UMES students have committed to competing in the HBCU Battle of the Brains in Austin, Texas for the second consecutive year. This year’s edition, the sixth annual for the event, takes place March 8-12. A team of eight students from disciplines across campus have been selected to represent the university.
The team will be led by return competitor T’naisha Addison, who competed in UMES’ inaugural competition as a senior biology major. Addison is currently enrolled as a master’s of science in chemistry student. She is joined by agribusiness major Makalah Wolfe, engineering (electrical) major Anas Bashier and computer sciences majors Amir Gavish, Michael Zeray, Mustafa Hassan, Ray’Sean Smith and Esmail Bashier. UMES faculty and staff members, such as Drs. Victoria Volkis (chemistry professor and team mentor), Pamela Allison (chair of UMES’ Entrepreneurship and Program Innovation), William Weaver (associate professor of analytical chemistry), and WOM Communications LLC provide team training activities prior to the event.
The event serves as a “national academic championship and experiential diversity recruiting showcase.” The UMES team will be pitted against approximately 50 teams from other historically Black colleges and universities in a business challenge competition. They will be sequestered for 24 hours to tackle a business challenge developing a solution that incorporates design, policy, business and STEM components, Volkis said. The team’s analysis and solution will be presented to a panel of judges in several products, including the business idea, business plan, web apps, PowerPoint slides and final report. Five finalists will compete on stage with their seven-minute pitch format followed by a Q&A session to further challenge them. During the team’s sequestration, the faculty advisors will be holding a recruitment event for area high school students to consider attending an HBCU.
“Last year, the team received positive feedback from the judges, but alas, did not advance to the final round,” Volkis said. “It was a learning experience for all and one that will enable us to build on for this year’s competition.”
HBCU Battle of the Brains teams will be vying for a top institutional prize of $50,000 ($25,000 and $10,000 for second and third, respectively) along with eight individual scholarships ranging from $2,000-$5,000. Event sponsors review the participating schools offering stipends to cover part of the travel costs. Last year, UMES received $2,500 toward travel expenses.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications and media associate, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, 410-621-3850, gcstephens@umes.edu.
Todd Dudek, agricultural communications photographer/videographer, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, 410-621-6707, tdudek@umes.edu.
