Student team entries sought for CIOB’s third Global Student Challenge

Undergraduate teams from universities around the world have been invited to register to take part in the CIOB’s third annual Global Student Challenge.

The challenge is an online interactive game, in which each team of four students runs a “virtual” construction company in a simulated environment using MERIT software, which stands for Management Enterprise Risk Innovation and Teamwork.

Each team is made up of four full or part-time students based anywhere in the world taking a Bachelor’s degree level course in a built environment discipline. Each of the students takes on a specific job role, such as managing director or financial manager.

Teams can apply to take part up until the end of February, with early registration encouraged so that they can trial the game and familiarise themselves with the simulation software.

Beginning in March there will be six weekly rounds in the main game, with each round representing a trading quarter where the “company’s” performance will be rated against key performance indicators and compared with the other teams.

Construction students taking part in the finals of the Global Student Challenge in Hong Kong

At the end of April the top six teams will be invited to Hong Kong to compete in the finals where a further eight rounds of trading will take place. The finals will take place in July, when the overall winners will take home £2,000 and be awarded places on a leadership development course where they will receive mentoring and assistance from past presidents of the CIOB.

Each university can submit up to five teams. The cost to enter one team is £350, two teams £650, three teams £875 and four or five teams £1,000.

Last year’s challenge was won by a team from Glasgow Caledonian University. Loughborough University finished second, while the University of Hong Kong came third. The other three finalists were all from Australia: University of Newcastle; Curtin University; and Deakin University.

Dale Mason, one of the members of the winning team said: “The best thing about this competition is the business learning side. It’s a massive learning curve, seeing things not just in terms of calculations and equations, but in terms of the outcomes of your decisions.

“The hardest thing has been learning diplomacy skills and finding a way to come to an agreement – team working – it sounds easy but it is quite difficult at times.”