HP Challenges YCP Students
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HP, Inc. Challenges York College Students to Solve Its Pressing Problems
The week-long immersive course offered a real-world problem-solving experience, and real-world prizes.
On day one, the problem seemed insurmountable. How could a group of five York College of Pennsylvania students–Abigail “Abby” Wurzbach ’23, Rachel Shetterly ’23, Sam Goodman ’22, Jordan Tripp ’22, and Delaney Loucks ’22–who barely knew one another solve a supply chain problem, an issue plaguing industries around the world, for a major company such as HP, Inc.?
Just five days later, the energy was palpable as the students pitched innovative ideas to a panel of HP, Inc. executives.
The York College/Gateway Learning HP, Inc. Challenge launched students into a five-day design sprint, compressing a normally months-long problem-solving process into one week of creative thinking, cultural enrichment, and master classes. It was an exciting, real-world challenge, and just one example of the high-impact, experiential learning happening at York College.
Problem-Solving for the Real World
For Abby the chance to spend a week thinking outside the box was one she couldn’t pass up. A Graham Collaborative Innovation Fellow, she’s had experience in design thinking.
“I really do love that find-the-problem, solve-for-the-problem type thinking,” she says.
Rachel says she hopes “to be able to utilize the Sprint design-thinking process not only here at York, but when I transition into my career.”
The HP, Inc. Challenge was not a typical class; it was a competition. Nineteen students, broken into four teams, were tasked with finding a creative solution to the problem of a stressed supply chain unable to meet the demand for HP, Inc. laptops. The solutions had to align with the company’s values and ideals.
“They get the opportunity to apply what they learned in their classroom settings to solve real-world problems,” says Dr. Jay Azriel, Professor and Chair of Management, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship. He was one of four professors–Drs. Nick Delener, Gerry Patnode, and Mohammed Raja