Meet our Dean’s Award winners

The NUS MBA Dean’s Awards are conferred to truly exceptional candidates who shine in many ways – beyond outstanding academic and personal achievements, they demonstrate exemplary leadership and a strong commitment to give back to the MBA community.

We speak to Tilla Caveng (FTMBA Class of 2024) and Zhu Congtian (PTMBA Class of 2024) to find out what drives them.

What are some of your proudest achievements?

Tilla Caveng: Being accepted into the NUS MBA and receiving the Dean’s Award scholarship are my proudest academic achievements. It feels very rewarding to have my previous accomplishments recognised. For example, at the time of my law degree, I successfully participated in several international student competitions, one of them being the prestigious Willem C. Vis Arbitration Moot Court in Vienna and Hong Kong. This was a highly educational experience, and I remain grateful to my coaches and team until today. My team received several awards and finally, our participation helped me overcome my “imposter syndrome”. Professionally, following my lawyer training at one of the world’s largest international law firms and the Swiss government, I joined Kaiser Partner Wealth Advisors in Liechtenstein and Switzerland. As a right hand to the CEO, I have been responsible for successful key strategic projects across business development, financial management and corporate learning, as well as taking the lead on a major client project. Personally, I love connecting people through my extracurricular and social activities – be it formerly as a girl scout leader, local president and national board member of the European Law Students’ Association in Switzerland, or currently through sharing my bakes or organising dinner parties to connect people around me.

Zhu Congtian: Some of my proudest achievements include being selected as a Talent Academy member, a membership offered to only the top 5% of employees across my bank, completing both the CFA and FRM programme, and currently leading the trading digitalisation transformation in Asia. I’m also proud of winning the Student Achievement Award in 2015 from NUS during my undergraduate study, and the championship in an International Chinese debate competition representing NUS.

What are you most looking forward to on The NUS MBA?

Zhu Congtian: I’m looking forward to leverage on the NUS MBA to boost my career path, upskill my business acumen and broaden my social network, especially to meet people from a diverse background, to learn from their respective expertise and to build up some lifelong friendships. I believe in the old Chinese saying from Confucius: “When walking in the company of the other two, there must be one I can learn something from.”

Tilla Caveng: One of the main reasons for my application to NUS was the MBA’s focus on Asia: I am most fascinated by the cultural experiences I will gain from the exchange with my classmates. Apart from business, these experiences span across language, food, history, art, as well as societal, political, and familial concepts, to name a few. I envision our cohort forming strong bonds through the mutual comprehension of our differences. Twenty years from now, I see my MBA friends and me sitting around a large table reminiscing about the exciting and instructive times we had when we first met during our NUS MBA.

Where do you see yourself in the next few years?

Tilla Caveng: Following my MBA, I would love to spend at least a few years in Singapore as a working professional in a strategic or managerial position. The NUS MBA’s electives and student club system are providing me with the unique opportunity to discover which industry I would like to target. At this stage, I am focusing on consulting and financial services, but am excited to discover other industries too.

Zhu Congtian: I see myself in the next three to five years as a trading professional or leading financial consultant who leads a team that strives for excellence and serves the community.

How do you see yourself “paying it forward” to the NUS MBA community?

Zhu Congtian: I would like to bring in more opportunities for NUS students to get involved in the banking industry through internships and projects. I am one of the project sponsors for NUS Business Analytics Capstone Project for semester 1 AY21-22 and provided weekly guidance to the NUS team in building up a “Rate Decision Index”. Through contributing to the future generations of NUS students, I believe that such a positive feedback loop will eventually make both NUS and us stronger. I’m also happy to share my trading experiences with my peers who are interested in the trading and finance industry, to give them a more concrete idea on what a trader’s daily work life looks like. In addition, I would like to support the NUS MBA in recruiting and attracting more talents into our MBA community.

Tilla Caveng: I would love to share my own culture and background with the NUS MBA community, and to help interested community members bridge the gap between Asia and Europe through sharing my knowledge and network. As a former girl scout, I would also like to organise a trip to Switzerland and Liechtenstein for the NUS MBA community, in the form of a NUS MBA Global Immersion Programme. This could be a wonderful opportunity for community members to gain insight into Swiss and Liechtenstein businesses whilst catching some of the stunning mountain views these two countries have to offer.

How would you like to be remembered by your MBA classmates?

Tilla Caveng: As an open, helpful, and knowledge-thirsty co-MBA who is always up for the next adventure.

Zhu Congtian:  To use what Prof Nitin mentioned during our opening ceremony, I would like to be remembered by my MBA classmates as an energetic and humble person, full of curiosity and who is really accountable. I’m a fan of “stay hungry, stay foolish”, and I hope my curiosity will bring more insights to my MBA cohort.