Latest news with #StudentChallenge
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Winners of AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge Announced
OLDWICK, N.J., June 02, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has announced Hernán Burgos and Alexander Porte of UW-Madison – Wisconsin School of Business as the winners of AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge for their tropical storm parametric insurance solution for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The 2025 Student Challenge tasked risk management and insurance students with creating innovative solutions for insurance risks. The proposed insurance solution from Burgos and Porte would provide coverage to low-income individuals and micro enterprises in LAC coastal regions using real-time meteorological data. "In LAC, where insurance penetration is extremely low and the poverty rate is significantly high, access to insurance products is basically impossible for low-income communities," said Burgos in an AM Best TV interview about the proposal. "In the region, access to insurance is considered to be a luxury. Millions are left financially vulnerable and unprotected in the face of increasingly frequent and severe natural catastrophes." Porte explained that the winning Student Challenge entry proposes leveraging the high level of banking products in LAC to create insurance markets and deliver products: "When you're trying to create an insurance marketplace—you're trying to create appetites for these products—you need to use other distribution channels." In addition to Burgos and Porte, students from University of Akron and Florida State University were finalists in the national competition, which was open to undergraduate and graduate students. "The innovative ideas and thoughtful proposals put forward by these students point to a bright future for the insurance industry," said Lee McDonald, AM Best's senior vice president, publication & news services. To view video interviews and Best's Review magazine interviews with the winning team and other finalists, please visit the 2025 Student Challenge landing page. AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge is a company initiative to support the development of new talent in the insurance industry. The company also provides an analytical development program. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Lee McDonald Senior Vice President, Publication & News Services +1 908 882 2102 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Winners of AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge Announced
BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has announced Hernán Burgos and Alexander Porte of UW-Madison – Wisconsin School of Business as the winners of AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge for their tropical storm parametric insurance solution for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The 2025 Student Challenge tasked risk management and insurance students with creating innovative solutions for insurance risks. The proposed insurance solution from Burgos and Porte would provide coverage to low-income individuals and micro enterprises in LAC coastal regions using real-time meteorological data. 'In LAC, where insurance penetration is extremely low and the poverty rate is significantly high, access to insurance products is basically impossible for low-income communities,' said Burgos in an AM Best TV interview about the proposal. 'In the region, access to insurance is considered to be a luxury. Millions are left financially vulnerable and unprotected in the face of increasingly frequent and severe natural catastrophes.' Porte explained that the winning Student Challenge entry proposes leveraging the high level of banking products in LAC to create insurance markets and deliver products: 'When you're trying to create an insurance marketplace—you're trying to create appetites for these products—you need to use other distribution channels.' In addition to Burgos and Porte, students from University of Akron and Florida State University were finalists in the national competition, which was open to undergraduate and graduate students. 'The innovative ideas and thoughtful proposals put forward by these students point to a bright future for the insurance industry,' said Lee McDonald, AM Best's senior vice president, publication & news services. To view video interviews and Best's Review magazine interviews with the winning team and other finalists, please visit the 2025 Student Challenge landing page. AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge is a company initiative to support the development of new talent in the insurance industry. The company also provides an analytical development program.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
8 students compete in ‘April Automotive' competition
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Forget March Madness, it's time for 'April Automotive.' The best of the best went head-to-head over who can fix a head gasket. The top automotive students from the state technical high school system faced off in a competition at Gengras Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram in East Hartford. 'It's not just about fixing the cars, it's about having that blood inside of you that says, 'I need to be around cars,'' explained Tyler Moriarty, a senior at Howell Cheney Tech. 'I know what I know, so I'm going to put my best foot forward and try my best,' said Bullard Havens Tech senior Ricardo Fernandes. Enfield & Wilbur Cross high schools win Connecticut culinary competition The event is known as the Connecticut Automotive Retailers Association Student Challenge. Eight students who have already scored the best on tests of their automotive skills are showing what they know, working on real cars. 'What we're basically trying to do is assess them based on the education that they received,' said Laurence Eiden, the coordinator of the challenge. That includes tire alignment and car inspections. There was even a math test because technicians need to know their numbers. It is not just an opportunity for the students to show off. This is an opportunity for the industry to actively recruit people, because right now they are hurting for mechanics. 'The industry changes, and sometimes the technicians do not,' Eiden said. 'So, the new information that these techs learn are wonderful.' As cars become more computerized, car technicians have to get more sophisticated. Today's students know the need for tomorrow's workers. 'Whether it's actually going out in the field and being a mechanic, or whether it's helping people with parts, it's pretty much everything, it's everywhere,' Moriarty said. Everyone who has a car knows the value of a good technician. 'It's the sense of feeling that I'm helping somebody out in the best way I can,' said Fernandes. That is especially needed in an industry that is constantly on the move. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
