Student ingenuity on display at Experiential Learning Showcase

A trio of students, motivated to build community among their classmates and determined to use AI to achieve it, were the top winners in Rutgers Business School’s second annual Experiential Learning Showcase.

The team – Rutgers Business School seniors Christopher Rizo and Bryan Escalante and sophomore Andres Garces – won $10,000 for an app designed to share information from students in the same clubs and classes so they can connect with one another. 

Their idea, nearly two years in the making, started as a way of connecting students within their organization, the Rutgers chapter of the Association of Latino Professionals of America. “It may seem like a simple problem,” Rizo told judges during the final round, “but it’s prevalent not just in our organization but throughout Rutgers Business School.” 

The Experiential Learning Showcase challenges students to demonstrate how they have applied their classroom learning to solve real world business problems. This year’s theme – “Applying Responsible AI to Solve Real World Problems” – also required participants to explain how they incorporated AI into their projects and business ideas. The competition offered up to $20,000 in prize money.

Organizers received more than 200 submissions and selected 20 teams of students to present projects, including problem-solving apps, an AI-powered data security system for small businesses, supply chain initiatives, as well as house-hunting and financial tools.

Rutgers University-Newark Chancellor Tonya Smith-Jackson and Rutgers Business School Dean Lei Lei kicked off the day-long event with remarks about the importance of experiential learning and the increasing significance of AI – and its responsible use.

“Our business world is transforming,” Dean Lei told more than 100 people, including student contestants, who had gathered for the event. “Responsible use of AI is essential. It enables us to make better business decisions and improves long-term sustainability," she said.

Chancellor Smith-Jackson said guardrails were important as AI is put to use in different ways. “No matter what the discovery is, first do no harm. Keep that in mind,” she said. “Everything we create always has implications for human beings.”

Both leaders acknowledged the power of “learning by doing.”

The Experiential Learning Showcase is one of the newest opportunities students at Rutgers Business School have to highlight and reflect on how they are applying their classwork to real life. Each team competing in the showcase was required to highlight the classes where they learned the skills and knowledge they applied to their project.

Graduate student Arunkumar Rajakumar and undergraduate Siyu Pang each received $5,000 prizes for their projects. Rajakumar presented an AI-powered data security system designed to protect small businesses from cyber-attacks. Rajakumar also won the Rutgers Choice Award for being a crowd favorite. Pang was awarded for developing an AI-assisted LPA (layered process audit) extraction solution for analyzing fund operations.

The competition's intense first round required participants to stand at large posters detailing their projects and explain the details to spectators, including staff and faculty. As the judges moved from one poster to another, some of the students stood a little straighter and grew a little more serious as they explained details and answered questions.

In the second round, the six finalists made a formal presentation to seven industry judges from companies such as Google, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson. After presenting their projects, the teams answered a series of questions from the judges.

In his remarks during the competition, Frank Giarratano, an instructor who served on the committee to plan the showcase event, described experiential learning as “an important piece of what we deliver at RBS."

Providing students with opportunities to apply their knowledge continues to grow in importance as part of the school's intent to differentiate itself through innovation and ensuring a high return on investment for its graduates. Experiential learning is a feature of the business school's Road to Success programs, the reason students are encouraged to participate in case competitions and why industry client projects are required by some programs. Experiential learning is also heavily emphasized in Rutgers Business School's annual summer camp, which brings high school students to campus to introduce them to studies in business.

“All of that is really good,” Giarratano said, “because the research is consistent in highlighting that problem solving, teamwork, strategic thinking, communications and AI literacy are the most sought after competencies by employers today.”

-Susan Todd