- Trinity College will compete against top international universities over five days
- Real business challenges in a Dragons Den Style case event
- ESB a key sponsor of the event supporting the best international team award
Issued: 7 March 2018
Four Trinity College students travelled to Montreal on Sunday 4 March to compete in a prestigious Engineering and Commerce Case Competition [ECCC]. This event attracts teams from leading universities all around the world to compete against each other over a five day period. Last year, Limerick University won the overall event, becoming the first ever team to win the competition outside of North America.
TCD will compete against counterparts from 12 other leading universities in a combined engineering and commerce case competition. The event presents three demanding cases, based on real business challenges, for the teams to solve and present their solutions to a “Dragons Den” style judging panel.
The TCD team were selected to represent Ireland following their win at the ESB Inter-Colleges Challenge last November. The ESB event required the teams to undertake research, design, financial analysis and marketing activities to convince an ESB expert judging panel that they had a viable solution. Their business challenge was to introduce the nationwide electrification of transport and heat to underpin a low carbon economy. In effect, a modern electrification of the same importance as ESB’s original rural electrification.
The TCD team which consists of Robert Trew, Jason Flynn and Aisling Dooley [Captain] from Dublin and Forrest Winters from [Wexford] have been training over the last three months under the expert guidance of Dr. Liam Dowling, a Kerry native, who travelled with the team.
Liam Dowling, the Trinity college team coach said: “The Trinity College team is looking forward to competing in Montreal for the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition. This is a very exciting opportunity for these talented students and I would like to commend the team for all their hard work in preparation for the finals.”
ESB have a long-term partnership with ECCC and with the high calibre of Irish entrants they have committed to sponsoring Irish teams to compete at the event in the coming years. ESB are also delighted to announce our sponsorship of a the ‘Best International Team Award’, the Dr. Thomas McLaughlin Award.
As well as competing at ECCC in Montreal the TCD team will be undertaking internships at ESB this summer. We are looking forward to welcoming them in June for what we hope will be a valuable experience.
Speaking about the team before they departed for Canada, Pat O’Doherty, Chief Executive of ESB, said: “I was very impressed by the quality of the Trinity College Team at the ESB Inter Colleges Challenge event. They demonstrated their ability to think critically and creatively about the challenges facing the energy sector in its transition to a low carbon future. The Engineering and Commerce Case Competition [ECCC] in Montreal is a great opportunity for the Trinity College team to showcase their skills and at an international level. I believe the team are worthy representatives of Ireland and I wish them every success in Montreal.”
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