BUIES CREEK – A Campbell Business freshmen foursome tied for top honors at the eighth annual Wiggins Memorial Library Academic Symposium on Tuesday, March 27. “Utilizing the Design Thinking Process,” presented by Campbell Business students Samantha De Arcia, Joshua Kirkman, Megan Robillard, and Lowell Taylor, tied for first place among all undergraduate poster presentations. The group, which came together in the BADM 100 class, was coached by Campbell Business Dean Dr. Kevin O’Mara and fellow student Tori Stotz.
“We are very proud of our students and commend Tori for her outstanding mentoring of the team,” said O’Mara. “We could not be more pleased with this wonderful culmination of the BADM 100 course design. In that course, students are placed in teams to develop a food truck concept utilizing the principles of Design Thinking. This project provides a common business challenge for all the freshmen teams. It also allows the team to imagine an innovative food truck concept. The students develop team-building skills, learn a technique (Design Thinking) they can use the rest of their careers to think creativity in a team environment, practice presentation skills, and get to know each other better through a common experience during their first few weeks on campus.
“A very important component of the course is the mentoring process. An upper-division student, in this case – Tori, is trained to mentor each team on the project. The Mentors also assist the students as they transition to Campbell and college life. Working under the guidance of Renee Green, our student success coordinator, and Erin Mills, our graduate student assistant, has been nothing short of outstanding, adding another dimension to the course.
“It is a tribute to Samantha, Megan, Lowell, and Joshua that they entered the Symposium competition as freshmen. What a perfect conclusion to the BADM 100 course. We encourage our students to actively participate whenever possible, so this is a great example of what can happen if you become involved. To tie for first is just icing on the cake. Congratulations to the team and to Tori.”
This year’s symposium included more than 140 oral and poster presentations from a broad range of disciplines, including student research and creative works.