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CMU student helps team place third in innovative business competition
Rosalyn Dao (front row, centre) and her team celebrate a third-place finish at Sprint to Innovate: The Innovation Challenge, powered by Canada Life.
When Rosalyn Dao, a student in the Redekop School of Business at CMU, heard about an opportunity to spend her weekend solving a business challenge for a real company and presenting it before an audience—all within 48 hours, and with a team she had never met—she was eager to take on the challenge.
The opportunity was Sprint to Innovate: The Innovation Challenge, powered by Canada Life. This year's edition, running January 30 to February 1, brought together around 100 students in technology and business from post-secondary institutions across Manitoba. Each team of four to six students raced to create a solution and viable prototype for a challenge presented by an industry organization, then prepare and deliver a pitch before the weekend was over. Dao's team, which included her and five RRC Polytech students, placed third.
Dao, who is in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Business Administration, participated in the Sprint to Innovate Challenge two years ago with other CMU students. While they gained valuable experience, they did not perform as well as she had hoped.
"I believe that our greatest enemy is often ourselves... I returned this year with a determination to give it my best," Dao said. "My experience at CMU has helped me come to terms with that inner self, and I entered the competition with a mindset focused on growth and redemption. CMU has shown me that there is a place for everyone in this world, inspiring me to push my limits and embrace challenges while realizing that I thrive in collaborative environments with people who share the same drive."
After gathering at the University of Manitoba on Thursday evening for a networking and training session in design thinking, teams got to work. Dao and her team chose Riipen, a software company based in British Columbia with a platform that connects students, educators, and employers to collaborate on real-world, project-based work experiences that help bridge the gap between education and employment. Riipen's challenge was: "How might we use technology and user experience techniques to develop deeper relationships and engagement with individual post-secondary students and post-secondary institutions as a whole to provide students with the best project-based learning and career opportunities?"
The team worked throughout Friday and Saturday on their proposal, supported by their team mentor. Dao also consulted James Magnus-Johnston, Assistant Professor of Business at CMU, for his expertise in design thinking, which she has studied in his classes.
"Mentorship and teamwork played a key role in our success," Dao said. "James provided valuable insights that helped our team save time."
"Rosalyn drew heavily on the kind of design thinking and lean startup methodology I use in the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Lab courses at CMU," Magnus-Johnston said. "When I had the chance to advise her, I pushed her with some difficult questions... What stood out was her analytical thinking and her ability to engage with that feedback constructively. She narrowed the scope of her team's solution rather than overreaching, which is exactly the kind of disciplined problem-solving that I hope we can hone here at CMU. It's gratifying to see those skills show up in a competitive setting beyond the classroom."
Despite some initial setbacks, like a few members dropping out at the last minute and the remaining team scrambling to find replacements to meet the minimum number required, Dao said the group collaborated well and stayed united. She has since made new friends, and they have attended professional events together.
On Sunday, the culmination of the whirlwind weekend, all teams gathered at RRC Polytech to polish their proposals with their mentors and present their solutions to the businesses that posed the challenges. Dao and her teammates presented their design in a virtual meeting with Riipen and beat out the other teams working on the same problem. As winners of that challenge, they joined the winners of the other categories in the final round. Each of the final four teams then presented their solutions again, this time before a panel of judges and a public audience, to vie for top honours.
"I've learned a great deal from this experience," Dao said. "Our team's mentor, Brittany, was incredibly dedicated... From her, I learned an important lesson: to shift my focus inward and take greater ownership of my growth. Even within a team, success requires personal accountability. No matter the circumstances, it's important not to lose sight of why you started. Growth is rarely comfortable, but it is always worthwhile."
Magnus-Johnston added, "Placing third is a significant accomplishment on its own, but it was all the more meaningful how Rosalyn was able to integrate into another cohort with students from RRC. She took the initiative to enter the competition on her own and was placed with people she hadn't worked with before. As a relative outsider, she helped that team earn a top-three finish. That kind of initiative and adaptability is impressive."
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