MBA students win ESG Excellence Award at INNOVATEChina
A team of Strathclyde Business School MBA students have won the ESG Excellence Award at INNOVATEChina 2026.
Harshitha Hanumanta, Pius Andruda and Pushpam Choudhary from the full-time MBA programme came together as Team 'Conqueror Strath' to take part in the global business case competition hosted by CEIBS (China Europe International Business School) in partnership with Michelin.
Founded in 2008, INNOVATEChina is one of the largest and most influential business innovation competitions in the world: it aims to establish a platform to connect innovative minds at global business schools with industry experts and venture capitalists in China.
Student teams are set a real industry challenge and have to build a business case from scratch, then pitch it to senior industry leaders at the final in Shanghai.
Bringing together talented professionals and MBA students from diverse backgrounds, this year’s competition centred on a real-world question from event sponsors Michelin: How can Michelin leverage innovative business models to transform ESG from a compliance requirement into a true growth engine - while enabling the circular economy to scale in future mobility?
From bold strategic visions to practical, scalable ideas, the finalists showcased how sustainability can go beyond responsibility to unlock real business value and long-term impact.
The 66 initial international teams were whittled down to just eight competing in the final to present their solutions to this year’s challenge: “Reimagine Future Mobility: ESG as a Growth Engine” which included our very own Strathclyde team.
Harshisha said, “We got talking in class back in February and decided, somewhat spontaneously, to put ourselves forward for INNOVATEChina 2026. None of us had done anything like it before. We only had 18 hours to submit an executive report and gather all the thoughts as we were very late to register.
“Our challenge was to design something for Michelin around sustainability in future growth - ESG as a growth engine. We built Carbon Fleet Intelligence (CFI), a platform that connects tyre sensor data, carbon tracking, and retreading operations into one measurable ESG story, helping heavy-duty fleet operators turn sustainability compliance into a genuine competitive advantage.”
The three students handled the entire process themselves as a team, from research to financial modelling to the pitch script, while still keeping up with coursework and deadlines.
They said what made the biggest difference was the support around them.
Pius, who is a Stephen Young Global Leaders Scholar, said, “Dr Aliakbar Jafari and Iain Morrison gave us invaluable guidance along the way, and their constructive feedback consistently sharpened our thinking and strengthened the pitch. The wider SBS staff were encouraging at every stage, and our classmates gave us the confidence boost we needed, helping us rehearse and cheering us on right up until we left for China.”
After the long flight to Shanghai, the trio went straight into the final at CEIBS, pitching in front of senior leaders from Michelin and Roland Berger, alongside seven other shortlisted teams from around the world.
Pushpam said, “It was an intense, fast-paced few days, but an extraordinary one. Seeing the calibre of the other finalist teams was an education in itself and being able to test our thinking against that standard, live, was something no classroom could replicate.
"I am incredibly proud of this team. We gave it our absolute best; this journey has given us a lifetime of learning, unforgettable memories, and a genuine sense of achievement. What makes me happiest is not just what we accomplished, but who we accomplished it with."
Harshisha added, “We came away with the ESG Excellence Award, which we are incredibly proud of, but the bigger takeaway for us was learning how to take an idea from a classroom conversation to a global stage, under real pressure and a real deadline, as a team. We learned how much faculty mentorship and peer support shape an experience like this, and we left with a real appreciation for how Strathclyde prepared us to hold our own in that room.”
Published: 18 June 2026
