The reception area in the historic New York City Public Library is packed. In front of a throng of media, former President Bill Clinton is about to announce the winners of the 2012 Hult Global Case Challenge. Among the crowd are some world-renowned individuals, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and social entrepreneur Darell Hammond, both of whom served as judges.
The annual competition attracts thousands of top-tier college and university students from more than 130 countries. This year, they worked in teams to develop solutions for social challenges within one of three tracks: education, housing, and energy.
The team from Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College awaits anxiously to find out whether months of effort will lead to a win in the education track, which comes with a third of the $1 million prize. Their entry involved working with One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing laptops to children in developing nations. They devised a five-year plan for distribution of 20 million laptops to impoverished children worldwide.
Tim Kelly (CFA’05, HNZ’12), Beth Cullinan (HNZ’12), Ketaki Desai (HNZ’12), and Reggie Cox (HNZ’12) met between classes, after work, and on weekends, filling whiteboards and examining the business-case-study from all angles. They came up with an innovative approach for a sustainable laptop deployment and a global brand for OLPC’s open-source software. The entry won regionally in Boston; in the final round of competition in New York City, the CMU students made their presentation to the executive team of the NGO (non-governmental organization).
At the podium, President Clinton draws a breath and announces the winner for the education track: “Carnegie Mellon University.” The teammates jump to their feet and quickly embrace one another. The next morning, they are up early for a meeting with the CEO of OLPC to discuss a rollout of the plan.
—Lisa Kay Davis (DC’09)
(group image left to right: Tim Kelly, Beth Cullman, Ketaki Desai, Reggie Cox)
Related Links:
$1M Case Challenge Winners
