A team of students from Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics won first place in the first annual Boeing Northwest Case Competition on Friday, Nov. 8 ,at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, according to a WWU announcement.

The competition gives students the opportunity to apply supply chain management and business knowledge in an integrated team setting to solve a real-world Boeing supply-chain problem.

In October, several five-person teams from WWU were given a week to work on a supply-chain management case and create 20-minute presentations.

The winning team, named “Lean Forward,” and comprised of manufacturing and supply-chain management students: Alison Aw (Bellevue), Bryan Irwin (Vancouver), Sara Magana (Bellingham) and Slavik Melnik (Marysville), as well as financial economics student Jeff Thunell (Edmonds). The team was selected out of the WWU teams to move forward and compete against other top teams from University of Washington, Central Washington University and Portland State University.

“Lean Forward” traveled Nov. 8 to present their case again in front of eight Boeing senior executives. Placing first, they were awarded a prize of $1,000 and are guaranteed an interview for a Boeing internship.