Illinois State University alumnus Brian York took top honors in the 2016 International Capsim Spring Challenge, beating more than 850 challengers from 65 U.S. and international universities in 18 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, Israel, Russia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates and demonstrating world-class managerial expertise.
The grueling, 30-hour competition employed the business-simulation software CapSim Foundation®, which York learned in Professor of Technology Borinara Park’s Project Implementation class.
“The Capsim simulation helped increase my business acumen by forcing me to look at different financial reports, and understand how decisions that I make can affect those financial reports,” said York, who earned a degree in project management in the Department of Technology, along with an MBA from the College of Business in 2016.
In Park’s class, students such as York work in a team environment to apply business and project management skill sets to run a company in a simulated market. York participated in the 2016 International Capsim Spring Challenge as part of the class activities.
York, who works as a systems analyst in Bloomington, said his simulation experience broadened his business experience, providing “insights as to how decisions in different departments of an organization can impact each other.”
According to Park, students enter the Capsim Challenge to practice business skills and to add an proven “career readiness” business skills to their resume if they make the finals. “These business include critical thinking and problem solving to make decisions and overcome problems using knowledge, facts and data,” said Park.
Winners enter the Capsim Challenge Hall of Fame and receive a $400 American Express voucher for a dinner or victory party.
