A team of four undergraduate students from the University of Limerick were the 2017 winners of the internationally renowned Engineering and Commerce Case Competition (ECCC) held in Montreal, Canada at the start of March.
Patrick Lu (second-year Electronic and Computer Engineering), Eoin Hann (third-year Civil Engineering), Darren Fehilly (second-year Mechanical Engineering) and David Monaghan (second-year BBS) travelled to Montreal to take part in the four-day-long competition and emerged victorious at the closing ceremony on 4 March.
The Engineering and Commerce Case Competition is organised by Université Concordia in Montreal. The inter-disciplinary competition is the only test of its type in the world and is rated as one of the top case-challenges in North America. The aim of the competition is to find solutions to real-world challenges that modern industries face, combining the technical field of engineering with the interactive field of commerce.
The ECCC is in its fourth year and is run by an executive committee and overseen by a board of directors. This year, 12 teams took part travelling from Canada, America, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and of course Ireland.
Case competitions are relatively new to Ireland, particularly in the engineering disciplines. This type of competition usually involves an industry-related problem or brief, which teams work on for a number of hours or days. A final presentation of the proposed solution is then made to a panel of judges followed by a Q&A session.
The ECCC ran over four days and consisted of two six-hour cases and one 12-hour case. Presentations were immediately after both six-hour cases and the following day for the 12-hour case.
The ECCC began with an open ceremony and teams were divided into three divisions, with four teams in each. The winners of each division and the best of the remaining teams went forward to the final. The Irish team were in Group 2, along with McMaster University (Canada), Ryerson University (Canada) and the University of Vermont (United States) and were first up, starting their case the following morning at 7:45am.
Case challenges at the ECCC
[caption id="attachment_35464" align="alignright" width="300"]
Back row (l-r): Dr Vanssa Egan, UL School of Engineering lecturer; Prof Edmond Magner, Dean of UL Faculty of Science and Engineering; Denis Kelly, ESB Group; Dr Philip O'Regan, Dean of Kemmy Business School; and Dr Briga Hynes, lecturer in entrepreneurship, KBS. Front (l-r): Eoin Hann, Darren Fehilly, David Monaghan and Patrick Lu (photo: Diarmuid Greene/True Media)[/caption]
Case 1 challenged them to market Quebec as a prime location for data centres, but the solution also had to incorporate a novel, energy-efficient design for data centres. Their proposal had to be accompanied with a justified business plan, which provided a marketing strategy and costing.
UL proposed that Quebec should capitalise on its low electricity costs and invest in liquid-cooled data centres for the high-end heat dissipation market. The team performed well. Later that evening, when the results were announced for Case 1, UL were in sixth position overall but third in their group.
On the second day, the team completed another six-hour case, this time on a very different topic relating to Elon Musk’s proposed fifth mode of transport – the Hyperloop. Teams had to design and cost an underwater Hyperloop to allow for cargo transportation between China, South Korea and Japan.
The judging panel was very impressed with their proposed solution, which included a mechanical design of the problem but also addressed the practicalities of how such a system would operate, including a costing and return on investment plan. Their proposal earned them top marks in their group for this case, moving them into fifth position overall and second in the group.
The final case was 12 hours long, beginning at 9am with submission of presentations at 9pm. Teams presented the following morning to a panel of four judges. This case asked the team to develop a ten-year business plan for Bombardier, drawing on the latest developments in electric transportation and autonomous vehicles.
The UL team proposed that Bombardier invest in the development of an electrically powered, self-piloted, vertical take-off aircraft capable of transporting 18 passengers or cargo: the V-Series. The solution also proposed a new multi-modal transport system where this aircraft would operate in conjunction with Bombardier’s electric ground transportation fleet. Passengers would select a final destination and the most economic mode of transport would be chosen for them, possibly consisting of air and ground transportation using electrically power vehicles.
Their innovative solution pushed the boundaries of our current understanding of transportation but, at the same time, was supported by relevant and proven technologies. The judging panel for the final case commented on the quality of the presentation given by UL and also on their response to the questions afterwards.
Worthy winners
Following on from this when results were announced, UL topped their group, earning a place in the final. The final presentations were held in the afternoon, with UL competing against the University of Calgary (Canada, who were 2016 winners), University of Manitoba (Canada) and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel).
The teams presented the same presentation to a new panel of six judges from the board of directors of the ECCC, which consisted of high-level industry personnel. Finally, later that evening, results were announced at the closing ceremony with UL being awarded first place.
This win is a fantastic achievement and one of a number of ‘firsts’ for the team, as in addition to being crowned overall winner, the UL team won ‘Best Engineering Solution’ and ‘Best Sustainable Solution’ awards in Montreal.
Further, they are the first team outside of Canada to claim the top honours at the ECCC. The students obtained a place in the final following their win in the ESB Inter-College Challenge last November, where they beat very formidable competition from other Irish universities. During that task, the team researched and designed a complex engineering and financial energy challenge in just seven hours.
The students were advised and mentored by Dr Vanessa Egan, lecturer in mechanical engineering, UL School of Engineering and Dr Briga Hynes from the Kemmy Business School. Their achievement was celebrated at a recent event jointly held by the Faculty of Science and Engineering and the Kemmy Business School.
During the event in Montreal, ESB announced its continued support of Irish universities competing in the ECCC competition. The ESB-Inter College Challenge 2017 takes place in November, with the ECCC Competition taking place in March 2018. Information on the competition can be obtained by emailing Denis Kelly ESB. For more information on the International Engineering Commerce Case Competition, click here.