Bauer MBA Students Win Consulting Competition with Biotech Startup Solutions

Bauer MBA Team Earns First Place at 3rd Annual Greater Houston Case Competition

By Amanda Sebesta

Published on April 20, 2018

Bauer MBA students Jesse Johnson and Dave Dexter, Baylor College of Medicine Ph.D. candidate Jon Mercado, Rice University Ph.D. candidate Etienne Ackermann and Bauer MBA student Damola Ogunleye

Bauer MBA students Jesse Johnson and Dave Dexter, Baylor College of Medicine Ph.D. candidate Jon Mercado, Rice University Ph.D. candidate Etienne Ackermann and Bauer MBA student Damola Ogunleye

A team including students from the MBA program at the C. T. Bauer College of Business was recently named the best in the city, winning first place at the 3rd Annual Greater Houston Case Competition in April.

Bauer MBA students Jesse Johnson, Dave Dexter and Damola Ogunleye, along with Baylor College of Medicine Ph.D. candidate Jon Mercado and Rice University Ph.D. candidate Etienne Ackermann, competed against eight teams from UT Austin McCombs School of Business and the Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business.

Hosted in April by the Texas Medical Center Consulting Club, the competition included teams of students in local Ph.D., MD and MBA programs, addressing a business problem of a Houston bio-tech startup and presenting their solutions to a panel of judges in the consulting industry.

“By far the most beneficial aspect of the competition is the hands-on experience. You get the opportunity of putting theory to practice,” Ogunleye said. “It provides excellent networking opportunities, not just with the judges who are from industry, but with your fellow students, many of which would go on to become entrepreneurs and CEOs someday.”

Students were given the case study the night before the competition, along with insight on the potential problem they would be aiming to solve. Teams were assigned at random, and then tasked with performing full research that included marketing analysis, financial and feasibility analysis, in order to create a solution within six hours.

“All the preparation we needed we had from the courses we have taken at Bauer. Also, being active in student-run organizations like the Bauer MBA Society, we get the opportunity of networking with industry executives and get to engage them on how they approach client problems,” Ogunleye added. “Bauer faculty and staff are also instrumental in preparing students in the art of soft skills, like presentation styles, looking professional and public speaking.”