Down the Memory Lane - MAESTRO 2021

Maestro Feb 10, 2022

MAESTRO is back again for the fourth consecutive year to find the champion among entrepreneurs. The project initiated by the Professional Development Avenue of Rotaract Club of University of Moratuwa is a platform for adventurous entrepreneurs to find creative solutions for real-life business problems. The competition allows young minds to battle it out and flaunt their knowledge and skills in a professional setting.

The project commenced with the establishment of the organizing committee amidst many challenges. The global pandemic accompanied with the quest to find new corporate partners proved to be the biggest challenge of all. Nevertheless, the chairpersons together with the organizing committee collaborated to make the project run smoothly as possible. The Commercial Bank of Ceylon along with the Peoples Bank and ICON Business School joined hands with Rotaract Mora to make MAESTRO a success. ChoKoLAAte and Impulse joined as media partners to spread the message of the quest to find the fourth MAESTRO.

The search to find the next MAESTRO began on the 02nd of October. For the first time in history, with the decision to conduct competition entirely virtual, MAESTRO crossed borders and brought the challenge to the international arena. More than 100 participants accepted the challenge with the opening of registrations.

Once the case study was released, the eager contestants raced to crack open the case and find defining solutions. Eight fiery teams managed to emerge as semi-finalists from more than thirty submissions. The contestants presented their solution for the business issue in front of a panel of judges. Four victorious teams managed to emerge as finalists to continue in their journey to become the MAESTRO.

The organizing committee who had only met each other virtually decided to physically join at the HomeTree CoWorkers, Colombo adhering to the covid-19 guidelines to administer the nits and grits of the preparation for the finale.

The Grand Finale of the battle of the minds premiered on the 19th of December with a new twist added to the original case increasing the difficulty level. The contestants were given a short time period to propose their innovative solutions and present them to the panel of judges. The contestants took the challenge in stride and presented their hard work amidst many difficulties.

The finale concluded with the award ceremony. Team Velvet Thunder was crowned as the MAESTROs of 2021. Their hard work and dedication finally paid off. The Le Boys team emerged as the runners-up while Team Velvet Thunder again took the spotlight as the most popular team. Rajith Arulanandam from team Le Boys was awarded the best pitcher of the competition.

Although only one team was allowed to emerge as the champions, all participants received the opportunity to test their knowledge and skills. It provided them with the chance to improve and deepen their expertise and practice their skills set. Thus, there is not only one but many MAESTROs who take up the challenge and master the business world in a storm.

The fourth take on the MAESTRO initiative was thus concluded after much hard work. It was able to take the platform to international heights. It is with much hope that we conclude MAESTRO 2021; the next take would reach higher in its search for the champions in the business world.