Students interested in international careers had the opportunity to put their global mindset to the test in a Case Interview Competition on Friday, Oct. 4, hosted by the Center for Global Business at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
As part of the center’s Careers Crossing Borders series, the competition was open to all UMD students interested in an international career path. Participants worked together in teams to make international expansion recommendations for N5 Sensors, Inc., a tech company that makes sensors to quickly detect wildfires, poor air quality and other environmental hazards. CEO and UMD alumnus Abhishek Motayed kicked off the event by speaking to teams about the company, which is a UMD spin-off that uses AI to solve the toughest environmental hazard detection problems.
“The Case Interview Competition of the Careers Crossing Borders series is meant to give students the space to realize and practice the skills they already have, develop new ones, and learn how to leverage them in a case interview setting. These skills might include critical thinking, adaptability, tolerance of ambiguity, international outlook and global business savvy; and they are all critical to compete in today’s global job market. The competition also gives them a chance to interact with a real CEO and receive developmental feedback from Smith faculty and alumni,” said Marina Augoustidis, associate director of the Center for Global Business.
The five teams were made up of undergraduate and graduate students. They had to work quickly to present a case on what country N5 should use to enter the European market, the factors to consider in the selection of the recommendation, additional market information and how the students came to their decision.
Judges represented faculty and alumni from the Smith School and after the first round, two teams remained with the winning team composed of graduate students and undergraduates: Ian Njenga ’25; Hareem Tahir ’24; Alexa Herrera, MSMA ’25; Danfei Li, MSMA ’25; and Sravan Vemireddy, MBA ’26.
Motayed announced the winning team after sharing how tough the final decision was for the judges. “This has been a real learning opportunity for me to see you all present your work. I appreciate your time and effort. I did take something back from this exercise. It has been helpful for you all but helpful for me as well,” he said.
Junior finance and accounting student Njenga said being part of the winning team was exciting. “To see my efforts pay off like this, it really makes me happy and really motivates me that if I just keep pushing myself these things will keep happening for me.”
“Honestly, I thought it would look like an amazing experience on a resume. I didn’t expect to find such amazing teammates and make such amazing connections with people I didn’t know,” said Tahir, a senior pursuing dual degrees at Smith.
Programs like this are sponsored by the Center for Global Business because of student interest in tailored career programming that focuses on global business. The Careers Crossing Borders initiative seeks to provide hands-on opportunities and speaking events with global industry professionals so that students can explore international career paths.
The Careers Crossing Borders series is provided in part by CIBE, a Title VI grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education.
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.