Student Competition Results: TapRooT®️ University
What a fabulous week at the 2022 Global TapRooT® Summit! We were excited to welcome The University of Pittsburgh, NC State, Texas A&M, and The University of Akron to our 25th Global TapRooT® Summit and inaugural TapRooT® Student Competiton on May 3-5th at the Knoxville (Tennessee) Convention Center. Below you will find more about competition planning and development as well as the Student Competition results.
About the Global TapRooT®️ Summit & Student Competition
The Competition Process
We began developing the criteria by meeting weekly with the university advisors via Zoom conferencing in the fall of 2021. Student training took place virtually the following January over four weeks (including homework) to prepare the teams for their final training exercise–investigating a toxic spill.
The teams arrived on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in preparation for the big day on Wednesday. Early on Wednesday morning, the teams assembled their posters and met with Summit attendees to explain their findings from the incident they all shared.
University of Pittsburgh 
NC State 
Texas A&M 
University of Akron
Then, a panel of five TapRooT® experts sat before each team on the evening of May 4th with a focus on the quality of the investigation and successful identification of their SnapCharT® identifying Causal Factors, Root Causes, & Corrective Actions. A sample judging form can be found here:
We want to extend a BIG TapRooT® THANK YOU to our judges:
- Dr. Cynthia Lightner, Corporate Director Patient Safety, Emory University Healthcare System
- Ms. Dana Rocha, Sr. Systems Analyst, HQ U.S. Army Medical Command
- Mr. Richard Hoffman, Director of HSEQ, Voltagrid
- Ms. Michele Lindsay, Performance Improvement Consultant, Michele Lindsay Consulting
- Ms. Nancy Hitchins, President, NPH Solutions LLC
Summit attendees also had an opportunity to interact with these talented engineering students and see the results of focused training and expert coaching.
We used the event management software, Whova, to poll the Summit attendees for the People’s Choice. This served as our official tie-breaker as well when the judges’ panel revealed two teams vying for second place.
Presenting the Awards
Just before 9 am on Thursday morning, May 6th, we welcomed all teams on stage for the final reveal. As I stood there alongside all of them on the stage, I could sense the anticipation as the teams waited for their name to be called. Click the links below to get to know the teams behind the scenes.
- Fouth Place – The University of Pittsburgh
- Third Place – NC State
- Second Place – Texas A&M
- First Place – The University of Akron
University of Pittsburgh 
NC State 
Texas A&M 
University of Akron 
Student Competition Awards Presentation 
University of Pittsburgh Poster 
NC State Poster 
Texas A&M Poster 
University of Akron Poster
What the Students Say
Here is what the University of Akron had to say about the experience:
“The summit was a valuable experience as we were able to interact with people working in industry and get insight as to how it would look like to use our learned root cause analysis (TapRooT®) skills in professional settings. We met so many people and were able to not only share the information that we learned via our poster but hear from people in many different areas of industry. The breakout sessions were informative, and we especially had fun at the “Amplify your listening skills” session. We had enjoyed the hotel and exploring the surrounding area as well. Thank you all for all the training, information, and overall support all of you have given us during this process.”
What’s next?
We enjoyed the ability to train these rising leaders in the TapRooT® root cause analysis software and methodology. Summit attendees let us know that they learned a thing or two from the student’s perspective as well!
All in all, we believe the Student Competiton brought forth valuable information to all who were involved in the process. Thank you, students and faculty, for experiencing this journey of our first annual student competition with us!
While we will not be hosting a Student Competition at our 2023 Summit due to time restraints, stay tuned for other ways to support the next generation with TapRooT®!
Join us April 24-28 for our 2023 Global TapRooT® Summit just outside of Houston, Texas. We will be hosting this event at the beautiful Margaritaville Lake Resort in Lake Conroe.
