On July 4, Team Tongjiem from the School of Economics and Management (SEM) of Tongji University won the first place in the final of the 2022 Global Student Challenge (GSC) of the Royal Institute of Chartered Building (CIOB), UK. This was the first time that SEM put forward a team to participate in this international competition.
The student team of SEM won the championship of the GSC of CIOB.
The GSC is an annual event held by CIOB for students majoring in global construction management. The competition simulates the whole process of decision-making in construction projects. Each participating team needs to make key decisions, covering various functions in the management of construction companies. These include marketing, estimation, bidding, finance and personnel management. The members of the participating team act out several management roles, such as those of the financial manager, personnel manager, bidding manager, project manager, etc. This is intended to simulate the operation of a construction company, formulate an operational strategy according to the company's function and status, and, finally, conduct quantitative evaluations on a company’s operational results.
This year, more than 40 university teams from all over the world participated in the challenge. After fierce competition in the preliminary rounds, six teams, from Chongqing University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Indonesia, University of Western Sydney, University of Minnesota and Tongji University, entered the final phase. The 2022 GSC global finals officially started at 13:00 UTC on June 20, and went through six cycles of competition. The levels of difficulty in decision-making gradually increased over the final six rounds of the competition. The first round provided four days of preparation and decision-making time. This was reduced to three days in the second round and only one day in the last four rounds. Furthermore, major changes in competition rules occurred from the third round onwards. In the first two rounds, rules were the same as in the preliminary round, in which the participating teams competed with the simulators, whilst in the last four rounds the teams not only competed with the simulators, but also with each other. Teams therefore needed to be familiar with changes and adjust strategies in a short period of time, which greatly tested their coordination ability, adaptability, analytical skills and professionalism.
Final score (score) of the final released on CIOB official website
The "Tongjiem team" was composed of PENG Bo, the team leader of Year 2020 on a master’s degree in management science and three other students of Year 2018 on a bachelor’s degree in engineering management, namely JU Xinyu, WANG Yuhang and LI Jingyan. During ten days of fierce competition, the four team members remained unfazed by the challenges of the many experienced, older competitors and their respective schools of high repute. Their positive and enterprising attitude, matched by strong endeavor, contributed to bridging any gaps in experience and standing. In the end, they won the final championship with 2544 points.
The “Tongjiem team” members
TANG Zhong, the team's instructor, predicted that the student team of the School of Economics and Management could win the first place in the final when it participated in the CIOB global college students challenge for the first time. This was not only a reflection of the solid professional foundation of the engineering management students, but also of the strong international platform for education that the school provides. The team members reported that through this competition, they have benefitted from a more profound and comprehensive understanding of the operation and management of a construction company, and also deepened their understanding of the engineering industry. Even more valuable was that during several rounds of fierce competition, a collective work effort, unafraid of challenges, and with a steadfast approach, won honors for the school and the university.
