Students are big winners at 5th annual CI2E Industry Super Bowl

While the big game is still days away, the 5^th Industry Super Bowl, hosted by Auburn Engineering’s Center for Inclusive Engineering Excellence (CI2E) and held Sunday, Feb. 4, offered 76 students and eight participating companies a chance to compete in teams to solve realistic workplace scenarios and win prizes. Faculty judges evaluated each team’s performances and awarded team International Paper first place, with the Brasfield & Gorrie and Alabama Power teams coming in second and third place respectively.

“The Industry Super Bowl event is one of CI2E’s annual signature events. Students and our program corporate sponsors have an opportunity to interact with one another in a fun and unique way while competing and having the opportunity to solve and work through real-life workplace scenarios,” said Celeste Waugh, CI2E academic programs administrator.

The unique professional development and networking event offers students an opportunity to think critically about how to navigate potentially complicated workplace scenarios while also forming connections with potential employers.

“Not only do we want students to have a fun way to critically think about how they would approach these potentially difficult workplace scenarios that they could encounter in the future, but we also want students to have the opportunity to continue to build relationships with our corporate sponsors in hopes that those interactions could lead to future employment opportunities,” Waugh said. “Beyond those opportunities, this event allows our students to build relationships with faculty and strengthen bonds with other CI2E participants.”

Corporate sponsors involved in the 2024 Industry Super Bowl included Alabama Power, AMERICAN, Brasfield & Gorrie, Chevron, International Paper, Lockheed Martin, Robins & Morton and Southern Company. Organizers of the event aim to provide a platform that is not only beneficial for the students but also for the participating industry representatives.

“We have been participating in this event since the beginning and it is amazing how much it has grown,” said a representative from International Paper. “As a company representative and recruiter, we appreciate what the team does to prepare these students and get them comfortable interacting with companies.”