A Lively Season of Case Competitions: Practical Lessons and Real-World Readiness
From ethics to algorithmic trading, Leeds students demonstrated their business acumen this spring at case competitions across the country.
This spring, Leeds students and faculty returned victorious from case competitions of all kinds—local, regional, national and beyond. Each year, both undergraduate and graduate students participate in case competitions, bringing home glory, prestige and prize money—and, most importantly, confirmation that classroom lessons are directly applicable in real-world business environments.
In addition to collaborating with talented classmates, students benefit from working closely with Leeds faculty and mentors fromLeeds Centers of Excellence.
Here are highlights from three national-level competitions.
Rising talent in real estate
Three Leeds real estate majors—juniors Yashwant Chapagain, Ali Marcus and Sehaj Singh—earned second place inBoston University’s School of Hospitality’s. The inaugural event brought together 21 teams and nearly 100 students from 17 universities.
The team placed second out of 12 national teams and was awarded $3,000 in prizes, said Chapagain. “The challenge focused on the development of a high-profile air rights parcel near Fenway Park, where we proposed a luxury hotel, an indoor food and beverage mall, and a modern office tower,” he explained.
The team used a strategic storytelling approach to pitch “Fenway Heights” to an audience of more than 180 industry professionals, Chapagain said. He noted that they leveraged AI tools to visualize market dynamics and support the team’s design rationale.
Team member Sehaj Singh emphasized that the site came with both high potential and plenty of challenges. “Our concept aimed to meet growing demand for high-end hospitality, attract year-round foot traffic beyond game days, and connect key parts of the neighborhood through improved pedestrian access and transit integration.” He added that the opportunity allowed the team to consider various audiences, including business travelers and local professionals, positioning the site as a vibrant new destination.
“It was a great hands-on experience that challenged us to apply financial modeling, design and strategy in a real-world context. Case competitions like this are invaluable for learning, networking and testing ideas under pressure,” said Singh.
“It was a great hands-on experience that challenged us to apply financial modeling, design and strategy in a real-world context.”
Sehaj Singh (RelEst’26)
At the regional level, another Leeds real estate team secured first place in the at Colorado State University. Seniors Emma Bedrick, Jackson Eskridge, Jonah Duran, Madison Fanshawe and Blake Kuykendall, along with sophomore Dane Westen, competed against CSU and University of Denver teams to win $4,000 in