Dean College Places in the Top 12 Schools at Boston University’s Questrom Sustainability Case Competition

Five honors students from the Dean R. Sanders ’47 School of Business teamed to place Dean College among the top 12 schools of the prestigious Boston University Questrom Sustainability Case Competition held on November 16, 2025.
 
The Dean team – made up of current students Lainey Buffington, Chloe Demaio, Nicholas Levine, Olivia MacKinnon, and Nicholas Swain – entered the invitational competition through their special topics course taught by Dr. Amy Crouch, assistant professor of accounting and management. 

The case challenge focused on the intersection of technology, finance, and sustainability, with the goal of developing an open-source Bitcoin hardware wallet. The team designed a product that could be built by students in the classroom as a hands-on learning tool, then scaled it into a more advanced version for broader use. Their financial and marketing plan helped show how the idea could grow over time.

In all, the event attracted 84 national and international collegiate teams that included students from Cal-Berkley, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, MIT and Yale.  Four rounds of competition were ultimately held, with teams making independent presentations and participating in live Q&A sessions with an independent panel of judges.  This marked the second consecutive year in which Dean has advanced to the quarter-final round.
 
“The students performance stood out among top-tier competitors. They represented Dean College with creativity, professionalism, and a deep commitment to solving real-world challenges,” said Dr. Crouch.  “I am incredibly proud of their achievement.”
 
The 2025 winner was St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia, who received $50,000 with the condition that they donate 10% of their winnings to an approved nonprofit focused on sustainability.