Eduard Stremel was fortunate to participate in the 9th Project Management Championship, held in cooperation with Infineon Technologies AG in Munich, and shares his experience with us in this blog post. The event took place on March 31, 2023, bringing together teams from various universities across Germany competing for the title of national project management champion.
We had never heard of such an event before and were fascinated by the idea that students from various universities across Germany have the chance to test their project management skills and expand their knowledge. Qualification for the national final took place through an online qualifying round, in which teams had to complete 100 multiple-choice questions within 100 minutes.
Since we will only be covering the project management module next semester, we had concerns about whether we even had the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed. But we decided to give it a try and did our best during the qualifying round. In the end, our group was fortunate enough to qualify for the final and was able to prepare for this exciting challenge.
Arriving in Munich, we met on the evening before the competition at the Scandic Hotel and had the opportunity to get to know each other and connect with the other teams in a relaxed atmosphere. The shared dinner and get-together was a great way to prepare for the next day and get in sync with one another.
On the day of the competition, the official program began with an introduction to the GPM and the GPM Young Crew. Afterwards, we received a case study from Infineon AG, in which we were tasked with planning a global project management conference within five hours. The assignment was challenging and extensive, but through a lot of collaboration and creativity, we managed to meet all the requirements. Thanks to our strong teamwork and the use of appropriate project management methods, such as the stakeholder matrix and environmental analysis, we successfully completed the task. Finally, each group presented their results during a ten-minute presentation.
Before the expert jury withdrew to discuss and evaluate the results, we were given a tour of the Infineon campus. During the tour, we learned about Infineon’s products and their applications for end users. It was very interesting to see the products and understand how they contribute to everyday life.
In the evening, all participants, sponsors, the jury, and the Young Crew organizing team gathered at Infineon’s rooftop venue for the award ceremony and gala event. Although we didn’t quite win, our team still made a strong impression, which was especially gratifying given our lack of experience. Additionally, we received detailed feedback from the jury, providing us with valuable insights that, in a way, already prepared us for project management in the upcoming semester.
Conclusion
Our group was consistently positively surprised. We were very impressed by the organization and the venue, as Infineon has a very large campus. For me personally, participating in the final of the Project Management Championship in Munich was an incredible experience. Especially the opportunities I had during the event to network and exchange ideas with other students and project management experts were very educational.
Overall, the Project Management Championship was an amazing experience, and I would recommend it to anyone working in this field or interested in project management. It’s a great chance to learn new methods and techniques, benefit from others’ experiences, network, and have fun. I am very grateful for the experience and look forward to participating in similar events in the future.