From left, judges Clayton Bellamy, Ashley Gocksetter and Brad Cost congratulate the first-place team of Parag Sasturkar, Arindam Mukerjee, Katie Coon, Abhiram Pannala and Tayyibah Rasheed.

Winners named in MSBAN case competition

Monday, December 17, 2018

A team of five Oklahoma State University Master’s in Business Analytics students were recently selected as the winners of the first ever Business Analytics case competition on the Stillwater campus.

Katie Coon, Arindam Mukerjee, Abhiram Pannala, Parag Sasturkar and Tayyibah Rasheed were named the winners after competing against two other teams in the competition’s finals. The three teams advanced to the finals after 14 total groups participated in the opening round of the case competition.

“I believe that we have built some lasting friendships through this competition,” Pannala said. “All our team members understood their roles and worked really hard to secure our win. At the same time, we had a lot of fun doing it. I feel very lucky to have them as my friends.

“To win means to have your skills acknowledged. A case competition tests your analytical abilities, business acumen, teamwork and presentation skills. These skills are crucial to any aspiring business analyst. The win gives me confidence in my abilities which is always good to have.”

Finishing second was the team of business analytics students Alvi Mahmud, Yogesh Dhingra, Jaya Bhatia, Alex Lobman and Ravi Josyula.

The team of business analytics students Navjot Kaur, Thu Dinh, Prajakta Pai, Dhruv Sharma and Anjali Bansal placed third.

“I thank Analytics Advisory Board members Ashley Gocksetter, Brad Cost and Clayton Bellamy, who came to Stillwater to judge the final round of the first-ever Master’s in Business Analytics case competition,” said Goutam Chakraborty, SAS professor of marketing analytics and director of the MSBAN program at the Spears School of Business. “All three judges commented on the depth of analysis presented by all three teams as well as a professional quality presentation that the teams put together.”

Visit the website to learn more about OSU’s MSBAN program.

Second-place team — The second-place team was honored, from left, by judges Brad Cost, Ashley Gocksetter and Clayton Bellamy (far right). Team members are Yogesh Dhingra, Alex Lobman, Jaya Bhatia, Alvi Mahmud and Ravi Josyula.

Third-place team — The third-place of, from left, Navjot Kaur, Dhruv Sharma, Anjali Bansal, Thu Dinh and Prajakta Pai is congratulated by judges Ashley Gocksetter, Clayton Bellamy and Brad Cost.