UB School of Management announces winners in information assurance competition

By Kevin Manne

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Three teams of four graduate students each were selected as winners of the inaugural Deloitte Information Assurance Course Case Competition in the University at Buffalo School of Management.

The competitors acted as computer security consultants, working on one of two topics. Aaron Fiebelkorn, Juten Mehra, Kinn Savla and Pranith Shetty of team Technocrats made up the winning team for the “adaptive cyberrisk intelligence and big data” challenge.

In addition, two teams were selected as co-winners for the “cyberintelligence sharing/collaboration: industry value proposition” challenge. They were Amrita Nanda, Priyal Popat, Megan Saldanha and Swati Upadhya of team Alohomora and Bandaru Jogendar, Kukkadapu NS LPS Kishan, Midun Raghul R and Ramprasath Ramakrishnan of team Mavericks.

Sponsored by Deloitte, the competition is designed to help information assurance students hone their analytical, problem-solving and teamwork skills by proposing solutions to a real-world challenge.

Fifteen teams representing 40 students worked throughout the semester to conduct research and develop a presentation, which they delivered on Nov. 17 at UB’s North Campus. The teams submitted their final written reports on Nov. 24 and Deloitte selected winners on Dec. 8.

“Deloitte is committed to working with universities in promoting learning that prepares students for real-world challenges,” says Kiran Mantha, principal, at Deloitte.

Mantha, along with David Pompei, manager, at Deloitte were the case competition coordinators. H. Raghav Rao, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, Management Science and Systems Department, served as faculty coach.

“Kiran and David led the Deloitte challenge and evaluated and finalized all the projects,” says Rao. “I cannot thank them enough for sharing their time and expertise with our students.”

The UB School of Management is recognized for its emphasis on real-world learning, community and economic impact, and the global perspective of its faculty, students and alumni. The school also has been ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Financial Times, Forbes and U.S. News & World Report for the quality of its programs and the return on investment it provides its graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit mgt.buffalo.edu.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. UB’s nearly 30,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.