At this year’s ITMB North Event EECS’ students demonstrate their tech and business savviness for the third year in a row, winning 1st and 3rd place in the team competitions and 3 individual spot prices from Shell, Sky and SAS.
The pressure was on… in a room with seventy employers from 20 leading companies, 200-plus students from 11 universities across the UK, great speakers from household-name companies, a Brexit-themed competition, and not least, a giant green smoothie (courtesy of Pepsico) – it could only be the 2016 IT Management for Business Degree north event.
In the team competitions, the winning idea went to our 2nd-year IT Management for Business (ITMB) students whose idea to create a peer-to-peer currency exchange app won over judges to scoop the 1st place £500 prize fund.
A team of our 2nd year Software Engineering for Business (SWfB) students won 3rd place with their idea for an app that will allow employers and employees to stay in close contact even if they are not based in the same country.
Bob Clift, Head of Degree Programmes at the Tech Partnership, said: “The judges were incredibly pleased with the level of entries. All teams demonstrated excellent teamwork and planning in their presentations. The judges were particularly impressed with Queen Mary’s as we all felt it answered the brief perfectly and showed a real level of skill and teamwork throughout their presentation.”
First-time competition judge Ryan Clifford also an EECS’ ITMB alumnus who joined Barclays after graduation in 2016, was impressed by the high standard and enthusiasm of the competing teams. Ryan commented as a competition veteran himself: “I know how much energy and thought goes into the preparation, and I know what it feels like before you perform and when you’re in front of the judges. So I’m able to bring a certain amount of empathy to the judging role.”
Many congratulations to our students and SWfB and ITMB programme lecturers: Antonios Kaniadakis; Rachel Appleton and Eranjan Padumadasa, who prepared and supported the students for the ITMB’s annual North Event, and also to all ITMB and SWfB students who could not attend the event in Manchester, as they have provided fantastic support to their classmates towards shaping the final proposals through constructive feedback and their community spirit!
ITMB and SWfB programmes are accredited Tech Industry Gold Degrees by the Tech Partnership (a growing network of employers creating the skills for the digital economy). Tech Industry Gold degrees are defined by employers to provide students with the most relevant technical, business and professional skills that place them in high demand in the tech sector.