School of Business Students Excel at University of Washington Bothell’s Student Academic Showcase
The University of Washington Bothell recently held its annual Student Academic Showcase, a prestigious event highlighting the exceptional work of our students and their dedicated faculty mentors. This year’s showcase featured a variety of business presentations, discussions, and poster sessions that demonstrated the practical application of business theories and research.
Alejandro Francetich, associate professor and economics area coordinator, moderated a thought-provoking discussion titled “Gods, Panthers, and Allies.His session included a notable presentation by his student, Martin Nikolov ’25, on the application of economic theory and tax policy to real-world situations.
“The Student Academic Showcase provides our students with a unique opportunity to present their research to our campus. Whether they pursue an academic or a professional career, conducting research and communicating your findings is a key skill for the real world—a skill that students in general rarely get the chance to develop before graduation. As a faculty, seeing our students apply the tools they learn in our classes to follow their interests and contribute to the knowledge frontier is beyond inspiring. “
Alejandro Francetich
Carol Shaw, part-time lecturer in management, led a section of the event on leadership and policies around the world. Her mentee, Tzu-Liang Lin, presented a compelling poster on the leadership of Peng Ming-min, a prominent Taiwanese democracy activist. Lin’s research shed light on the significant impact of leadership on democratic movements.
Daewoung (Joey) Choi, assistant professor of finance, moderated a session on Study Abroad, which included a presentation by Jennie Ha and Leatha Dunkin ’26, who participated in part-time lecturer James Reinnoldt’s travel course to Thailand and Cambodia. Reinnoldt emphasized the importance of understanding cultural nuances in global business practices.
Dr. Choi’s student, Kian Hassibi ‘25, added global perspective with a poster on “international businesses vs. states,” highlighting the importance of understanding international dynamics in business.
Another standout session was on data-driven econometric insights into socioeconomic dynamics, moderated by Xiahua Wei, associate professor of economics. This session featured numerous presentations by her students, including Sam McCary, Ethan Andrew Chao, Shafaa Abubakar, Mason Chanyong Hyun, Aidan Lee, Dylan Withers, Luc Mads Debaupte, Hamzah Shahzad, Billy Hinman, Erika Lee, and Hannah Tang.
Reflecting on their participation, several students shared their experiences and the impact of the showcase on their academic and professional development. Shafaa Abubakar, an Accounting major graduating this summer, expressed her enthusiasm: “Participating in the showcase allowed me to delve deeply into the practical application of statistical tools and theories I’ve learned in class, specifically using Stata to analyze data and visualize results. Exploring the correlation between minimum wage and variables like housing, food & beverage, and transportation not only sharpened my analytical skills but also highlighted the tangible impacts of economic policies on everyday life.”
Hamzah Shahzad ‘25, a Computer Science & Software Engineering major with a minor in Economics, appreciated the opportunity to step outside his comfort zone: “The event allowed me to go out of my boundaries and share my knowledge and skills publicly outside the classroom. I haven’t really done any public speaking outside of classrooms, so it was really nice to receive the opportunity to do so and step outside of my comfort zone.” Shahzad worked with Luc Debaupte on a project about the safety of autonomous cars compared to normal cars.
For Hannah Tang ‘24, who is graduating this spring with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and a minor in Economics, the showcase provided valuable hands-on experience: “This project has allowed me to have additional practice working with data as I hope to begin my career as an analyst. I am very appreciative of this experience because it provided me with tools that I can apply to my future career. Our project assesses the relationship of corn subsidies and prices. We wanted to investigate this relationship because corn is used in many industries and is important to our economy.”
Erika Lee25, a Mathematics major with minors in Actuarial Science and Data Analytics, highlighted the academic rigor and practical skills gained: “Our team conducted a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between corn subsidies and prices as part of our Econometrics project under the guidance of Professor Xiahua (Anny) Wei. Utilizing econometric techniques such as regression models and hypothesis testing, we applied economic theory on supply and demand in practice, deepening our understanding of government interventions’ impact on the economy. Participating in the Academic Showcase provided me with valuable experience not only in applied learning but also in effectively communicating the results of cleaning, analyzing, and visualizing key insights from large datasets.”
Shaffa AbuBakr ‘24 Accounting major shared: “Dr. Choi’s student, Kian Hassibi ‘25, added global perspective with a poster on “international businesses vs. states,” highlighting the importance of understanding international dynamics in business.”
The Student Academic Showcase at the University of Washington Bothell not only celebrated the hard work and achievements of our business students but also highlighted the university’s commitment to providing a platform for students to explore, analyze, and present complex business concepts.
Written by Riley Ovall, Events and Communications Specialist