2013 Press Releases
Postgrads win international business competition
Five postgraduate students from UCC have won 1st place and best written report at the prestigious HEC International Graduate Competition, held in the HEC Business School in Montreal, Canada.
One of the team’s members, Timothy Crowley, from Ballincollig, Cork was awarded an internship with a global consultancy firm as a result of his contributions. John O’Donoghue (Listowel, Co. Kerry), Stephen O’Donoghue (Dunmanway, Co. Cork), Kevin McDermott (Lifford, Co. Donegal) and South Carolinian Thomas Tobin also made up the winning team.
UCC was one of only eight universities selected globally to compete in the finals of this much sought after competition, and the only university in Ireland or the UK this year. UCC is also the first Irish university to field a team in the finals in the history of the competition. The highly selective field also included teams from Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, and the USA.
Ireland’s team for HEC’s International Graduate Competition represents some of the island’s top postgraduate talent:
The UCC team was coached by John O’Donoghue, a Ph.D. student in Chemistry who has recently started his own business - a Science and Technology magazine called Walton Magazine which he has built from the ground up. He appeared on this year’s Dragons’ Den (Ireland) and won a €20,000 investment to build his company which is now performing well. John has won multiple local and national awards for presentations, research, printed media, PR, radio and leadership.
Timothy Crowley was team captain and is currently studying for an M.A. in Economics. Timothy serves as a Teaching Assistant for the Economics Department at UCC and was previously Vice-Captain of the University’s Boxing Club. He has earned an internship with ProAction International, one of the competition’s primary sponsors for his role in the win. He will begin his internship at the conclusion of his studies at UCC. ProAction is a global consultancy and has its headquarters in Canada. Timothy developed an interest in consultancy work as he has delivered projects for multinational companies, government bodies, and development boards.
Thomas Tobin was the lone American on the team. Mr. Tobin is a George J. Mitchell Scholar studying for a M.Sc. in Food Business. He was one of 12 Americans selected for postgraduate study in Ireland and has previously interned with the White House, trade associations, and not-for-profits. He also studied law at the Georgetown University Law Center. He earned his primary degree in History from Stanford University and will be attending the Harvard Kennedy School this coming Autumn.
Also contributing was Kevin McDermott, from Lifford, Co. Donegal, a M.Sc. student in Innovation, Commercialisation, and Entrepreneurship at UCC. Kevin has a keen interest in aviation, human resources, and the sports/leisure industries.
Stephen O’Donoghue hails from Dunmanway, Co. Cork and also studies in the M.Sc. programme in Innovation, Commercialisation, and Entrepreneurship. He holds a First Class Honours degree in Energy Engineering and is particularly interested in Clean Technologies and plays for the Dunmanway Rugby Club.
The team was selected through a rigorous process to find the best in Finance, Entrepreneurship, Human Resources, and Marketing at UCC. The team members worked through four interrelated business case studies to identify and address issues involving international entrepreneurship, marketing challenges, human resources and management structure, and finance. Judging took place on the basis of professionalism, presentations, and the submission of a written report.
During their time in Montreal, the UCC team also met the Irish-Canadian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) (http://www.icccmtl.com/) to discuss strengthening ties with UCC and Ireland. They also met with the Honorary Consul General of Ireland, Dr. Michael Kenneally. Dr. Kenneally is the Dean of Canadian Irish Studies at Concordia University.
The team was sponsored by the College of Business and Law, the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science, the Department of Economics and the UCC Societies Guild (through the UCC Postgrad Society).
A video depicting the case study the UCC team studied, as well as their final presentation, is available here (UCC presentation beings at approx 58 minutes): http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCucI8H5LeNkHX0L0az7B2uA