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Ben Northern and other UT students compete in-person at the 2024 Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge.

Northern Helps Vols Capture Microsoft Excel Challenge

Ben Northern has a lot to celebrate this week. 

Fresh off helping the University of Tennessee capture the world title at the 2024 Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge, he will be graduating with his master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering on Friday. 

Northern and UT teammates Beckett Anderson and Sarah Chandler from the Haslam College Business were crowned champions of the MECC, beating out a worldwide field of college teams during an in-person finals in Las Vegas December 2-4 at the HyperX Esports Arena located in the Luxor Hotel.  

Ben Northern, Beckett Anderson, and Sarah Chandler pose at the competition.

Along with the prestige of earning UT’s first-ever title in the competition, the team winners were awarded $2,000 per student. 

“It’s an unreal feeling,” said Northern, a Jackson, Tennessee native who obtained his bachelor’s degree in ISE in 2023. “I’ve grown up a Vols fan, so to have done something significant like this for the university is a fulfillment of what it means to be a Vol. I am proud I was able to bring that recognition to the university.” 

MECC is a program designed for college students to enhance their Excel proficiency through engaging in challenges and competitions. 

MECC consists of two main components—challenges and competition. Challenges are completed individually at the student’s own pace, covering topics ranging from personal finance to advanced Excel functions. Competitions, held at specific times, offer a competitive platform for students to test their knowledge against students worldwide.  

UT was one of 16 teams that qualified to travel to Las Vegas to compete in the in-person semifinals, and one of four teams to advance to the final. The team was advised by Professor of Finance Eric Kelley. 

The finalists competed in a game that lasted 30 minutes with eliminations every 10 minutes until two teams remained after 20 minutes. The final 10 minutes determined the team champion. 

Tennessee placed first with 600 points, followed by the University of Arizona (580), the University of Kentucky (536), and the University of Technology Sydney (512). 

“We’d never really worked together before. We qualified into the final as the fourth team and were hopeful of at least making a statement about being there,” Northern said. “As far as winning, Arizona was obviously the big competition. They had won the previous two years and were sort of the founding fathers of the college level. I guess we were sort of the underdogs, and that was a very rewarding feeling when they announced that we were the winners.” 

Ben Northern poses with his prize at the 2024 Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge.

Northern, who played four years for the UT hockey club and was team president asa senior, also participated in individual Excel competitions in Las Vegas. He placed 16th overall in the college division and 24th overall in the professional division.  

Since the results were publicly announced, Northern has received numerous congratulations from friends, fellow students, and faculty. Some are curious about the value of competing in a competition involving Microsoft Excel. 

“When you look at the cases themselves, it looks silly, and it seems impractical. But the problem-solving aspect and the creativity that it involves is very useful,” Northern said. “You have to understand how to use Excel and how to find the best solution in the shortest amount of time. So, the case itself may not seem practical and realistic, but there are definitely real implications that it has on what you would see in a job or by using Excel.”  

The MECC was founded in 2021 by University of Arizona Associate Professor of Finance David Brown and Andrew Grigolyunovich, the leader of a financial modeling firm in Latvia. It is jointly organized by the Financial Modeling World Cup and Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona. 

Although he is graduating from UT, Northern wants to keep participating in the Excel cases at the professional level. 

“Finishing 24th is a pretty good starting position for the future, especially being up against people that have been doing this for years, some even decades, and going up against some of the best in the world that know how to use Excel,” he said. “So hopefully I can improve that ranking and climb towards the top is as far as Excel goes.” 

Contact

Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)