Upper schoolers compete in the Titan Challenge

On February 27, 15 students descended on the University of New England’s campus to compete in the Titan Challenge, a daylong business simulation competition. The Titan Challenge is an immersive peek into the business world, in which students—in teams of three—work with a mentor from the business community to guide a start-up, fledgling company through the virtual ups and downs of the market. Through simulated business rounds, groups decide on price, production, marketing, research and development, and charitable giving. The choices made ultimately lead to the success or failure of their virtual company. The Titan Challenge draws on a number of skills each team member will need to become a meaningful contributor in tomorrow’s workforce: creativity, finance, collaboration, strategy, leadership, and more.

85 teams in total competed in seven different locations around the state of Maine. Teams guided their start-up company through simulated rounds of industry innovation, a full business cycle, global competition, product obsolescence, and production introduction.  After a day of engaging competition, our top scoring Waynflete team of Blake Bondellio, Liam Feeney, and Zane Moorhead earned a 19th place finish in the state. Other participants included Ben Fratoni, Matt Beard, Ben Musgrove, Finja Buhl, Clara Sandberg, Rachel Burns, Solomon Levy, Gabby Eng, Tafari Makinen-Hall, Miles Anderson, Sam Yankee, and Theo Daikh.

Solomon Levy said that “the experience was a great way for me to learn about more of the world of business and some of the things that it takes to run a business.” Finja Buhl echoed the same sentiment, proclaiming, “it really helps you understand the theoretical stuff that you learn about businesses and apply it in a real-life scenario.” As Matt Beard explains, “It’s a lot of fun when you’re winning and it’s frustrating when you’re losing, but the experience and knowledge that you gain from this experience is invaluable if you plan on joining the financial workforce.”

Any students interested in competing in next year’s Titan Challenge, which takes place the end of February, should contact Steve Withers.