University of Arizona Takes Home Winning Prize in Second Annual Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge
On December 2, the Eller College of Management hosted the second-annual Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge Finals in Tucson, Arizona. The event brought together over fifty students, coming from 11 countries and representing 29 universities. The students showed off their amazing skills by solving a variety of Excel-based cases, from locating baseball pitches within a strike zone, to determining the delivery order along a neighborhood newspaper route. Qualification to reach the Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge Finals began in September, with over 3,500 students from nearly 500 universities around the world. The finalists were among the top performers in several online rounds, earning their spots among the best in the world.
Over 150 people attended the MECC Finals, including teams (and faculty sponsors) from Arizona State, Central Florida, Florida, Illinois Chicago, Northern Arizona, Northern Illinois, Salve Regina, Tennessee Knoxville, Utah Valley, and Washington University in St. Louis. Sponsors from Alvarez & Marsal, Equity Methods, Siemens, BDO, the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE), New York Life, Oehm Automation, and StudentsExcel.com showed tremendous support of the students, encouraging them throughout the competition and building connections for future opportunities.
MECC University of Arizona Winning Team
Between the team and individual finals, the students competed for $30,000 in prize money. The University of Arizona team won the team competition, followed closely by teams from Northern Illinois University and the University of Florida. The winning team was comprised of:
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Ashley Shi
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Spencer Angell
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Tess Patton
Patrick Chatain, from McGill University in Canada, won the individual competition. Pak Ming Yip, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology was second, followed by Benjamin Weber in third, from the University Of Applied Sciences Technikum Vienna.