Hult International Business School participates in Formula 1 Challenge final showdown

Media are invited to attend as a panel of judges from the education and corporate sectors assess the students on the performance of their car and battery of skills employed to deliver a Formula 1 caliber marketing and business plan.

This contest is a multi-disciplinarily technology challenge in which teams of students use design software to collaborate, design, analyse, manufacture, test and race miniature gas powered balsa wood F1 cars.

The programme, endorsed by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, is a global platform for the promotion of Formula One and has shown a definite appeal among the male and female students of Hult Business School.

Hult International Business School, a top ranked global business school in Dubai, is participating with two teams in the challenge. Students of teams 'Fantom' (Kay Nikookary, Rohit Kajaria, Varun Bokadia, Srihari Chodagiri, Tushar Yadav, David Inbarajan ) and team 'Hult Velocity Warriors' (Huzefa Lokhandwala, Sudhir Nimje, Sumeeth Shankar, Mohannad Khan, Sandipan Nath, Kareem Hertzog) have spent four weeks designing their dream Formula One racing car.

Team Fantom is headed by David Inbarajan who holds a degree in mechanical engineering along with a diploma in computer aided design. Currently, David is pursuing his MBA at Hult International Business School, where he is also a member of the Public Relations Club.

David joined the inaugural F1 in Schools Corporate Challenge as the Team Manager of Fantom. Together with his team of talented professionals they are responsible for launching the Challenge to companies in the GCC region through effective marketing, engineering and design excellence, and team work.

Kareem Hertzog is the team manager of the Hult Velocity Warriors. According to him, the F1 in Schools Corporate Challenge provides the business framework that permits the students to practice management skills on a real project. Being able to perform under time sensitive parameters is as close to the "real world" as students can get while gaining an MBA.

Nick van der Walt, Academic Dean at Hult, agreed stressing, "The values the competitors will learn and the attributes they will acquire - transparent competition with integrity, technical competence and being stimulated by a new challenge - are precisely what new graduates will need when facing the wider challenges of our current economy and rapidly changing society."

The challenge began at the Dubai Autodrome, home of F1 in Schools where teams met and were presented with the design brief. They were also provided with the time-frame, design parameters and other limitations facing them as they embarked on the contest.

The Hult Business School students approached the task with great enthusiasm and a high degree of competitive spirit whilst of course retaining the all important element of fun.

F1 in Schools Director Don Sankey is excited about this new venture, "Corporate organizations need team-bonding during economic downturns just as much, if not more than they do during good times! We see the F1 in Schools team-building activity as a challenging experience. It takes people outside of their comfort zones and gives them a fun, enjoyable, different kind of activity which rewards them with a look inside the real world of F1 motor sport."

Ensuring academic excellence and direct career relevance, Hult boasts a host of globally recognized professors who are seasoned academic leaders with extensive international commercial and industrial experience, meaning Hult is able to offer more than stimulating classes, as well as the opportunity for students to take full advantage of a global career network.

The F1 in Schools competition is just one example of the kinds of programmes in which students can acquire relevant, real world skills by attending Hult International Business School. Media and any interested corporate sector guests are invited to attend the final showdown of Hult student on Wednesday April 15, 2009.