2021

With unprecedented circumstances caused by a global pandemic, CoMIS 2021 was held as a virtual competition from March 24- 27. We had 16 amazing schools compete in multiple competitions throughout the week. On Wednesday night we kicked off the CoMIS week with a Welcome Event, Keynote Speaker who spoke about the Ethics of AI, and a panel made up of IT professionals from Fortune 500 companies who discussed their career path, how to stand out as a new hire, and the impact of COVID-19 on their respective companies.

Following the Speaker Series, groups were drawn, and the teams were ready to compete for the competition weekend. 

5-Hour Case

On Thursday, CoMIS hosted its 5-hour case. This case was sponsored by Lifeline Pilots, a Chicago-based non-profit company whose mission is to “facilitate free air transportation through volunteer pilots for financially distressed passengers with medical and humanitarian needs”. The case provided multiple opportunities for teams to optimize Lifeline’s business, including the following:

• Tracking the success (failure) of marketing and outreach efforts
• Tracking, reporting, and analyzing ROI (Return on Investment) to improve the accountability process
• Methods to expand the business and meet the required supply of pilots
• Complete flight cancellations 
• Minimize wasted bookings

In five hours, teams had to analyze and present a low-technology solution, using limited funding to support the company as it helped the underprivileged. 

After a tough Thursday, the judges selected eight teams as first and second-place winners. Their tangible solutions were well received!

First-place teams received a prize and were given first choice to decide when they wanted to begin presenting the 24-Hour Preliminary case. While second-place teams didn’t receive a prize, they were given second choice to decide when they wanted to present the 24-Hour Preliminary case.

24-Hour Case

The 24-Hour case started on Friday morning. Teams had 24-Hours to present a solution that addressed Land O’Lakes’ dairy business prompt, “Has the time come to digitize dairy?” The case posed multiple opportunities which include the following:

• Financial analysis: the ability for all farmers to understand their financial position to manage margins from a human capital perspective
• Mechanisms (outside of AR/automation) that will aid in hiring, training, and retaining employees

These key business problems had many underlying issues. Teams needed to understand the dynamic of the two problems and the factors that influenced them to give a realistic and insightful presentation.

After a challenging 24 hours, four teams prevailed and progressed to the Final Round while the four second placing teams moved into a Lightning Round.

Lightning Round

The Lightning round is unique to CoMIS and tests teams on their understanding of the case. Of the four, two teams will progress into the final. The Lightning Round proceeds as follows:

• Four questions are asked by the moderator 
• After each question, teams are given 2 minutes in breakout rooms to deliberate and provide an answer
• Teams return to the main meeting room and are given up to 1 minute to respond
• This is repeated four more times after which judges determine the two teams.

After a well-deliberated round, Luminary Consulting (Iowa State) and Ark Consulting (University of Arizona) claimed the remaining two spots in the Final Round.

Final Round

The Zap Factor, another hallmark of CoMIS, gives teams 30 minutes to analyze and overcome an unprecedented business problem. This year, the Zap Factor is as follows:

“Dairy Farmers of America, Danone and Bovine Business Solutions announced a joint venture that would revolutionize dairy management software. The joint venture proposed a revolutionary combination of software and hardware would provide dairy farmers with an adaptive approach to herd monitoring, management and overall efficiency.”

The teams’ goal was to provide a solution that took into consideration how this affected their existing solution and Land O’ Lakes.

After listening to a persuasive set of presentations, judges needed to choose winners. After deliberating, the judges selected the top 3 placing teams of CoMIS 2021!

We want to congratulate and thank all teams, coaches, judges, speakers, and sponsors for making CoMIS 2021 a success. We could not have done it without you!

While the virtual nature of this year’s competition has its merits, we are hopeful to see everyone in-person in Minnesota for CoMIS 2022!