A team of Florida Tech students made it to the finals of the 6th Annual Global Scaling Challenge this spring and finished 4th overall in what organizers called “one of the strongest and most globally competitive cohorts in the history of the program.”
The virtual competition hosted by the University of New Mexico started with 61 teams from around the world, with countries represented including India, Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden, and U.S. states including Florida, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Mexico.
The competition involved start-up companies in the quantum computing industry for which the student teams had to develop a scaling plan, which is a strategic framework often designed to manage growth.
After the initial round, 25 teams proceeded to the finals, including the Florida Tech team of business majors: freshman Arun Mukundan and juniors Brayden Bowen, Sean Monrreal and Sarah Grace Sumner. They were charged with developing the scaling plan for the New Mexico-based advanced R&D and materials technology firm, Applied Surface Engineering.
Teams made 10-minute presentation and held 10-minute question-and-answer segments with company CEO Sal Rodriguez and other industry judges. In the end, the top 10 teams reflected the international nature of the competition, representing six different countries. Florida Tech was fourth overall but No. 2 among American universities.
“Across every round, students brought rigor, creativity, strategic judgment and professionalism to a live business scaling challenge rooted in real-world company growth,” said Corey Cooper with Global Scaling Challenge.
