Laurier BTM Team impresses at Symcor Case Competition with ITMSA

Feb. 10, 2023

Students from Wilfrid Laurier University’s Business Technology Management (BTM) program  represented the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at the Symcor Case Competition on Jan. 29, 2023.  The competition was hosted by the Information Technology Management Students’ Association (ITMSA) at Toronto Metropolitan University.  

Lazaridis BTM students continue to positively represent the school and their program in student competitions and the team at this year’s Symcor Case Competition was no exception. Comprised of, Pery Au (third-year BTM student with UX minor), Wesley Choy (fourth-year BTM student with leadership option), Ethan Gardiner (second-year BTM student), and Shaza Najeeb (third-year BTM student with UX minor), the team impressed the judges and were awarded the Most Innovative Pitch Award. 

Congratulations to everyone on the team and your impressive accomplishment at this year’s competition.  

We connected with Choy to learn more about the competition and asked him to share his experience: 

Q. Tell us about the case questions. What concepts were you exploring? What solutions did you present?

The case explored the Canadian banking industry, and how it can ensure fintech is accessible to all in Canada. Our solution involved creating a Canadian Open Banking Database (COBD), publicly traded on TSX, with a subscription-based access. We also recommended courses in financial literacy, and, once the course is completed, the user would get a share in COBD. With this solution, we also wanted to ensure disadvantaged groups, like individuals with a lower education or socioeconomic status, can have access to this online resource, so we are suggested implementing a physical pop-up site, located in local community centers or libraries, making it easier for everyone to access. 

Q. If you travelled for this case competition, where did you go and what experiences did you get participate in outside of the competition? 

We travelled to TMU’s campus in Toronto for this case competition. It was a rewarding experience to connect and network with other BTM students outside of Laurier. 

Q. How did you get involved in competing in case competitions? What interested you and/or who inspired you to join the case competition. 

Our experiences with the annual BTM Case debug encouraged us to participate in this competition. Along with the case analysis practices taught by prof. [Josephine] McMurray in different courses, we felt confident in our ability to participate in this case competition. 

Q. Without giving away any secrets, how much time is involved in preparing yourselves to be ready for a case competition? 

We all spent around five to six hours a day preparing for our daily progress check-ups. Additionally, we had another three hours before the presentation to practice. We spent a total of 72 hours preparing for this case competition. 

Q. To end things off, can you tell us a fun story, or something interesting about your teammates? 

We explored the city of Toronto as a team, though we did get lost, we still got to our venue on time. A great win for the team~!