Seven DePaul student teams participated in the PwC Challenge Case Competition held at PwC in downtown Chicago Nov. 2. A total of 17 teams competed from DePaul, University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyola. This annual competition increases students’ exposure to professional services and the world of public accounting. Cases addressed real business issues that require students to be critical thinkers, collaborative team members and persuasive business advisors.
Assistant Professor Christine Gimbar served as the DePaul faculty representative. She organized the groups, helped them practice and gave them notes on how to improve their cases prior to the competition. “We had some wonderful students involved who spent a significant amount of time meeting with their teams and practicing their presentations to get it just right,” says Gimbar. “They were all very dedicated to the competition, but also knew that they wanted to have fun while doing it. Hard work with a positive attitude—that’s why we did so well!”
DePaul student teams won both first and second place. Students on the winning team were Ammar Gaffar, Hashim Ghalib, Jahanzeb Khandwala and Muhammad Mussani. The second place team included Bushra Amiwala, Connor Kennedy, Bart Lichon and Cole Smith.
“This case competition helped me prepare for my career because I got exposed to a broader range of business,” says Lichon. “It went hand-in-hand using the accounting concepts that I learned in school and applying them in a real-world setting.”
DePaul student participants at the PwC Challenge Case Competition: Alan Cestone, Sarah Cardwell, Tyler Kral, Ena Agnihotri, Bryan Velasquez.