The 12 MSc Project Management students will now pit their wits against professionals and corporate members of the APM.

Working around the theme of ‘Communications’, the teams must plan, produce and deliver a project before the final of the competition.

The first group, Team Beds, is developing a platform to enhance communications between prospective and existing master's students. This will feed into the recently launched Postgraduate Mentoring Scheme.

Group two, dubbed Team ComPro, is creating an events calendar to integrate into the new student app, myBeds. The addition will present users with a calendar to keep track of university events and activities.

Team leader of Team Beds, Sam Mahmud, spoke of his pride at representing the University:

“The APM challenge has been a great experience for me and my team. In addition to personal development, the experience has opened fantastic opportunities for us.

“We learned about applying all of the tools and techniques of project management that we learned at the University. Overall, we think the course at Bedfordshire helped us become what we are today and we are proud to represent the University in this competition.”

Dr David Owen, Course Leader for Project Management, praised the students and the impact of their course:

“I am pleased with how well the students have done in the Challenge to date bearing in mind that they are the only student teams and they are up against teams of qualified project managers.

“The MSc in Project Management course has prepared them well by teaching them not only the tools and techniques of project management but also the stakeholder management and leadership skills required for the delivery of real projects such as those that they are doing in the Challenge.”

The two groups submitted their planning reports at the turn of the year, becoming the only student teams to make it through to the final stage. They now make up a selection of six teams who have a chance to present their projects at the finals night on May 20. Prizes on offer are for the best overall project, best poster and best presentation, as judged by the audience at the ceremony.

Run by the Thames Valley branch of the APM, the Challenge is in its fourth year and aimed at people at an early stage of their project management careers. The competition has previously included entrants from a number of corporate members within the region, of which there are over 2,500.