is fiercely competitive, and attracts the brightest students from a variety of different undergraduate and graduate programs. The Telfer 2015 team will consist of Cassy Aite, Ian Harten, Malanga Mposha, Daniel Shannon, William Tu, and Ethan Zhang.
Pouya Safi is the manager of the School’s Financial Research and Learning Lab and is in charge of managing and overseeing the development of this year’s team. He helps ensure that his students have all the necessary resources and guidance in order to succeed and compete at the highest level. Pouya has been coaching the team with both training sessions and preparation workshops/competitions. Pouya believes that the frequent training and meetings for the competition since November is something that the team has grown accustomed to and will be their competitive advantage over teams who put in little preparation.
The idea of intense focus and dedication is nothing new to any of these students who had to compete and interview for their spots on the team. Their regular meetings consist of creating complex models, constructing trading algorithms, and stress-testing strategies. William Tu comments, “The preparation towards the competition alone has been an amazing experience in terms of developing camaraderie, thinking strategically as a team, and embracing the fast-paced nature of trading”. Cassy Aite adds, “Our effectiveness comes from the synergetic skills that each and every member brings to the team”.
With the competition date of February 19 fast approaching, the atmosphere of eagerness continues to rise further. The team is concentrated and ready to challenge any obstacles that come their way.
Photo: Daniel Shannon, Ethan Zhang, William Tu, Malanga Mposha, Ian Harten and Cassy Aite
The Jeux du Commerce Central (JDCC) took place January 30 to February 1, 2015, in Toronto, Ontario, hosted by the Canadian Association of Business Students. The JDCC competition is one of Canada’s largest business school competition that brings together 700 delegates from 14 universities across Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes to compete in academic, sporting and social events. A delegation of 56 students represented the Telfer School of Management.
Congratulations to students for winning the following:
Human Resource (1st place): Negar Jeyrani, Brooke Runions and Emily Slade
Coach: Professor Francois Chiocchio
MIS (3rd place): Patricia Matibag, Erik Mosney and Kristjan Luik
Coach: Saxon Giddings (4th year student)
Entrepreneurship (3rd place): Tina Liusun, Anastasia Savvidis and Blair Templeton
Coach: Jaclyn Tokarewicz (4th year student)
The 10th Annual Organizational Behaviour Case Competition (OBCC) is a two-day case competition on Organizational Behaviour (and Human Resources) between 12 universities, that was hosted by the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University took place on Friday January 9 and Saturday January 10, 2015. The Organizational Behaviour Case Competition (OBCC) is a place where students with a passion for HR gather annually to learn, discuss, network, and compete in a rigorous day-long case competition.
This year the theme was “Wired” managing through a digital workplace.
Congratulations to following students for winning the first place!
Team members: Kseniya Stogniy, Brooke Runions, Richard Laberge, and Abhiram Sarvepalli.
Coach: Breanna Scanlan (4th year student who participated in OBCC last year).
The Jeux du commerce took place January 2 to 4, 2015, at the Université de Sherbrooke in Sherbrooke, Québec. The Jeux du Commerce competition is an interuniversity event that brings together 1,040 delegates from 13 Eastern Canadian universities to compete in academic, sporting and social events. A delegation of 83 students represented the Telfer School of Management. The year marks the 25th anniversary of the University of Ottawa’s participation in this competition.
Congratulations to students for winning the following:
Human Ressource (3rd place): Negar Jeyrani, Brooke Runions and Emily Slade Coach: Professor François Chiocchio
International Business Case (3rd place): Drew Morash, Gabriel Rubio Maldonado and Jaclyn Tokarewicz Coach: Anika Laperrière
Committee of the Year (1st place): Aghilas Chebini, Renée Leduc, Jaclyn Tokarewicz, Saxon Giddings, Gabriel Rubio Maldonado, Michel Bedard, Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau, Drew Morash, Diana Kolesarova, Gina Chong, Dominic Franchi and Frédéric Desnoyers
Community Involvement: Recognition as one of the top three university delegations with the most outstanding community involvement initiatives leading up to the competition.
On Thursday, November 20, seven teams of four to six students participated in a case competition as part of their Case Studies in Accounting course. The winning team and the team that ranked second were respectively awarded $2,200 and $1,000. These prizes are courtesy of CPA Canada and PME Évaluateurs d’entreprises. The Logan-Katz firm also gave a $100 gift certificate at Best Buy to each member of the winning team. Marie-Geneviève Bégin from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, Denis Chainé, partner at Logan-Katz, and Jean-Philippe Aubé, partner at PME Évaluateurs d’entreprises, acted as judges alongside Professor Sylvain Durocher. On the first photo, from left to right, we can see Jean-Philippe Aubé, students from the winning team (Nicholas Guindon, Darquise Labonté, Émilie St-Denis, Valérie Beauclair and Paul Kekanovich – Hamza Benidir, absent) and Professor Sylvain Durocher. The second photo, from left to right, shows Jean-Philippe Aubé, the students from the team that came second (Louis-Philippe Lepage-Madore, Sarah Ouerd, Laila Taga-Mumche, Karine Raymond, Cherihane El Mestassi, Mathieu Purney) and Professor Sylvain Durocher. Congratulations to the winning teams!
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation is an exciting and integrative learning opportunity for BCom students as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class.
From November 13-16, there were 37 teams that participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to members of the winning team:
Brandon Clifford
Emem Etok
Benjamin Guthrie
Jamie Kibsey
Sarah Le Mon
The CPA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CPA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
On December 1, 2014, CASCO students took to the stage at the Delta Ottawa City Centre and raised a record breaking $66.530 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). The theme of this year’s event was “A Red & White Affair” in honour of the success of Canadian artists and philanthropists.
For the past 15 years, CASCO has been a major event for the Telfer School of Management that is entirely choreographed, organized and executed by like-minded Telfer School students. In recent years, students from other faculties have joined, as performers, in what became a spectacular show of talent and philanthropy that brings together over 500 people including prominent community leaders and ambassadors for CHEO. This year the team paid tribute to past CASCO presidents and members and attendees got the opportunity to meet this year’s CASCO family who expressed immense gratitude towards CHEO, without who the young Leo would not have made it.
In preparation for this event, CASCO students spent countless hours auditioning, choreographing, and organizing this annual gala show to raise money for CHEO. The Telfer School of Management and the wider University of Ottawa community remain very proud of students who decide to commit time and energy on this event every year for the positive impacts that they leave on our community.
This year marks the return of the Telfer School of Management at the largest HR competition in eastern Canada. The HR Symposium took place from November 21 to 23 at the University of Quebec at Rimouski. The competition brings together more than 250 university students from nine business schools
The delegation distinguished itself by winning two 3rd place trophies;
- 3rd position in the collective agreement negotiation simulation.
Samantha Paiement
Benjamin Macré
Émilie Fournier
- 3rd position in the case of human resources management.
Brook Runions,
Ibrahim Gheriani
Mia-Kin Viau-Gamache
Congratulations to all the members of the delegation that was composed of Maral Eliott, Marc Anthony and Patrick Guénette Patenaude (quiz) Émilie Fournier, Samantha payment, Benjamin Macré (collective bargaining agreement); Magali Mayrand Janice Chapman and Richard Laberge (arbitration); Brooke Runions, Mia-Kin-Viau Gamache and Ibrahim Gheriani (HRM case); Renée Leduc, Oneal Ishimwe Fadi Azzi, Cameron Harvey, Tamara and Alexander Roy-Stang Hannoun (sports) and Patrick Furgeson, Sera Ertan, Steven Benoît Ménard and Marie-Pierre Lafrance for their work as coaches and volunteers.
Congratulations to Rafael Morin, who assumes the dual role of president and coordinator of the Telfer delegation. With the help of all the participants, a colossal work has been done to ensure our participation in the competition.
The delegation wishes to thank the coaches, Suzanne Payette and Jane O'Really and offer a special thank you to the coach and godmother Anne-Julie Charlebois students in human resources. They also want to acknowledge the cooperation of Telfer alumni Audrey Lamarche and Alex Massi.
The financial contribution of the Telfer Human Resources Association (ARHHRA) has been essential to the project and the organizers would like to thank the president of the association, Abhiram Sarvepalli.
Finally, all participants want to personally thank the Rimouski organizing committee who made this event a success.
Photo: Brook Runions, Ibrahim Gheriani and Mia-Kin Viau-Gamache (HRM)
The University of Ottawa iGEM team traveled to Boston, MA for the annual iGEM World Jamboree competition which was held from October 30 to November 1. The team of students from science, engineering, and Telfer competed against hundreds of university teams from other parts of the world for the most innovative application of synthetic biology. This was a particularly successful year as our team took home the silver medal in the undergraduate division for our tri-stable switch, a system responsible for cell differentiation.
This was a successful year for the finance team as well. It reached out to sponsors and set up fundraisers to ensure sufficient funding so that as many of the team members as possible could attend the competition. This experience in Boston has helped students connect with many innovative students from all over the world, who have now become contacts for future collaborations.
iGEM will resume its activities in the new year and will be looking forward to more unique experiences on the team and establishing a closer link between business and science collaborations.
As members of a uOttawa student organization called Enactus, my colleague Ajmal Sataar and I are always looking for ways to provide opportunities to those in need. Enactus tackles social, economic and environmental issues through business and is focused on bringing social enterprise to the community. When the opportunity came to bring these opportunities to the town of Iqaluit in Nunavut, we jumped at the chance to travel there.
Each year, Enactus teams travel around the world to bring enterprise to third world communities that are lacking in resources, funding and support. Our team feels that there is a lot of room for economic development through social enterprise and entrepreneurship within the confines of our own country. Nunavut, a territory with lots of potential for growth, is an area in which we wanted to invest time and energy in order to bring more opportunities to people in the North.
Read the full article by Kathleen Kemp on The Gazette Website [This link is no longer available]
The 2014 edition of Place à la jeunesse was a great success! On November 15, 2014, students from 14 French-speaking high schools across Ontario competed in the final round of this prestigious academic competition held at the Desmarais Building at Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. This competition hosts 90 participants who showcase their analytical and communication skills. Every year, Place à la jeunesse declares three winning teams in each academic stream: accounting, marketing, entrepreneurship, and debates. Each participant of these winning teams, as well as the best presenter of each stream receive one of the forty scholarships up for grabs, that amount to a total of $82,000.
The competition provides the participants with the necessary competencies and the confidence to succeed in the world of business. “We are involved with Place à la jeunesse since our own participation back in high school, in 2008. Every year, we were proud to be part of this competition that touched us personally. This event is an unforgettable experience that most certainly pushed us to study at the Telfer School of Management! Our goal every year is to pass on that same passion onto the leaders of tomorrow.” said the Co-Presidents of the 11th edition, Frédéric Desnoyers and Dominic Franchi.
Every year, numerous partners help shape the success of this event. Place à la jeunesse 2014 wishes to thank them for their great generosity:
University of Ottawa
Telfer School of Management
Jeux du commerce Ottawa
Ministry of Education of Ontario
Student Federation of the University of Ottawa
Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien
Deloitte LLP
SME Business Appraisers
Conseil scolaire catholique Providence
Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario
DocUcentre
Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est
BDO Canada LLP
Kyalis Group Inc.
Marcil Lavallée
i-tag Promo
Here are the winners of Place à la jeunesse 2014!
Accounting
1st Place – Scholarship of $5,000
École secondaire régionale de Hawkesbury :
Claudia Murray
Nicholas Séguin
Sandrine Pageau
2nd Place – Scholarship of $1,000
École secondaire catholique de Casselman:
Alexandre Bisson
Ariane Parisien
Philippe Laflèche
3rd Place – Scholarship of $500
École secondaire catholique Cité des Jeunes:
Andréanne Fraser
Jacob Mongenais
Rémi Dumais
Entrepreneurship
1st Place - Scholarship of $5,000
École secondaire catholique Garneau:
Marc-André Arsenault
Nadia Hiebert
Patrick Buffett
2nd Place – Scholarship of $1,000
École secondaire publique Gisèle-Lalonde:
Jean-Luc Martineau
Mohan Aubeeluck
Nathan Liang
3rd Place – Scholarship of $500
École secondaire catholique L’Escale:
Antoine Cantin
Joshua Boyle
Mikaël Gaumond
Marketing
1st Place – Scholarship of $5,000
École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé:
Mukund Mauji
Nader Allam
Vlad Cojanu
2nd Place - Scholarship of $1,000
École secondaire catholique L’Escale:
Isabelle Charette
Jacob Racine
Pascale Rioux
3rd Place - Scholarship of $500
École secondaire catholique de Hearst:
Alex Dalcourt
Jean-Philippe Dumais
Sabrina Mastelloto
Debates
1st Place – Scholarship of $5,000
École secondaire catholique de Casselman:
Joël Charbonneau
Katia Ranger
Nathaniel Quenneville
2nd Place – Scholarship of $1,000
École secondaire publique Le Sommet:
Alex Hazan
Emmanuelle Lamonico
Sébastien Sauvé
3rd Place - Scholarship of $500
École secondaire catholique Garneau:
Élisabeth Bruins
Maxim Bourgeois
Vanessa Bournival
Best Presenter
Accounting - Scholarship of $1,000
Claudia Murray, École secondaire catholique régionale de Hawkesbury
Marketing - Scholarship of $1,000
Jérémy Proteau, École secondaire publique Le Sommet
The 2nd Telfer Trading Competition (TTC) finished off with another successful year here at the University of Ottawa with forty registered students. These students gathered October 4, 2014 to compete, work hard, and push their trading capabilities to their limits. Participants had the opportunity to practice trading financial securities, build financial models and macros, and experience the thrill of a classic trading pit. The event was a joint collaboration between the Financial Research and Learning Lab and the University of Ottawa Student Investment Club (OSIC).
Many students dedicated time to prepare and train for the different challenges within the competition. The day was tough and intense and only the most prepared participants were able to emerge victorious and outperform their peers for a prize pool totalling over $800. The top six students measured by the aggregate results of all the cases, won cash prizes ranging from fifty to two-hundred dollars. There were also cash and prizes given to the winners of each of the five cases. However, the students were seeking a much greater prize as a result of the competition.
The competition was the only opportunity to try out for this year's Rotman International Trading Competition team which will go to Toronto to represent the school in February of 2015. Only six very exceptional students from the University of Ottawa are chosen for this prestigious competition each year, and the Telfer Trading Competition was the selection platform for it. The structure of TTC was designed to help identify ambitious, skilled, and driven candidates for the University's RITC team. The top twelve ranking students were given the opportunity to formally apply. Their rankings, along with their CV, cover letter and a formal interview will be used by the final selection committee.
The event began in the large conference room in Desmarais where students were welcomed and given a brief introduction. Shortly after, students began to clear their throats and ready themselves for the social outcry portion of the competition. This segment resembled an olden day trading pit where individuals were required to wave their arms and yell their bid and ask orders. Participants traded on the Telfer-500 index; a simulated index created by Alex Tyutyunnik who is a recent Telfer alumnus and now an employee at TD Securities in risk management. Alex made the trip down from Toronto for the competition and helped tremendously in preparation and acted as key administrator in running the event. The Telfer-500 index was programmed to frequently produce news that would drive the index price up and down. The charts and news updates were displayed on four massive projections located on all surrounding walls of the conference room. Students needed to successfully interpret the news, and make investment decisions based on their findings. Once a student found a counterpart for the trade, they then needed to confirm the transaction on an order sheet and submit it to the designated market makers. Liquidity could only be created through the transactions of buyers and sellers within the trading floor, so competition was fierce.
After the social outcry portion, students transitioned to the computer lab for the case-based segment. This second portion was focused on utilizing an order-driven market simulation called Rotman Interactive Trader. The cases consisted of a Dynamic Order Arrival case, Microstructure Capstone case, Commodities Capstone case, and finally an Algorithmic Arbitrage case. Every single scenario offered a new category that required a different skillset, trading style, and risk adaptability. Each case contained three rounds which lasted between five and ten minutes. As trading went live, you could hear students yelling and cheering as they watched their profits go up and down. When volatility swept the screens of all the traders, you could sense that the atmosphere in the room had changed with unease. All traders were glued to their screens watching for any indicators of price fluctuation or news. Students needed to focus and pay full attention to any opportunities for capital gain. Every second was valuable, and the ability to take advantage of those seconds meant even more. The energetic environment closely resembled the hectic nature of a trading floor.
Half way into the second part of the competition, coffee was served and students had the opportunity to take a break and chat with their peers. After the break had ended, students went back to their trading stations and began to prepare for the final case – Algorithmic Arbitrage. For this specific scenario, participants were required to pre-construct an algorithm on Excel VBA that would take advantage of the price discrepancies between the same security which traded two different exchanges. When the case went live, students were required to stand back and watch while their algorithms battled it out.
The simulation-based concept proved once again to be a great learning experience for any student wishing to pursue a career in the financial markets. The style of the competition allowed students to practice making optimal decisions based on unexpected circumstances and scenarios. The hands-on experience offered in this event would not have been possible without educational resources like the Financial Research and Learning Lab. The lab is always working towards providing students with more opportunities for growth, self-development and achievement. In order to make these competitions more rewarding and fulfilling in the future, the Financial Research and Learning Lab will continue to work on projects with student clubs like OSIC. It is said that planning for the 3rd Telfer Trading Competition is already underway for January 2015. However, the next one is rumoured to be on a whole different scale!
The day's winners were as follows:
Overall
Cassy Aite
William Tu
Luke Filice
(Tie) Ian Harten, Ethan Zhang
Max Davis
Case Winners
Social Outcry Winner: Cassy Aite
Dynamic Order Arrival: Talib Sadat
Microstructure Capstone: Daniel Shannon
Commodities Capstone: Ethan Zhang
Algorithmic Arbitra: Ethan Zhang
Photo: Cassy Aite (Centre), Alex Tyutyunnik (Left), Pouya Safi (Right)
Marina Kidisyuk will travel to Boston, Massachussetts with the rest of the uOttawa International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) group to present their synthetic biology project. In order to raise funds to go to Boston, the team partered up with Let's Talk Science and Mini Enrichment Courses to offer educational seminars for children.
Thirty students from different faculties and programs came together to develop this project and Marina played a key role in finance and marketing, using the expertise she acquired in her BCom classes.
“Not only will we have the opportunity to work alongside some of the most innovative students from science and engineering, but we will be representing the University of Ottawa and the Telfer School of Management on a world stage. This will be an exciting time for us to meet students just like ourselves from other countries pitching new ideas that could shape the course of our future. As business students, it is exciting knowing that investing our expertise into this field is helping many medical and technological possibilities become our reality.”
As part of his Telfer BCom, Daryo worked as an intern for the County of Riverside, more specifically the Office of Foreign Trade, Office of Military Services and the Office of Film and Television. In his role, he learned about job creation, business development, project management and economic development in a cross-cultural context. As one of the interns at the Office of Foreign Trade, he was recently recognized and awarded a distinguished intern award.
He was able to secure this internship with the help of Lee Fraser, a Telfer alumnus working in California, and recommends the experience to other students who are looking for a challenge.
Read an article about Daryo's internship in Export Magazine [This link is no longer available].
Students from the Telfer School of Management have placed among the top student leaders in Canada at the Enactus National competition that was held in Calgary, Alberta from April 28-30, 2014. This success comes on the heels of many accomplishments this year, including huge success at the Enactus Regional Exposition.
Ajmal Sataar won Student Leader of the Year, and Kathleen Kemp was named the HSBC Woman Leader of Year, Central Canada, and was the runner up nationally. The team won 6 other awards, and was a Semi-Finalist among the Top 8 teams in Canada.
“These are tremendous accomplishments that speak to our students’ personal dedication and hard work” said Stephen Daze, the Telfer School’s faculty advisor for Enactus uOttawa.
Awards received:
First Place in the TD Entrepreneurship Challenge Central Canada
First Place in the Capital One Financial Education Challenge Central Canada
First Place for Best Project in the RBC Newcomer Advancement Project Fund
Third Place in the Scotiabank Ecoliving Green Challenge
Third Place for Best Project in the Walmart Women's Economic Empowerment Grant
Ajmal Sataar - Student Leader of the Year
Kathleen Kemp - HSBC Women Leader of the Year, Central Canada, and Runner Up nationally
Stephen Daze - John Dobson Fellow for his work with the team as a Faculty Advisor
Semi-Finalist in the National Competition, Top 8 in Canada
All students in ADM4350 (Equity Valuation) 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 estimate the value of Ozile’s Marina and Tackle Corporation.
We would like to congratulate:
First prize:
Vincent Baulne-Charland
Steve Kavanagh
Nour Alyoussef
Second Prize:
Tony Ehteshami
Drew Alexander
Oliver Alexander
Douglas Spark
Third prize:
Folco Colonna
Jean-Pierre Godeme
Best posters (two groups):
Rita Anne Awad
Lara Salem
Eric Werner
Jessica Gilbert Gagné
Robert Allan Frank
Layla Ahmed Reza
Creativity Award winner:
Joshua Andrew King
Bradley Garrett Ney
Andrew Reid Potter
We would like to thank all judges: Kash Pashootan, Jeff Drinkwater (Scotia Bank), Jeff Blattman (EDC), Yves Grandmaitre (Owner of Ozile's Marina and Tackle) and Pouya Safi.
A total of 85 students divided in 10 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 groups had to present on April 4th in a competition. The winners received the Certified General Accountants of Ontario (CGAO) Case Competition prize for Case Studies in Accounting.
We would like to congratulate the winners:
Leah Wright
Eric Chausse
Osman Issack
Vincent Paquette
John-Joseph Patafie
Taylor Servais
Thank you to CGA Ontario for sponsoring the event and to Professor Brian Conheady, Professor Sheldon Weatherstone and André Auger from Welch, LLP for being judges.
MBA teams of students in Professor Garrick Apollon's MBA 5211 – Corporate Governance and Ethics course worked on a term project named Global Anti-Corruption Project aiming to develop an anti-corruption corporate governance compliance program for small Canadian global companies. The students' challenge was organized according to the format of the television show, "The Apprentice." The students had to submit a written report and make an oral presentation to an evaluation committee composed of:
Sgt. Pat Poitevin (acting as the chief judge for the Global Anti-Corruption Project ) Senior Investigator - Outreach Coordinator Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sensitive and International Investigations National Division
Alison FitzGerald, Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright in Ottawa
Yolanda Banks, Senior Corporate Social Responsibility at Export Development Canada
Mark Grenon, CPA, Managing Forensic Accountant at PWGSC (Government of Canada)
Professor Garrick Apollon, Telfer School of Management
Susan Côté-Freeman, Programme Manager, Private Sector Programmes at Transparency International
Allison Caverly, General Manager GoodLife FITNESS and alumnus of the Telfer School
Professor Michael Miles, MBA Director at the Telfer School
Congratulations to the members of the challenge-winning team:
Juhee Anderson
Mark Lyons
Craig Marsh (team leader)
Alex Nderitu
Paola Osorio
Deyanira Reyes-Moran
Brad Smith
Connie Sung
As explained by Professor Apollon, it is not common for students to be required to make a presentation and be evaluated by members of the business community and not only by their professor.
"I was nervous for them and I am proud of their accomplishments and their work. Just like in "The Apprentice" show, they got some harsh but very constructive criticism about their work. They didn’t get fired but they definitely learned a lot and most importantly got a lesson of humility. I also want to express my deep appreciation to Sergeant Patrice Poitevin from RCMP who acted as our chief judge and worked passionately on this project with me and all the judges, who all generously gave more than one workday to this Telfer School project," said Professor Apollon.
Inspired by his experience with Professor Adam Grant of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Professor Apollon’s intentions in creating the Global Anti-Corruption Project was to have his students work on a real project of a social and ethical nature.
“My father came to Canada from Haiti for a better future because Haiti always experienced until today severe problems with political instability and corruption. However, corruption is not just a problem happening in developing nations like Haiti; recently our country has faced its share of corruption scandals. Therefore, like I always say to my students’ ethical leadership in business or in our lives is something that we should all aspire and work on every day. This is why the Telfer School decided to partner with RCMP instead to work with one company, like Alain Doucet, Assistant Dean, External relations at Telfer said to me we will have the chance to have a meaningful impact not just to one company but to the whole business community in Canada because RCMP will be able to use our work and research. The Global Anti-Corruption Project was only possible because of a great team effort and I was honoured to have the chance to “quarterback” this project. We are currently running the Global Anti-Corruption Project in my undergraduate class of Multinational Business Policy. We are starting something big and sustainable that RCMP would also like to replicate in all business schools across the country”.
The winners in the 7th annual Engineering Graduate Poster Competition from E-Business Technologies (MEBT / MSc) and System Sciences (MSc / MSysSc) were all students supervised by Telfer School professors! These are terrific results that highlight the burgeoning research collaborations between the Faculty of Engineering and the Telfer School through these two joint programs. Telfer professors publish high-quality papers with graduate students in these programs and secure valuable external grants.
The competition was held on March 27 at the School of Information and Computer Science as part of Graduate Studies and Engineering Research Day and involved 30 judges from industry and government funding agencies. It was the first year in which EBT and Systems Science participated and they were extremely well represented with 9 of the 59 research posters presented. Several of the faculty and students in the competition are also involved in projects supported by the IBM Centre for Business Analytics and Performance at the Telfer School.
Congratulations to all Telfer School / Systems Science and EBT participants:
1st Place
Brain-based Biomarkers for Depression Diagnoses
By: Fadwa Gamal Al-Azab (EBT)
Supervisor: Bijan Raahemi of the Telfer School
2nd Place
Risk Analysis in Coastal Communities Decision Making
By: Sara Mohammadi (Systems Science)
Supervisor: Dan Lane of the Telfer School
3rd Place
Business Intelligence - Enabled Adaptive Enterprise Architecture
By: Okhaide Samson Akhigbe (Systems Science)
Supervisor: Daniel Amyot of the Faculty of Engineering and Greg Richards of the Telfer School
Other students supervised by Telfer faculty members
Mona Rezaei, Systems Science (Combining Balanced Score Card and Data Envelopment Analysis for Analyzing the Performance of Small Scale Fisheries) with Dan Lane.
Alex Chung, Systems Science (Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning: A Value Based Approach to Preparing Coastal Communities for Sea Level Rise) with Dan Lane and Colleen Mercer-Clark.
Fahad Saleh Alaieri, EBT (Knowledge Management in Collaborative Environment) with Bijan Raahemi.
Morvarid Kardan, EBT (Sentiment Analysis and Opinion Mining using Twitter: A quantitative research on the correlation between specifically defined Twitter feeds and Consumer Confidence Index) with Gurprit Kindra and Michael Guolla.
The Telfer School of Management held the Winter 2014 Michel Cloutier Marketing Competition on April 1, 2014 at the Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the winning team, Team 2 (Julie-Anne Gagné, Julia Nikonorova, Katiana Paré, Christine Rahep, Tamara Saikaley), who provided the best insight into how the Regroupement des gens d'affaires' Business Assistance Program could increase its visibility and encourage use of its services by local organizations.
The winning team received a cash prize of $1,200 and Corrin Whiteway, the student with the best presentation skills, received a $500 prize.
Fall 2013
The Telfer School of Management held the fall 2013 Michel Cloutier Marketing Competition on December 3, 2013 at the Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the winning team, Team 2 (Jocelyne Dramisino, Marinela Dzonlic, Lauren Lemay, Ned Nadima Khenzu, Lindsay O'Bryan), who provided the best insight into how Julie Blais-Comeau could maximize sales of her new book on business etiquette.
The winning team received a cash prize of $1,200 and Vanessa Khoury, the student with the best presentation skills, received a $500 prize.
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation is an exciting and integrative learning opportunity for BCom students as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class.
From March 13-16, students participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the members of the winning team:
François Forrest
Rebecca Mandal
Emily Ramji
Sophia Pavlou
Pierce Colley
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CGA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
We are proud to announce that every team we sent at Happening Marketing finished in the top three for the academic cases. This year, the competition took place at Université Laval in Quebec City.
B2B (Business to business Marketing) - 1st place
Antoine Bégin
Corey Ellis
Linda Mouhamou
Coaches : Professor David Large, Christopher Sisto
Assistant Coach: Diane Mugeni
International Marketing - 1st place
Carley Clouthier
Vincent Baulne
Martin Rivard
Coach: Leila Hamzaoui
Strategy - 1st place
Lloyd Alexander
Sara Valentino
Saxon Giddings
Coaches: Claude Beaupre and Jayme Fallen
Assistant Coach: Christina Sluyter
Relationship Marketing - 3rd place
Brittany Blain-Wambolt
Julie-Anne Gagné
Andrew Packer
Coach: Mike Weatherhead, Myron Gomes and professor James Bowen
Integrated Marketing Communication - 3rd place
Raphaël Morin
Samantha Buch
Vineeth Sampathkumar
Coaches: professor Michael Guolla and Shawna OBrien
In addition, the Telfer School was named the school who improved the most this year.
This country’s largest student leadership development organization, Enactus Canada, hosted their 2014 Regional Exposition – Central Canada at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto on March 13-14, 2014. The event inspired and celebrated the entrepreneurial action of student teams and student entrepreneurs across Central Canada.
The Regional Exposition brings together over 500 student leaders, academic professionals and top executives and entrepreneurs from Central Canada around the shared cause of transforming lives through entrepreneurial action.
During the event, post-secondary students competed for prestigious regional championship titles by showcasing their community outreach projects and business ventures to judging panels composed of business professionals.
Three team-based competitions focused on entrepreneurship, environmental issues and financial education, as well as an individual-based competition for full-time students operating full-time businesses, took place during the Regional Exposition.
Enactus uOttawa was named Regional Champion of the Capital One Financial Education Challenge and Regional Champion of TD Entrepreneurship Challenge in League A. The team also placed as second runner-up for the ScotiaBank Ecoliving Green Challenge. Enactus uOttawa Co-President, Kathleen Kemp, was recognized as one of the HSBC Woman Leaders of tomorrow for Central Canada.
Regional champions move on to the national level of competition taking place April 28-30 at the 2014 Enactus Canada National Exposition in Calgary, Alberta.
To learn more about Enactus uOttawa’s community projects, visit www.enactusuottawa.ca
Congratulations to Gabrielle Vacon for winning the April Nauta Award and being named Telfer CO-OP student of the year.
When doing her placement with BDO Canada, Gabrielle Vachon worked on a number of accounting, tax and certification projects. She also dealt with numerous clients during the course of her work at BDO. Gabrielle was given responsibility for the Ottawa East region, a challenge she found quite interesting. Her supervisor described her as someone able to work very well not only on her own but also as part of a team. She gained experience analyzing various types of information, an important skill accountants must possess. Gabrielle is an employee who believes a great deal in her work in accounting and will complete her certification requirements.
Procter and Gamble partnered with the Ted Rogers School of Management to create a national competition combining business and technological innovation, which sets it apart from existing competitions.
Teams from every Canadian province were extended an invitation to compete on March 1, 2014 in Toronto.
Congratulations to Roberta Kramchynsky, Bhumika Bakshi, Kimberly Barret and Sharon Thomas who came back with the bronze cup (3rd place out of 12 teams)!
She has owned stages across Canada and the United States and is only at the dawn of her promising music career. Fourth year student Krista Jane El-Khoury is doing a bachelor of commerce with a specialization in accounting — and she’s also a singer. With a raspy soulful voice, El-Khoury hopes that her career will be one driven more by passion than fame. We caught up with her to discuss her love for music, her career goals and her world-renowned opera singer sister, Joyce El-Khoury.
Read the article in the Gazette [This link is no longer available]
The Telfer School of Management finishes 3rd overall at the 2014 Jeux du commerce (JDC) competition.
The University of Ottawa would like to congratulate the team of 90 Telfer School of Management students that represented us at the Jeux du commerce 2014 (JDC). This annual competition, featuring 13 universities from Eastern Canada, was hosted by the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières from January 3-5, 2014.
Congratulations to the President of the delegation, Chloé Laframboise, for her leadership in bringing the Academic Cup back to Telfer. This year's delegation brought home 8 trophies, including the Academic Cup, which has been won by the Telfer School for the sixth time in seven years.
Team Awards:
Academic Cup: Top school in the academic activities
Coach: Guy Laflamme (ADM3994 Preparation and participation to Business Cases I)
Frank Bouchard , student in an interdisciplinary program in engineering management, developed the prototype of Wipebook because he didn’t like to waste paper. Wipebook is basically a notebook that allows you to erase what’s on the page and then reuse it.
While finishing his master’s degree in engineering management, he met Toby Maurice and Thomas Sychterz, who were also in Professor Stephen Daze’s (Telfer Entrepreneur in Residence) High-Tech Entrepreneurship course (MBA6262). Toby and Thomas eventually became co-founders of Wipebook.
In MBA 6262, Stephen Daze really emphasized validating an idea through real sales, and so the team took a leap of faith and manufactured 300 Wipebooks. Sales were primarily to students on campus. During the MBA 6262 course, the team made a first attempt at a crowdfunding campaign with Kickstarter, but only managed to raise $200.
Eight months later, the business was going well and over 150 books had been sold. The team decided to give Kickstarter a second try, during global entrepreneurship week, in hopes to gain more awareness and develop a new prototype in large quantities.
The company raised more than $400,000, which is one hundred times above their initial goal.
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation is an exciting and integrative learning opportunity for BCom students as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class.
From November 13-17, students participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the members of the winning team:
Wilson Li
Alex Tyutyunnik
Brian Juin Phon Chan
Edward Alexei Porturas
William Eveleigh
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CGA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
Only three years after its official launch, local start-up Spoonity has already signed one of Ottawa’s biggest coffee shop chains, Bridgehead, as a client, and is in process of creating a pilot project for national chain Pita Pit. The winner of the 2012 start-up Garage competition, Spoonity is the brainchild of Telfer alumnus Myron Gomes and his business partner, Max Bailey, whose focus is encouraging customer loyalty through digital punch card rewards technology.
While rewarding customer loyalty is not a new practice, the company’s selling point is making the online experience more interactive and engaging for both the customer and the merchant.
Le 9 novembre 2013 a eu lieu la ronde finale de la compétition académique Place à la jeunesse, évènement organisé par Les Jeux du Commerce Ottawa en collaboration avec l’École de gestion Telfer, l’Université d’Ottawa et le Ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario. Trente équipes réunissant 90 élèves des écoles secondaires francophones provenant de partout en Ontario ont participé à cette compétition de haut calibre.
Un gros merci à toutes les écoles qui ont participé à la 10e édition, surtout aux enseignants-accompagnateurs ainsi qu’à tous les élèves qui ont grandement impressionné les juges avec la qualité de leur travail et leur professionnalisme.
Au total, 16 bourses d’une valeur totalisant 82 000 $ ont été accordées aux gagnants des volets de comptabilité, marketing, entrepreneuriat et débat oratoire.
Résultats 2013
Félicitations à tous les élèves qui ont participé à la compétition Place à la jeunesse 2013. Ce fut une expérience enrichissante et inoubliable.
Gagnants du cas de comptabilité
1re place – Bourse de 5 000 $
École secondaire régionale de Hawkesbury :
Anita Gut
Mikaëlla Leblanc
Marie-Ange Tessier
2e place – Bourse de 1 000 $
École secondaire catholique de Casselman:
Maria Laflèche
Brady Boisvert
Miguel Laroche
3e place – Bourse de 500 $
École secondaire catholique l’Escale :
Benoit Brunet
Isabelle Bouchard
Valérie Godin
Gagnants du cas de marketing
1re place - Bourse de 5 000 $
École secondaire catholique L’Escale:
Antoine Cantin
Joshua Boyle
Mikaël Gaumond
2e place - Bourse de 1 000 $
École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé :
James Zhao
Kevin Gammage
Michael Norris
3e place - Bourse de 500 $
École secondaire publique Le Sommet :
Charles-William Desroches
Jérémy Proteau
Manuel Leclair
Gagnants du cas en entrepreneuriat
1re place – Bourse de 5 000 $
École secondaire publique Le Sommet :
Dérick Giroux
Sébastien Sauvé
Alexandre Gélineau
2e place - Bourse de 1 000 $
École secondaire catholique E.J. Lajeunesse :
Amanda Drury
Christine St-Pierre
Siri Gauthier
3e place - Bourse de 500 $
École secondaire publique Gisèle-Lalonde :
Hodane Abdi
Narimane Ait Hamou
Sara Zkiou
Gagnants du volet des débats oratoires
1re place - Bourse de 5 000 $
École secondaire Étienne-Brûlé :
Abtine Monavvari
Alphadyo Balde
Safya Lachgar
2e place - Bourse de 1 000 $
École secondaire Saint-François-Xavier :
Christopher Tucker
Marjorie-Ann Hurtubise
Sarah Tessier
3e place - Bourse de 500 $
École secondaire Publique Le Sommet:
Cendrine Lavigne
Tristan Joanette
Charles Séguin
Les Jeux du Commerce Ottawa, l’École de gestion Telfer de l’Université d’Ottawa et les partenaires de Place à la jeunesse 2013 aimeraient féliciter les gagnants pour leur réussite. Place à la jeunesse a été une fois de plus un énorme succès.
Tired of trying to grab a coffee in between classes only to be met with long lineups? If so, KnowLine might be the solution. Like the name suggests, KnowLine is an application designed to let you know about the status of a lineup at a given place. The app was created by four uOttawa students who shared a dislike for long waits and decided it was time for a change.
“Waiting is inevitable in everyone’s daily routine. It’s a pain point that we’ve grown accustomed to. The idea of KnowLine came from wanting to create a wait time-sharing network that would remove these pain points,” explained Chad Malouin, fourth year student in the Telfer School of Management and one of the founders of KnowLine [This link is no longer available].
The crowd-sourced application is available for all mobile platforms (iOS, Android, Blackberry), and in its initial phase, has focused on helping students deal with lineups at university services. According to Greg Somers, the engineer in the group, this is an app that all universities could benefit from to ensure efficient time usage for their students.
This student-made solution to student problems started out as a class project that brought together Veronica Grajewski, a third year student in commerce and communications, Noah Hayes from Telfer, Greg Somers from the engineering faculty and Malouin, with the aim of getting the highest marks. But it grew beyond the classroom, and with coaching from their professor, Barbara Orser, the four realized that it was an idea worth implementing. “When we first introduced the idea to our class we received a lot of positive feedback. Our class then voted for us to attend the Wes Nicol competition, where we were encouraged to create something tangible, as there was a need for it,” said Malouin.
Starting a business whilst a student is never the easiest thing to do, and the KnowLine team can attest to this. As Malouin explained, what makes it even harder is the need to secure funding to get a product onto the market. He added that uOttawa’s resources designed to facilitate this process are helpful.
According to Somers, the team intends to market the product to bars and restaurants around the city looking to manage their wait-times. “Eventually we’d like to get into some data analytics and hopefully be able to improve hospital and airport wait-times by keeping patients and customers informed,” he said.
Are you an entrepreneur in the making? Or do you aspire to be one? Be sure to check out the many workshops taking place during Entrepreneurship Week [This link is no longer available] at the University of Ottawa.
by Louise Umutoni [This link is no longer available]
Reaching Out MBA is a not-for-profit organization whose "singular purpose [is] to empower LGBT MBA students to become professionals who will lead the way to equality in business education, in the workplace, and throughout society." Each year, they hold an Annual MBA Conference, which "provides a forum for prospective and current graduate business school students, recent alumni and current business leaders to build personal and professional networks, exchange information and promote cooperation within their respective areas of interest." This year's conference (the 16th Annual Conference) was held from October 17-19, in New Orleans, Louisiana and had more than 1,100 attendees.
The Essay Competition this year had the following theme: “What is our role as future LGBT business leaders to help combat international LGBT discrimination?” Vincenzo won 2nd place and enabled the Telfer School to be the only Canadian school to win a prize. Other schools that won prizes are: Harvard Business School, Chicago Booth School of Business, Columbia Business School and UCLA Anderson School of Management.
On November 4, 2013, Brian Carriere, Relationship Manager at the Telfer School of Management, joined Jean Desgagné (B.Com 1986), President and CEO, The Canadian Depository for Securities Limited, TMX Group to open the market in Toronto. The visit to Toronto took place as a part of the curriculum of the Telfer Capital Markets Mentorship Program (CMMP).
The Telfer Capital Markets Mentorship Program (CMMP) is a three-year development program that provides high performing finance students with an exceptional learning experience to launch a career in the field of finance. These students will undertake weekly case-based extracurricular workshops facilitated by financial services professionals. Topics covered in the workshops include venture capital, equity financing, and mergers and acquisitions, among others.
A student blog was launched recently in connection with the C-Change, or Coastal Change project based at the Telfer School of Management, which is focused onmanaging adaptation to environmental change in eight coastal Communities in Canada and the Caribbean. Students here and at four partner universities provide updates about their work related to this project on the Coastal Change Student Blog. This initiative provides an opportunity for students to share their work with community members. The originator of the blog is M.Sc. Systems Sciences candidate Alex Chung, who is working under the supervision of Dr. Daniel Lane of the Telfer School. He will be conducting case studies for the partner communities of Charlottetown, PEI, and Isle Madame, on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.
C-Change links community members and university researchers from Canada with members of the Caribbean community in support of research on coastal adaptation to environmental change including the impacts of storm surge and sea-level rise on susceptible coastal communities. C-Change researchers have been working with the partner communities to profile local community vulnerabilities and risks and to build local capacity for managing adaptation to pending environmental change.
The C-Change project is led by co-directors Dr. Dan Lane and Dr. Patrick Watson, Director of SALISES at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, along with a team of over twenty co-applicants, collaborators, and community partners. C-Change is funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Ajmal Sataar, Kathleen Kemp, Neil Gangal and alumnus Adam Tomaszewski are hoping to clean up, in more ways than one, as they take unwanted cigarette butts and turn them into profits.
The venture is still at the idea stage, but a six-minute pitch on the idea won top honours over the weekend at Launch Some Good, an entrepreneurial competition with a world-betterment twist.
The group plans to create specialized cigarette collection bins and sell a collection service. For extra world-improvement points, the collection jobs will be held by mentally ill people through transitional employment programs. Options for unloading the butts include turning them into insulation or giving them to a company in New Jersey that makes furniture from them.
The company also hopes to create a revenue stream from advertising on its butt containers. In order to stimulate public interest, those containers would automatically count the number of butts going in and would be operated on solar power, the group says.
Cigarettes might not seem like a growth industry, but Sataar says at the moment butts are still the world’s most common type of litter, so there should be plenty of business to do. There’s also the question of how big a priority such environmentalism will be for smokers, but they’re hoping smokers’ guilt will be a powerful force.
Read the full article on the Ottawa Citizen’s website. [This link is no longer available]
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation is an exciting and integrative learning opportunity for BCom students as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class.
From July 10 to 15, students participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the members of the winning team:
Éric Bélanger
Curtis Chusroskie
Joshua Girard
Omar Husain
Arianna Pontello
Emilie Smail-Crevier
Individual awards were also presented to these three students:
Best Negotiator: Éric Préfontaine (Team 14)
Most Congenial: Donna From (Team 20)
Most Valuable Player: Joshua Girard (Team 9)
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CGA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation is an exciting and integrative learning opportunity for BCom students as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class.
From March 15 to 17, more than 225 students in 51 teams participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the members of the winning team:
Carly Shier
Briant Won
Thatcha Kumarakuladervan
Cathy Chiu
Michelle Fong
Individual awards were also presented to these three students:
Best Negotiator: Nitin Chowdury (Team 46)
Most Congenial: Paul Tripp (Team 49)
Most Valuable Player: Alyssa Lafleur (Team 41)
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CGA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
Sinan Nasir studying in the M.Eng program offered through the Faculty of Engineering and the Telfer School of Management, won the first price at the national Focus 2040 competition held at DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Hamilton on March 28. The aim of the competition was to study various trends to predict the workplace of 2040 and propose a work system that leading companies would have adapted to deal with implications of those trends.
Samantha Harris is currently a 4th year student pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a Specialization in Accounting in both the Co-op and French Immersion Programs.
Within the University of Ottawa community, she has been involved with the Telfer School of Management Peer Mentoring Program as a student mentor for the 2011 - 2012 academic year as a mentor to 30 students. Mentoring involves answering students’ questions by e-mail, arranging face-to-face meetings at the request of students, holding weekly office hours, participating in monthly meetings with the other mentors, and organizing and participating in events ranging from study skills workshops to social activities with mentors and mentees.
In her local community, she is an active volunteer at her church, Emmanuel United. She has been a member of the youth band, has participated in services in a variety of ways, has volunteered at a number of fundraising events, and also sits on the Worship Committee as the Secretary and Youth Representative.
Congratulations to our MBA students who won 2nd place at the 2013 annual Whitman Case Competition in Syracuse, NY on March 22. The team of four Telfer School students went to the finals againts eight other teams.
Photo: Jason Solomon, Ridhima Sharma, Associate Dean of Whitman School, Fraser Somers, Claire-Marine Soury
Congratulations to the delegation of 36 students from the Telfer School of Management that represented us at the 2013 Happening Marketing competition. This event was hosted by HEC in Montreal from March 22-24, 2013.
Congratulations to students for winning the following:
Surprise case (3rd place): Aymeric Beard, Branden Goodman and Jennifer Viscosi
Integrated Communication Marketing (3rd place): Branden Goodman, Samantha Buch and Shawna O’Brien (Most Valuable Player)
On Thursday, January 31, 2013, $4,500 CIBC Mentoring Scholarships was awarded to Leah Wright, a Coop BCom student in Accounting, and Jennifer Viscosi, BCom in International Management.
Leah is an ambitious student who has three years of experience in administration and finance through extensive studies and working within the Canadian Federal Government. Her goal is to become a Chartered Accountant and will start writing my exams by 2015. On top of being a Mentor and Ambassador for the University of Ottawa's Co-operative program, she is the Co-President of the Right to Play uOttawa Club. About her experience as a co-op mentor, Leah says: “I have been able to provide the guidance and support to other students that I had once received. Helping someone succeed is an irreplaceable sense of achievement”
Jennifer was born in Montreal, Quebec, but spent most of her childhood growing up in the small town of Kingsville, Ontario. Wanting to pursue her studies in a bilingual environment she chose to attend the University of Ottawa. Jennifer has recently returned to Telfer after being away for a year completing an exchange in both Mannheim, Germany and Sydney, Australia which were incredible experiences that she would highly recommend to any student! While Jennifer is graduating in less than three months, she believes her role as being a mentor and a mentee will continue into her professional life! She is very excited for what lies ahead.
About the Mentorship Program
Established in 2002, the Mentorship Program at the University of Ottawa is designed to increase student success rates, increase student retention and enhance students’ academic experience by having students help other students. Since the inception of the program, there has been a significant increase in the number of mentoring centres, student mentors and visits to the mentoring centres.
About the CIBC Mentoring Scholarship
CIBC is one of Canada’s largest corporate donors and is committed to helping our country’s youth prepare for the future. Since its creation in 2004, the CIBC Mentoring Scholarship has been awarded annually to student mentors displaying strong academic, leadership and coaching skills.
MSc Health Systems candidates Vicki Sabourin and Javier Fiallos today presented highlights from their internships at the Canadian Primary Health Care Research & Innovation Network (CPHCRIN) and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO). The three-month internship component of this program promotes linkages between research and practice and prepares students to be meaningful contributors to health systems delivery after graduation.
Fiallos contributed to a decision support project in the emergency department of CHEO, analyzing patient visits data and developing quantitative models. His aim was to identify improvements to the department’s triage system and explore modifications to surgery block scheduling and nurse staffing for day surgery. “I learned that health systems generate an immense amount of data which does not necessarily contribute to process improvements unless appropriate research questions are proposed at the outset,” Fiallos explained; “I deepened my understanding of how data can be put to effective use by employing the right research tools and knowledge.”
For her internship, Sabourin joined CPHCRIN, where she contributed towards building a strategic plan under the supervision of Dr. William Hogg, the executive director, and Hannah Irving and Michelle Prentice, the network’s coordinators. “I gained tremendous knowledge of the research development process through opportunities to review the literature and to synthesize findings that emerged from meetings with members of the Network,” says Sabourin, who holds a BSc. in Nursing from the University of Ottawa. “I also learned about the importance of coordinating CBPHC research efforts through a pan-Canadian network.”
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation is an exciting and integrative learning opportunity for BCom students as part of their 4th year Strategic Management class.
From November 9 to 11, more than 200 students in 38 teams participated in this simulation at the Telfer School of Management’s Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the members of the winning team:
Jessica Cole
Lea Lacoste
Michelle Roberts
Marc Roessler
Mateusz Stachura
Charles-André Therrien
Individual awards were also presented to these three students:
MVP – Most Valuable Player: Pat Chiarello (Team 23)
Best Negotiator: Jessica James (Team 33)
Most Congenial Player: Ian McCarter (Team 15)
Top teams were also recognized for having the best strategy in their respective categories:
Component Producers: Angel Beath, Nolan Kargesm, Scott Lough, Joshua Mantil, Laura Veitch (Team 38)
Integrated Firms: Katie Baxter, Elanor Boyle-Stanley, Azra Meghji, Sidrah Ramzan, Matthew Smith (Team 12)
Wholesalers: Shawn Gagnon, Claude Gilbert, Corey Lamarche (Team 37)
The CGA Ontario Intopia Strategy Simulation has been a component of the 4th year strategy course for close to 20 years. It aims to teach students the concepts of strategic management in a simulated online world known as Intopia. The simulation allows students to practice their skills in a concentrated amount of time where they can get immediate feedback on their decisions.
This capstone activity has recently been renamed to recognize CGA Ontario’s comprehensive contribution of $370,000 to the Telfer School to support students, teaching and research.
Born and raised in Sudbury (Ontario), Benoit chose to pursue his studies at the Telfer School of Management following the advice he received from friends and family. “By the time I had completed my first year, I knew I had made the right decision and I have never looked back”, says Benoit. He is currently in his fourth year of the BCom program, specializing in Management Information Systems (MIS) with the COOP option. He chose this specialization because of his interest for development and the growing demand for employees with information management skills.
This past summer, Benoit had the opportunity to undertake his last COOP placement at Deloitte as a Technology Management Analyst. While he was at Deloitte, he was part of a team of talented consultants that were working on a multi-million dollars information management project. “The experience I had as an analyst on that particular project was priceless and I would recommend consultation work to any student interested in this field” said Benoit.
In addition to his academic and extracurricular work, Benoit made sure to make the most out of his experience and got involved in the Telfer School’s activities. He was a representative for the Telfer Marketing Association (TMA), a guide and captain for the 101 week, the Academic Vice-President for the Telfer Student Council and a musician for CASCO. His most significant contributions were undoubtedly is role in the 2011 Jeux du Commerce [This link is no longer available] in his debate team who won first place and his time as President of MISA. “Getting involved at Telfer enabled me to meet extraordinary people and to develop essential skills, while having fun. I strongly recommend to all students that would want to enhance their student experience and network with professionals to get involved at Telfer”. To conclude, Benoit has decided to get involved one last time by taking part in the international academic competition ICBC [This link is no longer available], organized each year by Queen’s University.
Brittany Rockwell (BCom, Finance) excels in many areas and the numerous student competitions and awards she won are a proof of her everyday commitment to deliver superior results. She is currently working at the Telfer School as a Research Assistant in addition to her studies.
She still finds time to play a vital part in her community and has recently been rewarded by receiving the Alterna Savings Social Responsibility and leadership Award 2012. She acts as Vice-President Fundraising and Swimming Instructor for Making Waves Ottawa, a not-for-profit organization. It provides affordable and accessible one-on-one swimming instruction to children with special needs, which are likelier to suffer from a submersion injury than the general population. Because of their special needs, the children helped by Making Waves Ottawa would not be able to attend normal group lessons which are less expensive than private lessons. As a result, many families depend on the organization to make sure their children know what to do if they fall into water.
The organization is currently looking for 30 dedicated student volunteers to teach children with special needs to swim. If you are interesting in joining their team and helping your community, click here (link is no longer available).
Originally from New Jersey, Alexei fell in love with Canada's capital city. He chose to pursue his post-secondary education at the Telfer School of Management because it is one of only two North American business schools to hold AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA, the three most prestigious accreditations in the world. He was also drawn to the University of Ottawa because it is the largest bilingual university in North America and therefore a fantastic opportunity for him to deepen his passion for the French language.
Over the past few years, Alexei has embraced student life. "I've gained incredible experiences and knowledge through being active, and I urge every student to get involved with the Telfer School of Management." Alexei is a member of SIFE [This link is no longer available] and the Finance Society, as well as one of the seven mentorees of the Capital Markets Mentorship Program. His most significant contribution is undoubtedly his role as president of the Accounting Club for the 2012-2013 academic year.
In the coming years, Alexei plans to remain active in Telfer's various clubs and associations. He would also like to increase his involvement in the Telfer School by becoming a teaching assistant. In addition, he intends to continue building relationships with students, professors and professionals across Canada and further motivate students to help establish the Telfer School of Management's reputation for its excellence in leadership. Upon receiving his accounting degree, Alexei plans to obtain the CA and CFA designations to prepare for his entry into the job market.
Following the conclusion of the 2012 Canadian Track and Field Trials, Athletics Canada named their list of athletes who are bound for the London Olympic Games. Third year Telfer BCom student Oluwasegun Makinde, known as Segun, was named as one of the members of Canada's 4x100m Olympic relay team after he captured a national silver medal in the 200m.
Segun and his younger brother Tolu, who also competes with the Gee-Gees track and field team, attended Colonel By Seconday School in Ottawa. Both brothers were members of the double-gold winning uOttawa relay team at the 2012 CIS Track and Field Championships. Segun won this year's OUA gold medal in the 300m, but slipped to 5th at the CIS Championships.
Makinde, who is coached by five-time Olympian Glenroy Gilbert, is already an experienced international competitor. He represented Canada at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2008, and more recently came fifth in the 200m at the 2011 Summer Universiade in Shenzhen, China last September.
Here [This link is no longer available] is the link to the official results from the Canadian Trials results page where he came 2nd.
Congratulations to undergraduate students Andrei Huranchyk, Tarik Aeta, Will Zhao and James Killoran who recently won 2nd place, representing the Telfer School, at the PRMIA Financial Risk Management Competition. They had to compete with 13 other teams at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Three research projects by Telfer graduate students will be presented at the 2012 CORS/MOPGP conference in Niagara Falls June 11-13, 2012.
This conference is a joint event bringing together researchers from the Canadian Operational Research Society and the International Conference on Multiple Objective Programming and Goal Programming.
Surgical scheduling and capacity planning
Professor Jonathan Patrick and M.Sc. in Health Systems student Anisa Aubin research the capacity implications of achieving wait-time targets for multiple priority levels of patients requiring emergency surgery. They present a simulation model that examines the trade-off between additional operating-room capacity versus increased re-scheduling of elective surgeries when capacity is not available.
Davood Astaraky, M.Sc. student in Systems Science under Professor Patrick’s supervision, will present a new approximate dynamic programming model of surgical scheduling and capacity planning. The model aims to optimize patient scheduling in order to meet mandated wait-time targets, while maximizing use of operating rooms and surgical beds. Both projects are conducted in collaboration with The Ottawa Hospital.
Assessing performance of emergency department physicians
M.Sc. student in Health Systems Javier Fiallos, working with Professors Michalowski and Patrick, will present his work on using mathematical modeling to assess the performance of emergency department physicians using multiple evaluation criteria. This research is being conducted in cooperation with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).
Project support
These projects are part of an ongoing program of research focused on health systems management and supported by grants from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the IBM Centre for Business Analytics and Performance at the Telfer School of Management.
Only 20 students had the opportunity to compete in the 2012 First Avenue Advisory of Raymond James Capital Markets Competition on the new Bloomberg Terminals located in the Management Library. They received extensive support from different members of the Telfer School’s staff and external professionals including Philip McIlkenny, Associate Professor; Stephen Jonathan, FX Specialist at Bloomberg; Kash Pashootan, Financial Advisor at Raymond James; Cecilia Tellis, Management Librarian and Lawrence Migiliore of Bloomberg.
Congratulations to Dimitry Rakhanskiy who came out as the best contender and secured the first place prize: $500 donated by Raymond James and a dinner with Kash Pashootan.
Congratulations to Brandon Silbermann who won the second place prize: a $300 Visa gift card donated by the CFA Ottawa Society.
In today’s world, it is essential for management students to acquire a global orientation. The international exchange programs of the Telfer School of Management provide just such an opportunity. Students can complete their academic and professional endeavours in another institution abroad and at the same time discover another country, a new culture and different customs. Furthermore, students who take part in this experience bring back unforgettable memories. The international outreach of the Telfer School is stronger than ever through agreements and partnerships with 37 institutions in 20 different countries!
In the Fall 2011 semester, many students left Ottawa for a unique experience, they are sharing their story with us.
Ali Babul – City University of Hong Kong
"Overall, my exchange to Hong Kong was amazing. Hong Kong is the epitome of East meets West, as you will surely find out. The people you meet here are wonderful; the culture you are submerged in is different but intriguing; and studying in HK is completely different than studying back home. It is a unique opportunity, especially for those at Telfer, to come to a booming economy on the other side of the world. My experience was stellar, so much so that I would love to come back and live here!"
Jennifer Viscosi – University of Mannheim
"My exchange semester has been one of the best of my life. I have met truly incredible people, learned a lot about a culture I was unfamiliar with, learned a new language, travelled to places I never thought I would go and have truly experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was really able to learn a lot about myself and the world that surrounds me, which is why I would encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity. It takes a lot of planning and it may be stressful and scary at times, however in the end it’s worth it!"
Jennifer is currently studying at The University of Sydney in Australia on her second exchange.
To find out more about the Telfer School International Exchange Program, click here.
When Kyle Moncrief arrived in Ottawa two years ago as an international student from Florida, settling into a new environment proved to be an understandably overwhelming experience. Like many before, he felt he did not possess the necessary confidence and know-how to effectively penetrate the Canadian job market. Fortunately, Kyle enlisted the help of the Career Center team and through his judicious and enthusiastic use of the resources at his disposal, he was able to land a stimulating position in his field of study.
Kyle took full advantage of the Career Center services: he attended as many workshops and events as possible and met with the career counsellor to cover key aspects of career planning as well as to identify tailored objectives and strategies. This equipped him with indispensable career development skills, expanded his professional network in Ottawa and instilled in him the kind of confidence every candidate needs to successfully rise to the challenges of job searching.
In August 2012, Kyle will not only complete a BCom in Finance, he will also be launching his career within the prestigious TD Securities Services Associate program. Although only one semester remains for him here at Telfer School of Management, we are glad to know that he intends to remain involved and we look forward to tracking what will undoubtedly be his distinguished career.
The University of Ottawa Marketing Association and the Telfer School of Management held the 27th Michel Cloutier Marketing Competition on April 3, 2012 at the Desmarais Building.
Congratulations to the winning team, Team 2 (Omar Itani, Erin Wylie, Marie-Anne LaPlante, Christina Sluyter, Monica Sabourin, Ian Reed), who presented the best marketing campaign as mandated by Kenwood.
The winning team received a cash prize of $1,000 and the 2 finalist teams received $500. The Marc Roy Fund awarded $1,000 to the student with the best presentation, Christina Sluyter.
Finalists:
Team 1: Michel André Aubin, Adréanne Sirois Carey, Louis Beaudoin Charlebois and Janelle Duguay
Team 3: Alan Auyeung, Brroke Connolly, Justin Fisette, Asmait Hailu and Alex Hurst
Click here to see the photo gallery on Flickr [This link is no longer available]
It is safe to say that Delphine Latulippe is a committed student. Now in her fourth year at the Telfer School of Management, she has certainly taken full advantage of all opportunities presented to her by the University of Ottawa and the Telfer School. Not only did she secure the Francophonie (2008) and the Michel Cloutier Memorial (2010) scholarships, she was also featured on the Dean’s honour list (2010-2011), recently received the April Nauta Telfer School of Management Award presented to her for being Telfer School of Management's Co-op student of the year (2011).
In addition, she actively participated in the “I act, J’agis” group in which she was personally involved in many projects including the organization of all activities linked to the Black History Month on campus.
After having completed her coursework and successfully undertaken three work placements, Delphine will be graduating this year from the Telfer School of Management leaving behind an incredible legacy.
Photo: Dean François Julien and Delphine Latulippe
Congratulations to the delegation of 41 students from the Telfer School of Management that represented us at 2012 Happening Marketing competition. This event was hosted by the John Molson School of Business in Montreal from March 23-25, 2012.
The Executive Committee
Gen Larose (President)
Dominic Bonin (Coordinator)
Ariane Lafond (VP Sponsorship)
Chloé Laframboise (Director - Sponsorship)
Natasha Loepp (Director - Sponsorship)
Omar Itani (VP Academic)
Travis Léger (VP Sport)
Spencer Bell (VP Social)
Trophies:
1st place – International Marketing Sarah Alexander, Jaime Green, Mark Mortera
Coach: Professor Leila Hamzaoui
1st place - Strategic Marketing
Michel-André Aubin, Aymeric Beard, Christina Slutyer
Coaches: Professor David Large and Professor Paul Tomasik
1st place – Sport
Danika Chilibeck, Léon Forest-Nault, Matthew Green, Chloé Laframboise, Jacob Legault, Stephanie Lui, Brent Miller, Alisha Zhao
Coach: Travis Leger
2nd place – Integrated Marketing Communication
Navid Behroozi, Alex Hurst, Andreanne Sirois-Carey
Coach: Professor Michael Guolla
Thank you to our sponsors! Conroy Dental Center
Decent Urban Rails
Distribution Frankarl
Holonics
IBM
iWatchLife
LeDroit
RBC Wealth Management
Telfer Marketing Association
Telfer School of Management
University of Ottawa
This year’s TD Financial Case Competition took place from March 2 to 3 and was hosted by the Telfer School of Management Finance Society in the Desmarais Building. In this edition, they welcomed students from across Ontario and Quebec, including teams from McGill, Concordia, York, Western, Waterloo, and Ryerson. All teams performed outstandingly, and the judges from TD, Public Works, and CMA were very impressed. In the end, teams from Waterloo, the Telfer School, and Concordia took home first, second, and third place prizes, respectively. Congratulations to Brandon Silbermann, Brittany Rockwell, and Jimmy Killoran, our Telfer School team, for placing at the competition!
The Finance Society would like to extend a thank-you to the National Arts Centre for hosting the gala and to all the judges, volunteers, and support staff at the Telfer School of Management whose help made the event a great success!
Congratulation to the University of Ottawa’s 2012 Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition winners! Student entrepreneurs Alex Smith and Chris Spoke took first prize for their business plan for Liaise, a web and mobile platform that hosts interactive seminars and video chats, for a fee. The winning team takes home $5,000 and the chance to compete for the Nicol Award, against the winning teams from competitions in 15 other Canadian universities. The Nicol Award is a national program designed to generate and reward interest in entrepreneurship on the part of undergraduate students in any faculty or field of study at participating universities across Canada.
Unsung Hero’s business plan, presented by Adam Haggart and Rafal Deren, took second place and a prize of $2,000. The top three was rounded out by Valued Pets business plan presented Hiam Al‐Dhabbi, taking home $1,000.
Dr. Bruce M. Firestone, Executive Director of Exploriem.org served as MC for the afternoon competition and remarked that: “We have seen more student entrepreneurs involved each year as they go through elevator pitch competitions, business model competitions and finally the Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition. Many of these go on to found flourishing Real Life enterprises. It is thanks to the generosity of people like Wes Nicol that we can host these competitions and encourage new entrepreneurs in Canada.”
The three judges for the competition were Anna Silverman, Executive Director Shepherds of Good Hope Foundation; Rick Bédard, successful Internet entrepreneur and Stephen Daze, President and CEO of the AGAWA Entrepreneurship Development Corporation.
About the Winner – Liaise
Liaise is a web and mobile platform that hosts interactive online seminars and one‐on‐one video chats with high profile experts and celebrities, for a fee. The platform will include a directory of experts and celebrities, who will make time‐slots available out of their schedules available for booking, and will determine their own rates for 15‐, 30‐ and 60‐minute video chats, constrained by market forces of supply and demand. Through this platform, a series of live videoconferencing events will be listed for users to attend as engaged participants. These events will be hosted by world‐renowned subject matter experts recruited to address the demand of their expertise and unique insights. Eight spots will be made available for users wishing to interact in the hour long events, and all users will be given the opportunity to schedule one‐on‐one video chat follow ups. Acting as a broker to these interactions, connecting users with sought‐after personalities, Liaise would collect a 20% commission on every seminar and one‐on‐one chat booking.
For more information about the Wes Nicol Business Plan Competition, click here.
On February 10, 2012, Alex Smith, Chris Spoke, and Jean-Benoit Lesage travelled to Vancouver for the semi-finals of the Enterprize Canada National Business Plan Competition. They are the founders of Liaise - a start-up focused on creating a new channel for world-renowned experts and people-of-interest to connect with their target audiences.
The three moved onto the semi-final round after a regional round held at Guelph University and competed with 11 other teams from across Canada. The Liaise team was one of the 6 teams that advanced to the final round the following day. The final presentation was delivered to a panel of experienced VC’s and entrepreneurs, as well as 120 students from the University of British Columbia and Sir Sanford Fleming. The Liaise team, representing the Telfer School of Management of the University of Ottawa, placed in the top 6 teams in Canada and went home with an invaluable experience and wealth of feedback.
About the Students
Chris Spoke is a third year Economics and Public Policy student, minoring in Business Administration. He is also studying for his CAIA (Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst) designation.
Alex Smith is a fifth year Bachelor of Commerce student, specializing in Marketing. He has had over 9 years of experience in web development, specifically project management, consultative selling and online brand development.
Jean-Benoit Lesage is a recent graduate of the Telfer School of Management receiving his Bachelors of Commerce no option. He is now Vice President of the online news source ipolitics.ca and has had over 10 years of experience coding several different languages.
Spring is fast approaching and this one will include something new and unique for the Telfer School of Management. The Telfer School library has recently purchased two Bloomberg terminals. The Telfer School of Management Career Center in collaboration with Raymond James, the CFA Ottawa Society and Bloomberg will be organizing the first stock simulation competition which will require the use of these terminals to perform a financial analysis exercise.
Competition Details
Be one of 20 students to compete in the prestigious First Avenue Advisory of Raymond James Capital Markets Competition. Network with the competition judges and professionals at the Kick-Off Reception. Learn how to use the newly installed Bloomberg Terminals at the Telfer School of Management Library.
Prizes
1st Place - Cash Prize and Private Networking Dinner with Mr. Kash J. Pashootan, one of Canada’s leading Financial Advisors and Top 25 People in Ottawa 2011
2nd Place - Sponsored by the CFA Ottawa Society
Date
Event
Important dates
March 5
Application Deadline
March 16
Kick-Off Reception
March 19 – 23
Bloomberg Terminal Training
March 26 – 30
Capital Markets Competition
April 2 – 6
Judging and Awards
How to apply?
In order to be considered for the competition, you must submit the following:
Essay Question: Why should you be selected to compete in the Capital Markets Competition? (250 words maximum)
Resume (No Cover Letter)
Current Grade Report
Please submit applications electronically to Mr. Brian Carriere, Relationship Manager at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by March 5, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.
On January 24 and 25, students from the Telfer School of Management and the Faculty of Engineering competed in the 3rd annual Strat24 Case Competition. This multidisciplinary competition requires 2 engineering and 2 business students to work together for 24 hours to come up with a solution for the case at hand. This year’s case sponsor was Hydro Ottawa. The winning team received a $4000 scholarship, jointly donated by the Telfer School of Management and the Faculty of Engineering. Congratulations to this year’s winners!
1st place
Duane van Gaalen – Telfer School of Management
Matthew Conley – Telfer School of Management
Eric Mielke – Faculty of Engineering
Megan Young – Faculty of Engineering
2nd place
Alex Hurst – Telfer School of Management
Artur Leszczynski – Telfer School of Management
Mezin Hijazi – Faculty of Engineering
Derek Foran – Faculty of Engineering
3rd place
Yannie lou Cyr – Telfer School of Management
Myriam Dionne Desbiens – Telfer School of Management
Justin Leclair – Faculty of Engineering
Guillaume Archambault – Faculty of Engineering
Most Charismatic Presenter
Alec Barratt – Telfer School of Management
Best Speakers
Troy Sears – Telfer School of Management
Anthony Burvill – Faculty of Engineering
To read more about the competition, please click here [this link is no longer available] to access a press release from Hydro Ottawa.
The University of Ottawa would like to congratulate the team of 25 Telfer School of Management MBA students that represented us at the 2012 MBA Games. This national event brings together twenty universities from across Canada to compete in academics, sports and spirit. This year the event was hosted in Edmonton, Alberta.
1st place - Finance Case (Jennifer Stoyle, Ben De Groot, Sanja Denic, Simon Carignan)
2nd place - Spirit, Academic and Mini-Cup categories
3rd place - Marketing Case (Omer Khakwani, Philip Corey, Chitresh Singh, Derek Vilis)
Thanks to our sponsors and partners: Telfer School of Management, Desjardins and Ecco Shoes
The University of Ottawa would like to congratulate the team of 94 Telfer School of Management students that represented us at the Jeux du Commerce 2012 (JDC). This annual competition, featuring 13 universities from Eastern Canada, was hosted by l’Université Laval in Quebec City from January 5-8, 2012. This is the second time in the history of the JDC competition that the University of Ottawa has finished first overall.
“We have been preparing for the Jeux du Commerce 2012 for over a year now and it’s an incredible feeling that all of our efforts have paid off,” said Yannie lou Cyr, president of this year’s delegation. “The fact that we won the overall title by taking home both the academic and athletic cups shows just how dedicated Telfer students are to this competition. I couldn’t be prouder of everyone in our delegation!”
The delegation also brought home 10 trophies, including the Academic Cup, which has been won by the Telfer School for the 5th year in a row.
Team Awards:
1st place – Overall standings
Academic Cup: Top school in the academic activities
Sport Cup: Top school in the sports activities
1st place trophies:
Entrepreneurship Case (Patrick Lalonde, Meagan Minnings and Heather Whyte) Coach: Professor Margaret Dalziel
Finance Case (Tarek Aeta, Stephanie Lui and Ryan Nahas) Coach: Professor Abdul Hosein Rahman
Operations Management Case (Alexandre Doré, Omar Itani and Alexander Stankus) Coach: Professor Jean Couillard
Marketing Case (Marie-Pier Bertrand, Eric Charette-Valois and Michael Weatherhead) Coach: Professor David Large
Soccer Team (Rod Abou, Pier-Luc Beauchamp, Felix Drouin, Antoine Lalonde, Michel Leclaire, Kaitlyn MacNeil, Emilie Mueller, Lisa Anne Sachsalber and Justin Sweeney) Coaches: Julien Holdrinet and Christophe Perrault
Tchoukball Team (Alexandra Brunette D'Souza, Percy Chohan, Léon Forest-Nault, Jaime Green, Matthew Green, Geneviève Larose, Jacob Legault, Brent Miller and Michael Sutcliffe) Coach: Alisha Zhao
3rd place trophies:
Management Information Systems Case (Yannie lou Cyr, Myriam Dionne-Desbiens and William Robertson) Coach: Professor Umar Ruhi
Strategy Case (Christopher Arseneault, Diane Mugeni and Christina Sluyter) Coach: Professor Laurent Mirabeau
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