Pitt Announces Winners of the Fall 2009 McKinsey Cup Competition

PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business once again held the McKinsey Cup Playoffs and Competition in Oakland earlier this month. The playoffs and competition are the conclusion of a class that merges traditional and experiential learning by pairing students with client organizations to work on real-world issues. The course is designed to equip students to succeed in an increasingly complex business world by giving them hands-on experience.

The winning team-comprising Pitt MBA students Jeffrey Phillips and Jared Souder and College of Business Administration (CBA) students Marc Schutzbank and Andrew Madden-worked with lawyer and entrepreneur Peter Bak and his commuter train project. The feasibility study that the team developed as their award-winning project involved researching whether a commuter train could be profitable for the Pittsburgh area.

During the 2009 fall semester, 16 projects were undertaken with the following clients: Advantech, Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Allegheny County Public Defenders Office, American Eagle Outfitters, Bank of New York Mellon, Bayer USA, Bayer Material Science LLC, Family Communications Inc., Genco Reverse Logistics, Kennametal, Inc., McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine (Pitt-UPMC), Mine Safety Appliances, Philips (Respironics), Inc., PNC, Three Rivers Railroad Line, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

During the competition, students were judged by faculty, alumni, and business executives from participating organizations. The playoffs narrowed the competition to four teams, who then participated in the McKinsey Cup Competition.

Second place went to Katz MBA students Charles Kannair, Jennifer Sinatra, and Philip Tedesco and CBA student Joe Kneale, who worked with Philips (Respironics), Inc. executive, Linda Trevenen.

Third place went to Katz MBA students Julia Bevevino, Soeb Contractor, Jenny Jilk, and Ashley Washington and CBA student Rafay Munir, who worked with American Eagle Outfitters executive, Christopher Conrad. And fourth place went to Katz MBA students Patrick Duffy, Robert Grossic, Harsha Nijagunaswamy, and Sanjeev Singh, who worked with Mine Safety Appliances executive, Tom Merriman.

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12/21/09/tmw