A team of students from American University of Sharjah (AUS) won the Unilever Country Talent Championship, which attracted over 330 students from across the UAE.

The winning members of the AUS team "Lipton" were Mohamed Abdelwahab Mekki, majoring in business management; Yazan Bashar Mahayni, majoring in chemical engineering; Raghad Ryad Alghazy, majoring in civil engineering; and Mohammed Jeelan Khan and Waqar Abdul Wahab, majoring in finance.

In addition to advancing to the next stage of the competition, members of the AUS team won an internship with Unilever Gulf and iPads. At the next stage, the country champions from all four main markets of North Africa Middle East (NAME) will be competing for the winning the title of The NAME Entrepreneurs.

A part of a larger Unilever initiative entitled The Quest, this annual competition is a cross-university, cross-country event that seeks to provide students with an unmatched experience and the chance to win valuable rewards. University students from all levels have the opportunity to participate in the corporate world by translating their academic learning into creating a successful business strategy. This competition puts students' interest in business to the test and grants them a learning journey that will enable the best talent to win the chance to get a job at Unilever.

This year, students from American University of Sharjah (AUS), American University in Dubai, and Heriot-Watt University, among others were asked to analyze the deodorants segment for Unilever, resulting in a strategy that would double the business by 2016, maintain and grow market share, deal with supply chain restrictions, and enhance the profitability of this category.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Abraham Togatorop, HR Director at Unilever Gulf, congratulated the winning team, adding, "These competitions held annually by Unilever Gulf prove that there is a strong pool of talented students in this region. These young men and women delivered very impressive results, demonstrating a high degree of passion, creativity and willpower. Unilever is always on the hunt for the best talent in the market that will help the company achieve its long-term vision of doubling the size of our business while reducing our environmental footprint and increasing our social positive impact."