Written by Pimphat Chandrema, BBA#24

The FEP U.Porto ICC 2016 was organized by the FEP School of Economics and Management of the University of Porto, Portugal. The competition was held from 17-21 October 2016. Thammasat University had the privilege of being one of the 12 top international universities from 11 countries around the world invited to compete in this year?s event. The team representatives consisted of Siwawong Wongsophanakul (BBA#22), Suwanan Prasertsintana (BBA#22), Chanakarn Charinpanitkul (BBA#23), and Pimphat Chandrema (BBA#24), along with the support of our advisor Ajarn Dr. Nopporn Ruangwanit.

We kicked off the event with an Explore Porto day, where all teams were mixed together and guided off to explore the wonders that this small cozy city has to offer. Not only did this day allow us to delve into the Porto life, but helped us get to know all the participants better. Because more than just competing, we?re all here to learn from each other's diverse cultures and ideas, the very essence of international case competitions. 

The second day consisted of 10-minute presentations of the warm-up case that given to all teams to solve pre-arriving to Porto. The task of the short case was to benchmark Porto with top start-up hubs around the world, and find ideas on how to make Porto become a centre for innovation in the future. While we did not emerge as the winner of the warm-up case, we garnered several compliments from the audience and fellow participants, setting us off on a positive foot before diving into the actual case cracking.