AUC Student Ranks Third Worldwide in International Business Challenge

Mazen Tawfik, electronics and communications engineering senior, ranked third worldwide in Capsim’s Spring 2023 Foundation Challenge, competing with nearly 1,000 students from different countries, including Australia, Canada, China, England, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey and the United States.

This year’s biannual international business competition asked students to work through a recession to mirror a market environment of escalating complexity. At the competition, Tawfik’s simulation was running a virtual, multi-million-dollar company head-to-head with peers from 15 countries. The final competition required decision rounds every hour for eight continuous hours. According to Capsim, Tawfi’s success is proof that he “can succeed under pressure and make winning business decisions in the midst of economic uncertainty.”

“I was so thrilled and glad to receive such recognition for my hard work,” Tawfik said. “This challenge will boost my confidence in future work as it makes me believe I have the skills and tenacity to succeed in business under any conditions.”

Tawfk’s first encounter with foundation business simulation was during a class at AUC. “I have always had a competitive spirit, as I believe it drives me to be better,” he said. “Having heard about the challenge from Dr. Irene Shaker, whom I happen to be her teaching assistant in the Introduction to Business course, I immediately joined as I wanted to reach my potential in Capsim and compete with top-notch students all over the world. The most valuable thing I learned from the challenge is the ability to be flexible in an uncertain economy and that consistency is the key to success.”

With an engineering background, Tawfik doesn’t shy away from a business challenge. “Being an engineering student, it was difficult to allocate time to prepare for the competition,” he said. “However, I managed to do so because, in my opinion, business is the key to thriving in every field, and this challenge will add a lot to my mindset. Engineering helped me prevail over other participants, especially when I encountered unexpected results each round, and understand how to use my problem-solving skills to bounce back and compete.