ATLANTA (30 October 2023) -- Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston won the CoreNet Global Academic Challenge.

The other finalists were Florida International University and Georgia State University.

This is the 14^th Academic Challenge, which is sponsored by KI Furniture, and presents real world corporate real estate scenarios for which student teams from colleges and universities around the world develop solutions. The finalists compete in a hackathon at the CoreNet Global Summit to present their strategies to a panel of senior level corporate real estate judges.

This year’s competition asked the teams to address the changing nature of work its impact on the function of corporate real estate and the corporate real estate portfolio:

With the rise of remote and hybrid work arrangements, corporate real estate professionals must find creative solutions to provide a range of workspaces that support how and where employees will work now and in the future; reframe, realign, and repurpose existing real estate assets to reflect this new reality; and ensure that the workplace, broadly and holistically defined in the emerging era of technology-enabled hybrid working, supports and drives employee productivity, experience, and wellbeing; talent attraction and retention; and corporate imperatives for greater performance in both sustainability and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

The hackathon and winner selection took place at the CoreNet Global Summit North America in Denver. The panel of esteemed corporate real estate professionals was comprised of:

• Leslie Bailey-Mayfield, MCR, with Tennessee Valey Authority;
• Diane Botson, MCR, with The Vanguard Group; and
• Mara Cummings, SLCR, with Warner Brothers Discovery

CoreNet Global launched the Academic Challenge in 2015 to raise awareness of corporate real estate. Real estate, human resources, and technology typically rank among the top three expenditures of most corporations, and corporate real estate executives manage millions (and sometimes billions) of dollars of assets across the globe.

The academic challenge is part of CoreNet Global’s strategic priority of strengthening its relationship with academic institutions around the world in order to cultivate a pipeline of talent into the challenging, rewarding – and often overlooked – career of corporate real estate.

Since its inception, the competition has attracted more than 2,000 student teams representing 305 universities in 78 countries. CoreNet Global conducts two Academic Challenges each year. It is open to students interested in creating corporate real estate solutions around the globe.

About CoreNet Global

CoreNet Global is a non-profit association, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (US), representing more than 10,000 members in 50 countries with strategic responsibility for the real estate assets of large corporations. The organization’s mission is to advance the practice of corporate real estate through professional development opportunities, publications, research, conferences, designations, and networking in 46 local chapters and networking groups globally.

For more information, please visit corenetglobal.org.