Students faced stiff competition while strategically designing a project management-themed digital game
PMI PMI South Asia recently announced the winners of Project Management Game-A-Thon, a one-of-a-kind contest for college and university students. In association with TechGig® professional networking service, GitHub® collaborative website, and Tata Consultancy Services as a knowledge partner, this unique contest challenged participants to design a project management-themed digital game on a topic or scenario of their choice.
The Project Management Game-A-Thon offered a perfect head start for all students in their project management journey, helping them understand the fundamentals of project management in a fun, interactive, and engaging way. Held virtually, the grand finale featured 8 teams that were shortlisted from 32 finalists who showcased their project management-themed digital game to a panel of judges.
The winning teams of the Project Management Game-A-Thon are as follows:
Winner – Team Pragathi represented by Sreelakshmi S and Manu K from IIT Madras (cash prize of INR 150,000)
The team designed Endurance, a multiplayer game based on farming that features a closed system of mutual dependency, emphasizing the necessity for communication and coordination among the players for mutual survival and reliance on observation and analysis to optimize the game outcomes.
First Runner Up – Team Proxima represented by Jebin Tony Raj S and Nirmal Patel from IIT Madras (cash prize of INR 100,000)
The team designed Navis+, a path planning game in which the players rescue survivors in the deep sea while managing resources and environment.
Second Runner Up – Team Demeter represented by Zain Ahmed N, Vidhyashree V V, Rahul S Mahendrakar, and Nitish Srujan from CMR Institute of Technology, Bangalore (cash prize of INR 50,000)
The team designed a virtual board game that teaches the importance of project management concepts in a fun manner to players ranging from school students to rookie professionals to guide them in their career and life.
Judge’s Choice Award – Team KVL represented by Lathika Rakshini, Kayser J and Vignesh R from Loyola-ICAM College of Engineering and Technology
The team designed SHO (Commander), a game that educates school children the importance of time management and planning using the priority matrix as the foundation concept.
The other finalist teams shortlisted for the presentation round were from SRM University, NIT Durgapur, KIET Group of Institutions, Ghaziabad, Arya College of Engineering & I.T., and Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Ghaziabad. The prizes were declared by Chief Guest, Dr. K. N. Satyanarayana, Director, IIT Tirupati, and Chair, PMI Academic Advisory Group.
Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Srini Srinivasan, Regional Managing Director, PMI South Asia said, “The Project Management Game-A-Thon was a resounding success with more than 4,400 students participating in the event. We are thrilled to see the budding talent across colleges and universities and the future readiness of Indian students. We believe that that project management is a life skill and individuals of all ages can benefit from strengthening their project management skills regardless of which profession they choose. I can’t wait to see the innovation these young Changemakers will present to the world.’’
The contest took place over two months and included 200 teams from diverse disciplines such as Humanities, Science, Engineering, Business Management, Commerce, and Design in undergraduate, postgraduate, and Ph.D. programs. All the participants were provided with access to PMI’s Kickoff™, an online learning tool that guides individuals through a free 45-minute session on the basics of project management, as well as developer tools from GitHub to develop their prototype for the Game-A-Thon. Additionally, students who qualified for the second round of the contest are eligible for a discounted exam for the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® certification—a PMI introductory professional certification in project management.
Strategic Advisor of PMI youth programs at Project Management Instituteand record-holding mountaineer, Anja Blacha, was invited as a special guest for the grand finale and enthused the young finalists with an inspiring talk. Taking the participants through her extraordinary experience traversing the longest solo and unsupported polar expedition by any woman, she urged the finalists to continue to pursue bigger goals, cultivate the drive to keep learning, and keep pushing forward as every single step can get them closer to their goals.
