Schulich’s Supply Chain Case Competition Tackles Extreme Weather Disruptions
In February 2026, the Schulich School of Business hosted the third annual Sustainable Supply Chain Case Challenge, a national competition inviting graduate students to design innovative solutions to emerging supply chain challenges.
The year’s challenge brought together teams from five partner universities (Concordia University, the University of Guelph, the University of Victoria, Wilfrid Laurier University, and York University) to examine the impacts of extreme weather events on retailers’ supply chains. The topic is especially timely, as organizations across Canada face more frequent and severe weather events such as flooding, wildfires, and storms. During the competition, teams worked to develop strategies to help retailers leverage digitally enabled systems to strengthen the flow of goods and services during extreme weather.
Through two rounds of competition, teams developed and refined their recommendations, culminating in an in-person finals event where the top three teams presented live to a panel of industry judges, including: Wael Yehia, Vice President, National Transport Operations, Loblaw Companies Ltd.; David Wang, Director of National Warehousing, Stone Tile International (MSCM ‘20); and Gary Newbury, COO, RetailAID Inc. (on behalf of CITT).
The winning team, Chain Reaction, comprised of Schulich MBA candidates Abdel Elakrat, Harinder Kumar, and Rabie Tarakji, took home the top prize of $1,500 CAD. Second and third place honours were awarded to teams from the Schulich School of Business and the University of Victoria, respectively.
The event was organized by the George Weston Ltd. Centre for Sustainable Supply Chains with promotional support from Schulich’s Supply Chain and Operations Management Club (SCOMC). The challenge was made possible through the generous support of industry sponsors including Lead Sponsor, Loblaw Companies Limited, and Partner Sponsor, CITT.
Interested in supply chain education at Schulich? Visit this page to learn more about Schulich’s #1 ranked Master of Supply Chain Management (MSCM) program.
