ATLANTA, GA – MARCH 15, 2018 – A team of students from Georgia Institute of Technology won the CoreNet Global Academic Challenge, a global competition in which student teams design scenarios that address challenges faced by corporate real estate professionals. Finalists from three universities competed this week at the CoreNet Global Summit in Singapore.

The Academic Challenge, sponsored by Cushman & Wakefield and KI Furniture, presented the competing “consulting” teams with a realistic scenario: they were retained by a large, multinational corporation in the financial services, high-tech, or manufacturing sector seeking to answer the CEO’s charge to review the worldwide real estate portfolio in terms of risk (economic, supply chain, geopolitical, physical, reputational, etc.).

Specifically, the teams were challenged to determine a strategy for the CEO that articulates how to reduce risk in the company’s worldwide physical footprint (i.e., real estate portfolio) and thereby reduce overall risk exposure to the corporation.

The Academic Challenge is an important step in raising the awareness of the profession and the impact of corporate real estate on the global economy. The competition is designed to attract students from all academic disciplines to tackle key challenges facing the profession, and perhaps more importantly, the challenges facing the enterprises our members serve.

The management of corporate real estate is increasingly complex and intertwined with other corporate functions including technology and information systems, the workplace, sustainable environment, finance, site selection and even overall corporate branding.

A strategic priority for CoreNet Global is to strengthen its relationship with academic institutions around the world and grow the pipeline of talent into the challenging, rewarding career of corporate real estate.

The other finalists included the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and National University of Singapore.

About CoreNet Global

CoreNet Global is the world’s leading professional association for corporate real estate (CRE) executives with strategic responsibility for the real property used by multinational corporations for their own operations. CoreNet Global’s nearly 11,000 members, who include 70% of the top 100 U.S. companies and nearly half of the Global 2000, meet locally, globally, and virtually to develop networks, share knowledge, learn and thrive professionally. For more information, please visit www.corenetglobal.org.