From its very inception, SMU has always prided itself on being “A Different U”. With its innovative interactive pedagogy and holistic curriculum it broke away from educational norms in Singapore. Doing things differently not only gives SMU an edge in the educational landscape, it also helps students and alumni to stand out from the crowd. Two recent successes by SMU teams in international competitions demonstrate this.

Asia Venture Challenge 2013

In the Asia Venture Challenge 2013 investment contest Mediatrans, a team of postgraduate students on the Master of Innovation programme, came an impressive third out of 15 teams from around the region, including teams from the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University.  With SMU’s Professor Adel Dimian as Advisor, Mediatrans created a software platform that empowers people to easily create and share rich, immersive transmedia content.

“Our primary objectives for taking part in the competition,” said team leader Winston Wee Tze Lin, “was to garner external validation of the value of our innovation, and to gather exposure and experience before using the platform for fund-raising purposes.”  In the final round of the challenge held over three days, the four remaining teams were evaluated on their submitted business plan, their presentation of it and their performance during a question and answer session facing a panel of judges.

Winston added that the techniques learned on the MI programme definitely contributed to the team’s result. “Our plan evolved in tandem with the progress of the course and has become more refined as we applied what we learned. Even in the early stage of deciding on the topic of interest and the application of technology, we applied decision tools that we have picked up during the course. They proved to be very effective. We were also able to take a more holistic approach to our venture idea, converting it into a more mature, defined and actionable plan with commercial value.”

Scotiabank International Case Competition 2013

A team of SMU business undergraduates were equally impressive in coming second in the Scotiabank International Case Competition 2013. SMU’s official business case club, Cognitare, picked Clarence Lee Tien Hoe (Accountancy & Business Management) to lead the team for the challenge.

There were nine teams in total and in the preliminary round Cognitare were up against Copenhagen Business School (last year's winners) and Heavener, University of Florida (USA).  After winning the round, they faced the University of Otago (New Zealand) and Muenster School of Business and Economics (Germany).

Again it was SMU’s flair for innovation which shone out. “During the competition, we impressed the crowd and judges through our presentation skills, strong analytical skills and in-depth insights that other teams failed to come up with,” said Clarence Lee. “I would say that among the finalists, our proposed solutions and strategies were bold and innovative and anchored on an in-depth understanding and analysis of the business and the environment in which the business was operating.”

Congratulations to both Mediatrans and Cognitare for showing that SMU is truly a different and more innovative “U”.

[Photo: Flanked by the two lady co-chairs for the contest are Team Cognitaire (L—R): Clarence Lee Tien Hoe (Accountancy & Business Management), Ronald Tsui Chi Hin (Accountancy & Business Management), Ooi Chen Feng (Economics & Business Management and Garry Tan Hong Yan (Business Management).]

[Featured photo: Team Mediatrans (L—R): Winston Wee Tze Lin (team leader), Chua Sher Vin, Caleb Kow Fangren, Kenneth Hee Keen Keong and Gayathri Gopal (Front).]