Saint Mary’s University student awarded the 2017 3M National Student Fellowship

Naina Garg

This week, Saint Mary’s University Economics and Finance student Naina Garg was one of ten students from across the country to be awarded the 2017 3M National Student Fellowship. 

“This fellowship provides me with an opportunity that I have been seeking since childhood,” said Garg. “I plan to use this national platform and the associated fellowship money to start my social enterprise project that addresses child labour and illiteracy in my home city, New Delhi. I have invested months of research and resources in developing my plan, and now I finally have the ability to address an issue that is quite close to my heart.”

Presented by 3M Canada and the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE), Garg was one of over 90 highly accomplished contenders from various universities and colleges across Canada to apply for this prestigious fellowship.

“This award highlights the leadership role that Saint Mary’s students demonstrate throughout the world,” said Saint Mary’s University President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray.  “Naina has worked for years with underprivileged children and children with disabilities in her home city of New Delhi. She has also been involved in research publications, coaching, tutoring and peer mentoring work through Saint Mary’s LEAP program, as well as a lead role with Enactus Saint Mary’s first women empowerment project based in South America called Options International.”

“Naina is an important part of our community at Saint Mary’s and I know I speak for all of us when I say it is incredibly fitting that her dedication to helping others is being recognized on a national stage.”  

The 3M National Student Fellowship Award was introduced in 2012 to honour undergraduate students in Canada who have demonstrated qualities of outstanding leadership and who embrace a vision where the quality of their educational experience can be enhanced in academia and beyond.

“Upon meeting Naina, you are immediately impressed by her intense desire to immerse herself in activities that help those in need regardless of if there are fiscal or academic benefits to her,” said Tom Brophy, Senior Director, Student Services at Saint Mary’s. “By focusing on others, she was instrumental in building one of the core Enactus projects to empower women in Peru. It now serves as an impactful platform for future generations of students.”

Each of the ten winners receives a $5,000 award as well as registration at this summer’s STLHE conference, which will be hosted in Halifax by five post-secondary institutions including Saint Mary’s University. 

Garg is quick to acknowledge the many team members involved in the award nomination process including Dr. Eric Lee, Dr. Mohammad Rahaman, Dr. Shayama Chona, Mr. Thomas Storring, Dr. Colin Dodds, Dr. Patricia Bradshaw, Mr. Tom Brophy and Mr. Alex Krimer.

“It is my honour to represent my alma mater on a national scale,” said Garg. “This award is a powerful recognition of the support and encouragement that Saint Mary’s University unconditionally offers to all its students, domestic or international. The incredible faculty and staff recognize potential in ordinary students and work with us to bring out our very best.”

Big win for Saint Mary’s students at international stock picking competition

Far left: George Athanassakos, Professor of Finance & Director of Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing @ Ivey Business School, Western University
Middle:  The Winners  Bill MacGregor, Dev Jyoty Nath, Morris MacLeod
Far right: Doug Winslow of Burgundy Asset Management one of the judges for the event. Burgundy is one of the sponsors for the event.

A team of MBA students from the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax has won an international stock picking competition, beating teams from prestigious universities around the world such as Columbia Business School, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern and the Ivey Business School.  Bill MacGregor, Morris MacLeod and Dev Jyoty Nath competed last week in the Ben Graham Centre For Value Investing Competition at the Ivey Business School, University of Western Ontario.

This stock picking competition is different from others in that it focuses on the value investing approach to stock analysis. Value investing is the strategy used by high profile investor Warren Buffett, among others. The investor chooses stocks they believe to be undervalued, and buy for the long term. The team will split the $10,000 prize money – decent earnings for a few weeks of intense research.

From a field of 27 top-ranked business schools (see below), the Sobey team advanced to the final round in Toronto along with Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), Columbia Business School, and Ivey Business School. After presenting to a distinguished panel of value investors, the team was awarded 1st place and received a prize of $10,000!

The team greatly appreciated the opportunity to represent the school and would like to thank Ross Hallett, Thomas Storring, Mohammed Rahaman, Jeff Young, James O’Brien, Chantal Hervieux, Wendy Carroll, Colin Dodds, and the research resource team at the Patrick Power library for their invaluable support. The team advisor was Saint Mary’s marketing professor, Dr. Ethan Pancer.

Participating teams included:

• Carnegie Mellon (Tepper School of Business)
• CEIBS
• Columbia Business School
• Cornell University
• Fordham University (The Gabelli School of Business)
• IESE Business School
• Indiana University (Kelley School of Business)
• INSEAD
• London Business School
• McGill (Desautels Faculty of Management)
• Nanyang Business School
• Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management)
• NYU (Stern School of Business)
• Queen's University (Smith School of Business)
• Saint Mary's University (Sobey School of Business)
• SDA Bocconi School of Management
• The University of Manchester (Alliance Manchester Business School)
• UCLA (Anderson School of Management)
• University of California Berkeley (Haas School of Business)
• University of Cambridge (Judge Business School)
• University of Chicago (Booth School of Business)
• University of Notre Dame (Mendoza College of Business)
• University of Stirling
• University of Toronto (Rotman School of Management)
• University of Waterloo
• USC (Marshall School of Business)
• Western University (Ivey Business School)

Collection documenting more than 50 years of African Nova Scotian history available to the public

Documents and newspaper clippings detailing more than 50 years of African diaspora and African Nova Scotian heritage and history will be available for public viewing at the Halifax North Memorial Public Library on Thursday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m.

This event marks the official launch of the Lynn Jones African-Canadian & Diaspora Heritage Collection which Dr. Jones donated to Saint Mary’s University last year. The collection documents the lives of Dr. Lynn Jones, the Jones family and over 50 years of African diasporic and African Nova Scotian heritage and history. A portion of the collection will be on display at the library for the launch.

Key parts of the collection include materials on:

• civil rights and social justice struggles in Halifax, Canada and beyond
• Lynn’s career as an athlete, politician, union activist, and work as an election observer for the 1994 South African Presidential election of Nelson Mandela
• thousands of news clippings, programs, reports and other materials documenting the lives and culture of African Nova Scotians.

The launch of this collection is a community event and all are welcome.

More information on the collection or the launch event.

Computing and Data Analytics students win prizes, internships at Hackathon

Students in the M.Sc. in Computing and Data Analytics program at Saint Mary’s University won top prizes and internships at last weekend's Hackathon.

The top two teams comprised students from the M.Sc. program at Saint Mary’s, while a group from Acadia University won third place. The cash prizes totalled $5000, with $10,000 also available in potential internship opportunities.

The event, hosted by SMU and sponsored by the Atlantic Lottery Corporation, IBM, and the David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services, was open to current students and new professionals who graduated after January 2015. It took place over three days.

From Atlantic Lottery: “We believe that delving into data can unleash many new opportunities for our customers and our retailers. The goal of this hackathon is to help us identify areas where we can improve, innovate, and implement the latest technologies and service design to make positive impacts in the retail experience.”

The winning team of Reshma Gopinathan, Shahriar Mullick Swapnil, Akhilesh Kotiya, and Ross MacDonald won prizes totaling $2400.

Judges were from T4G, IBM, CGI, Government of Canada, SimplyCast, Affinio, Venor, Living Loyalty, Gartner, and Leadsift.

Cyborgs and the Second Machine Age are coming to Saint Mary’s University

From killer robots to sex robots, worker robots to companion robots, the second machine age is here and is the topic of the Cyborg Futures workshop to be held at Saint Mary’s University’s March 31 to April 1, 2017.

The Cyborg Futures: Animal Life and Social Robots Workshop brings together an international group of scholars from the University of the West of England to the University of California, Berkeley, to discuss how robots and artificial intelligence are shaping the future of labour, war, the environment, and human relationships.

“This workshop brings together scholars from across the sciences, humanities and social sciences to discuss artificial intelligence and robotics,” said Saint Mary’s professor and workshop organizer, Dr. Teresa Heffernan. “Experts from both science and fiction will come together to discuss what our increasingly robot-filled future means for humanity and non-human animals.”

The workshop will discuss topics such as cyborgs and the mixing of organic and non-organic bodies, autonomous robots and the question of rights, and the increasing tension between technological progress and the environment.

The two-day workshop is free and open to the public, however registration is required.

To register or learn more about the workshop, visit www.cyborgworkshop.com . 

Sobey School professor recognized in international top 40 under 40 list

Poets & Quants, a US-based online resource of international graduate business education information, has recognized Dr. Ethan Pancer, Sobey School Assistant Professor of Marketing, in its annual list, "World’s Top 40 Business Professors Under 40."

"While some may regard marketing as an art, [Pancer's] students get a full on dose of the science behind the success stories. His many student fans say his ability to connect and engage with them has made marketing not only pertinent but pressing."

Learn more on the Poets & Quants site.

Saint Mary’s student takes home honours at National Japanese Language Speech Contest

Kensey Phillips (left) receives congratulations from Asako Okai, Consul General of Japan in Vancouver

Last weekend, Saint Mary’s Asian Studies major Kensey Phillips made the strongest showing ever by an Atlantic Canadian student at Canada’s National Japanese Language Speech Contest.

Competing among 25 students from 13 institutions from coast to coast, Phillips took home the second-place prize in the “open category”—an exceptionally impressive feat, according to Dr. Alexandre Avdulov, a Professor of Japanese and a key supporter for students entering the contest from Saint Mary’s University.

“This is the most difficult category,” says Dr. Avdulov, “because there are no restrictions on the number of years that participants have spent in Japan, or whether their parents or other family are Japanese. So it’s really an extraordinary accomplishment for a born-and-raised Nova Scotian who’s only been studying Japanese for a few years.”

The national contest follows closely after seven regional competitions held throughout Canada. Phillips and international student Lee Jeongseob, of South Korea, earned top honours in the Atlantic Canadian competition held earlier in March.

“But going to the national competition is a different situation,” says Phillips. “You’re facing top students from all over the country. It’s much more intimidating initially, but when you get there it really is all about learning and sharing.”

Speech contests are heavily promoted by Japanese embassies and consulates worldwide as a means of cultural outreach—bringing Japanese culture to the world. As the only university offering advanced Japanese studies in Atlantic Canada, Saint Mary’s has long been a strong performer regionally and nationally, says Dr. Avdulov, who also credits the university’s strong commitment to intercultural education.

“The reason I chose Saint Mary’s was because of the Asian Studies program,” says Phillips, who has long been interested in Japanese language and culture. “I think it’s just an amazing thing for the university, and to have opportunities like this to interact with peers from across the country is just so, so valuable.”

At the regional and national level, the contests feature four categories—beginner, intermediate, advanced, and open—in which students deliver three to five-minute speeches on a topic of their choosing. Phillips chose a reflection on Minamata Disease, a form of extreme mercury poisoning affecting residents of Minamata City, near the city of Kumamoto, where Phillips spent a study-abroad year.

“We did a field trip to there,” says Phillips, “and went to a place called Hot House, a vocational centre for survivors.” Kensey’s speech focused on the social stigma faced by the survivors, and their efforts to find work and be seen as contributing members of society.

Phillips’ placement is an impressive feat for herself and Saint Mary’s, and Dr. Avdulov believes it’s no fluke. “Kensey really earned this,” he says, “and Saint Mary’s has become a regional leader. e are striving to create a comprehensive lingua-cultural environment which urtures th individuality and creativity of each student hile   enriching them with a multicultural international experience. The speech contest s an excellent teaching and learning tool, which inspires students to make real stetowards global citizenship.”

Saint Mary's Students Win Atlantic CFA Competition

Sobey School of Business’ IMPACT Fund Managers Mitchell Norrie, Jorge Gonzalez, Mengqing Chen & Alex Fowler, winners of the Atlantic CFA Competition.

Congratulations to Sobey School of Business’ IMPACT Fund Managers Alex Fowler, Mengqing Chen, Jorge Gonzalez and Mitchell Norrie for winning the Atlantic Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Competition this past weekend.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition where university students work in teams to analyze and value a publicly traded company. Each team writes a research report on their assigned company with a buy, sell, or hold recommendation and is then asked to present and defend their analysis to a panel of industry professionals.

“We’re happy to see all our hard work has paid off after all the hours we’ve put into the competition since we started back in October,” said IMPACT Fund Manager Alex Fowler. “I feel confident in saying this is the most time any of us have committed to a single project and we certainly couldn’t have done it alone. We’d particularly like to thank our advisors for the competition, Ross Hallett and Mike Mills.”

The team represented Saint Mary’s University at the Atlantic Canada Local Level Competition. Cumulatively, the team put in over 500 hours of work to prepare their report and presentation. With this victory, the team will be advancing to the Americas Regional Competition in Seattle, Washington at the start of April, where they will compete against universities from across North and South America.

There are nearly 100 local level challenges across the world. The winner of each local competition advances to one of three regional competitions, with the winner of each regional event going to the global final.

The performance of the IMPACT Team in the Local CFA Challenge (i.e. Atlantic Region) has been consistently outstanding, as evidenced by their unprecedented streak of three wins.

 The IMPACT Program is unique credit program where students gain firsthand experience in finance, wealth management and portfolio management. Students on the IMPACT team are responsible for managing close to $500,000 in financial investments (mostly equity). They are in charge of portfolio rebalancing, asset allocation, security selection and stock valuation. In addition, the IMPACT program offers unique networking opportunities (a series of high caliber guest speakers from the industry, national and international competitions) and for community engagement and volunteering (e.g. Finance-Focused Career Fair & High School Trading Competition).

Booker Prize-winning author of Life of Pi, Yann Martel, to deliver two-part Cyril Byrne Lecture

Updated with event slideshow:

Booker Prize-winning author of Life of Pi, Yann Martel, will be in Halifax on March 23 and 24, 2017, for two-nights as part of the Cyril Byrne Memorial Lecture.

“We are proud to host world-renowned author Yann Martel as he discusses the themes of loss and the imagination,” said Saint Mary’s University President Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray. “The Cyril Byrne Memorial Lecture has grown in stature over the past decade and it builds on our tradition of taking the highest level of knowledge and discourse beyond the university lecture hall and out into the wider community for the enjoyment and appreciation of all.”

Martel’s lecture is a special Saint Mary’s University and Halifax Public Libraries joint presentation and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the first public education courses ever offered by Saint Mary’s through the Halifax Public Libraries system.

“Access to education supports an individual’s ability to have informed engagement in society,” says Åsa Kachan, Chief Librarian and CEO of Halifax Public Libraries. “Offering university lectures at the Library that are open to all feeds curiosity, supports learning, and offers personal fulfillment. Together – the university, the Library, and learners - we work to create an informed citizenry which has remarkable impact.”

The two-night lecture begins on Thursday, March 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the Paul O’Regan Hall at the Halifax Central Library where Martel will speak on the recurring subject of loss in his fiction. Guests are invited to dress all in black to match the theme of the event.

On Friday, March 24 at 7 p.m., the action shifts to the McNally Theatre at Saint Mary’s University, where the lecture will conclude with a celebration of the power of the imagination. Guests are invited to dress in colourful outfits to match the theme of the event.

The Cyril Byrne Memorial Lecture is presented to the community free of charge and all are welcome. Attendees are able to choose between going to one night or both, however seating may be limited.

Two Sobey students chosen for prestigious $25,000 Frank H. Sobey Awards

For the second year in a row, the Sobey School of Business is delighted to announce that not one but two of our students have been recognized with the prestigious and high-value Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies.

More information

Saint Mary's takes Provincial Open Data Challenge by storm

Top: Sunil Udhayakumar, unknown, judge, Siddharthsenthil Thangharaj, Rasheed Andrews
Middle: Raj Sonani, Kanngi Mahajan, judge, Sanjeevi Ramachandran, Shahriar Mullick Swapnil, Bo Li
Bottom: Janice Lobo, Vivek Karunakaran, judge, Jie Pan

Teams from the Saint Mary's MSc in Computing & Data Analytics (MScCDA) program took the Provincial Open Data Challenge by storm, garnering 1st prize, 3rd prize, and the People's Choice Award.

The event, supported by the province, SIM and hosted at the Dalhousie University, was part of Open Data Day celebrations, March 4.

The challenge is focused on three main areas: 

1. Promoting tourism
2. Assisting new immigrants
3. Effective management of Nova Scotia's natural resources and protection of the environment

 Participants were expected to tackle projects involving application development, data anayis and predictive modelling.

See the story on CBC.ca.

Saint Mary's student receives prestigious leadership scholarship

Sobey School of Business student Boyce Campbell (pictured) has been awarded a Futures Fund Scholarship for Outstanding Leadership.Campbell is one of 10 university business students across Canada who have been recognized for their leadership in their academic and extra-curricular activities.

Participating schools are chosen each year by Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year, an oganization that also honours accomplished Canadian Chief Executive Officers.

Student recipients are selected by their school's Dean's office based on their achievements and demonstrated leadership initiatives in their academic and extracurricular activities. Both graduate and undergraduate students in business degree programs are eligible.

The award program provides students with $7,500 grants to further their educational ambitions.

Boyce Campbell