Google competition challenges supply chain students

W. P. Carey students gained new skills and networked with industry experts at ASU's inaugural Google Case Competition.

Fatima Agüero's (MBA '19) W. P. Carey experience was a key building block in her journey to becoming a supply chain program manager at Google.

"I was incredibly blessed to receive tremendous support while attending W. P. Carey, including a full-ride scholarship that made a profound difference in my life, alongside invaluable mentorship and guidance," she says. "That generosity has always stayed with me."

Now, Agüero is paying it forward and supporting the next generation of students through the ASU Google Case Competition.

A student team presents their case to the judges.

The inaugural event, held this spring and spearheaded by Agüero, invited W. P. Carey students to network with Google employees and hone their supply chain skills while competing for cash prizes.

"This competition is a fantastic platform for them — it's a chance to put their skills and creativity into practice, learn to excel as a team, and push themselves to go beyond what they learn in the classroom," says Agüero. "It's incredibly rewarding for me to support them this way."

The event was made possible by an internal Google competition, where Agüero competed against colleagues to win $25,000 from Google's Global Data Center Rise program, which funds efforts to build a pipeline of tech talent from various groups. Agüero won the competition and used the funds to launch the Google Case Competition for business school undergraduate and graduate supply chain students.

"We are deeply honored to receive this support from Google," says Octavio Duarte, assistant director of corporate alumni engagement. "We're excited to offer our students a unique opportunity to tackle real-world supply chain challenges while gaining invaluable industry exposure."

Working in 14 teams, 62 student participants presented solutions to a supply chain case study before a panel of Google and ASU judges. Judges scored teams on their ability to identify the case's supply chain challenges, correctly calculate data related to bottlenecks, demands, and order timing, and on their ability to articulate and justify their proposed solutions during a 15-minute presentation.

Cristian Tikhomirov, Shashank Kumar, Alex Hallak, Patrick McAuliffe, and Shraddha Mittal placed first in the Google Case Competition.

In addition to Agüero, several ASU faculty members and Google employees served as competition judges, including Tracey Lauterborn, assistant teaching professor of supply chain management; Joseph Van Orden, clinical associate professor of supply chain management; Surya Ayyalasomayajula, clinical assistant professor of supply chain management; Matthieu Moya, manager of new product introduction (NPI) supply chain for machine learning, accelerators, and infrastructure at Google; Andrea Lam, senior manager of NPI operations physical infrastructure at Google; and Yolanda Washington, senior program manager at Google.

After the two-day competition, three students won Google Pixel 9 phones, and the five highest-scoring teams won cash prizes ranging from $750 to $5,000. Here are the winners:

First place:

• Cristian Tikhomirov (BS Supply Chain Management/Finance '25)
• Shashank Kumar (BS Supply Chain Management/Computer Information Systems '26)
• Alex Hallak (BS Supply Chain Management '26)
• Patrick McAuliffe (MBA '26)
• Shraddha Mittal (MBA '26)

Second place:

• Derek Foehrkolb (MBA '25)
• Shreya Shahane (Supply Chain Management/Business Data Analytics '26)
• Jayani Gunda (Supply Chain Management/Business Data Analytics '26)
• Devang Singhal (Supply Chain Management '25, Business Data Analytics '26)
• Praise Ifetogun (MBA '25)

Third place:

• Tracy Nazeba (MBA '26)
• Valerie Attah (MBA '25)
• Brian Liang (BS Economics '28)
• Precious Gozwa (MBA '25)
• Xavier Inyangat (MS Artificial Intelligence in Business '25)

Fourth place:

• Esther Abel (MS Artificial Intelligence in Business '25)
• Rayhan Rizqi (BS Computer Science '25)
• Abdulmajeed "MJ" Alghamdi (BS Supply Chain Management/Finance '26)
• Samuel Ninsiima (MS Artificial Intelligence in Business '25)

Fifth place:

• Nishant Gode (MS Business Analytics '25)
• Shyamali Gautam (MS Business Analytics '25)
• Aditi Khare (MS Business Analytics '25)
• Achuta Sravan Pulle (MS Business Analytics '26)

Gozwa, whose team placed third, says the experience showed her she can solve real-world problems — even those faced by major companies like Google.

"It proves that students can have powerful ideas, and that innovation often comes from unexpected places," says Gozwa. "Working with a diverse team taught me that collaboration leads to the best outcomes."

Kumar says the competition challenged him to think critically under pressure and collaborate effectively with his peers. At the same time, his team's first-place win reaffirmed that he is on the right path academically and professionally.

"Events like this are important because they bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world problem-solving," he says. "We had to align on ideas quickly, adjust based on feedback, and present a solution that was both innovative and practical. I also realized that when working with senior leaders, you have to be thoughtful and clinical about how you use their time — every minute counts."

Agüero hopes the competition evolves to engage students from more disciplines and provide more expanded opportunities for participants.

"Events like this case competition are valuable because they offer students direct opportunities to apply their learning, develop practical skills, and gain the kind of real-world exposure crucial for their careers," she says. "Being able to contribute to that experience, knowing what it takes, is a way for me to help ease their path and hopefully open doors for them, just as others did for me."