Bauer Students Win First Place at National Conference
Students Team Up to Offer Solutions for AI in Corporate Real Estate
A trio of C. T. Bauer College of Business students brought home a first-place win at the CoreNet Global Academic Challenge competition.
Management information systems senior Vivian Wang, who served as team leader, partnered with accounting senior Chauhan Dhruv, MBA candidate Michael B. Manella, Jr. and Texas A&M Mays Business School student Sandeep Ramaswami to develop a case presentation outlining innovative artificial intelligence solutions for manufacturing firms looking to optimize their real estate portfolios.
The group first met over the summer at another CoreNet program and was excited to explore new ways to apply their business knowledge.
“The program opened my eyes to real estate,” Wang said. “I never really thought about real estate being a career, but I realized that after talking to the leaders of the companies at CoreNet. They all had different backgrounds and educational experiences.”
The team represented University of Houston’s Stanford Alexander for Real Estate, a program that began in 2011 with a Graduate Certificate in Real Estate and has since added an Undergraduate component as well.
After months of hard work and Zoom meetings to plan their case presentation, the team was selected as a finalist and invited to the CoreNet Global Summit in Washington, D.C. Once they arrived, it was all about networking.
“When it comes to networking, just be consistent and follow through. Ask questions and work with anyone because you never know who you're going to run into,” Dhruv said. “One person I was speaking to wasn’t really involved in the manufacturing side, but she connected me with someone who worked in manufacturing. From there, I was able to talk to him, and that connection became a very valuable asset to our presentation.”
The team’s hard work and networking paid off as they beat out teams from Purdue University and Drexel University. While the competition was fierce, they enjoyed meeting their peers from around the country.
“I really enjoyed networking with the other teams, and if I’m ever in Philadelphia, I can always hit them up,” Dhruv said.
“My biggest takeaway was the networking—not just with the company leaders, but also with the competitors,” Wang added. “They bring so much insight, and they’re all similar ages to us.”
As for the future of their case presentation, Manella, a real estate analyst at MD Anderson Cancer Center, said it was a wonderful way to prepare for the future of commercial real estate.
“Seeing how AI is now working its way into how we manage a lot of our real estate, especially in Houston, gives you a new perspective on how my workspace could look in the future,” he said.
The team’s faculty advisor, Stanford Alexander Center Executive Director Keith Richards, worked closely with the students and said their win is a win for the entire college.
“We are incredibly proud of our students’ hard work and dedication, which has paid off in such a meaningful way,” Richards said. “Their innovative use of AI to solve real-world challenges exemplifies the excellence and forward-thinking mindset that the University of Houston strives to instill in its students.”
In addition to Richards, the team thanked the CoreNet Global Houston Chapter, advisors Cruz Babin and Allen Teague, and Kai Hsu from CommScope for their support throughout the competition.
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