For immediate release

February 12, 2009

Kwantlen Polytechnic University team leads all western Canadian universities in international competition

(SURREY, B.C.) Kwantlen Polytechnic University business students placed third, becoming the only finalists from a university in Western Canada, in the International CaseIT Competition held at Simon Fraser University.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s School of Business team was composed of three business students, including Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Entrepreneurial Leadership students Brandon Hastings and Derek Smith; and BBA in Accounting student, David Fairholm. They worked collaboratively to finish in third place in an exceptional field of 16 teams from universities worldwide.

CaseIT is an annual international undergraduate business case competition that has a strong focus on management information systems. The competition is designed to find the best and brightest in strategic information technology (IT) case analysis. It is a forum where students from various backgrounds of IT and business can showcase their skills in areas such as teamwork, problem solving and critical thinking to a panel of industry professionals.

The National University of Singapore finished in first place. Kwantlen Polytechnic University was narrowly edged out for second place by Ryerson University.

The International CaseIT Competition showcased teams from four continents: Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Iowa represented the USA; Pforzheim University, Germany, Maastricht University, The Netherlands and Università Bocconi, Italy represented Europe; National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University and Hong Kong Baptist University represented Asia; Rhodes University, University of Capetown and University of Pretoria represented Africa; Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University, University of Calgary and University of Manitoba represented Canada.

The faculty coach for the team, Robert Wood, was very pleased with the team’s achievement and acknowledged the contributions of Brett Palmer, a BBA Human Resources Management student who had been a full participant of the team during the run-up to the competition. Palmer was a late cut from the team when the final three members were chosen. Business faculty members, Bob Crockett and Vasile Zamfirescu assisted in the training cases and provided high-level feedback to help the team prepare.

As the second largest business school in Western Canada, Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s School of Business is internationally accredited and offers bachelor's degrees in entrepreneurial leadership, accounting, information technology and human resources management. For more information about Kwantlen’s School of Business, visit: kwantlen.ca/business

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For more information about Kwantlen’s School of Business, contact:
Dr. Arthur Coren
Dean, School of Business
Tel: 604.599.3252
arthur.coren@kwantlen.ca

OR

For more information about Kwantlen, contact:
Peter Chevrier
Director, Marketing & Communications
Tel: 604.599.2286
peter.chevrier@kwantlen.ca