More than 60 undergraduate students from universities across Karachi and from one varsity in Sukkur are participating in SiMERGE 2019, the flagship student-organised event of Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL).

The competition, which is in its fifth year running, aims to make case-study and simulation-based learning accessible to participants.

“It’s an intensive three-day learning experience which is completely based on hands-on work on actual case studies,” says Dr Zeeshan Ahmed, Dean of KSBL.

“We at KSBL believe that learning, especially at a professional level, should be practical and action-based.”

To that end, participants at SiMERGE are given challenges at the beginning of the event.

They are then guided through several simulations that give them deeper insight into industry challenges and puts them in situations where they have to come up with innovative solutions.

"The trainers and facilitators are all people working in the field, most of them KSBL alumni," says Shahrukh Zeeshan, Head of Student Councill at KSBL.

"They bring their experience into the classroom and through that, these students can get practical advice and mentorship."

"Participants get a flavour of what it is like to be a KSBL student," says Owais Shah, an MBA student heading the SiMERGE organising team.

The days of rigorous problem-solving are capped by social events and a networking dinner to provide a little relief to participants, along with a chance to socialise with industry heads and professionals.

For this year, the students are competing for a combined purse of Rs150,000, which will be distributed among the three winning teams.

The competition will conclude tomorrow (Sunday).