A team of students from Yorkville University’s Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) – Project Management program has claimed top honours at the 2026 Ontario Project Management Competition (OPMC).
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The winning team, Pink Pathway – made up of Rasagna Voora, Mainil Thakkar, Amir Masoud Shahsavari, and Muzammil Mohammed and mentored by Professor Iram Tanvir – took first place with PinkPulse AI, an AI-powered companion designed to connect users with trusted breast cancer resources.
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During the March 29 competition, which was held at the Ted Rogers School of Management, the Pink Pathway team outpaced competitors from Northeastern University, who finished second, and Seneca College, who earned third place.
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“Moments like these, when our students carry the torch forward and excel, are what make teaching deeply meaningful,” Tanvir said of her students’ victory at the OPMC.
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A Project Built with Purpose
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For the Pink Pathway team, the competition was about more than winning – it was about building something that could make a real difference.
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“Over the past few months, we built PinkPulse AI – a breast cancer survivorship companion designed to provide 24/7, accurate, and empathetic support to survivors while reducing administrative burden for non-profits,” explained Thakkar. “From ideation to execution, this journey pushed us to apply real-world project management principles – balancing scope, time, cost, risk, and ethics – with a tight 65-day timeline.”
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The project was designed to function as an empathetic digital concierge, helping individuals navigate complex support resources after completing medical treatment. Central to the team’s vision was the idea that advanced AI technology doesn’t have to be the exclusive domain of large corporations.
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“Our goal was to prove that technology and AI can bridge the gap for small and medium-sized organizations, especially in the not-for-profit sector,” said Voora.
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For Mohammed, the win carried special significance because of what the team actually delivered: “What makes this win special for me is that we didn’t just present a concept – we built something with real purpose, real structure, and real impact. We applied project management the way it’s meant to be applied: balancing scope, time, cost, risk, ethics, and execution under a tight timeline.”
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Shahsavari took a moment to recognize the Yorkville counsel that helped carry the team to the podium – namely that of their team mentor, Professor Iram Tanvir.
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“Her support went far beyond guidance. From coaching us closely to showing up when it mattered most, her belief in us made a real difference,” he said, while also thanking Dr. Oluchi Oti, Dean of Business at Yorkville’s Ontario campus, for supporting the team throughout their OPMC journey.
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“This experience reinforced one thing for me: when disciplined execution meets purpose, real impact happens.”
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About the Ontario Project Management Competition
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Now in its 10th year, the OPMC brings together teams of college and university students from across Ontario to compete in a head-to-head project management showcase aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Inspired by a Vancouver-based competition founded by the Wideman Education Foundation (WEF), the OPMC is dedicated to fostering project management competencies, skills, and opportunities for the next generation of professionals.
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Projects presented at OPMC are not typical academic assignments. Each submission must represent a unique business endeavour that fosters social good within local or global communities, with a minimum project duration of two months from ideation to delivery. Teams present their work before a panel of industry leaders, making the competition a rich environment for learning, networking, and real-world professional development.
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OPMC Competition Day
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The OPMC was an intensive, full-day event – and Pink Pathway made every minute count.
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The team had a strict 20-minute window to present their work, arriving early to conduct a technical setup and ensure the live demonstration of PinkPulse AI ran seamlessly on the venue’s hardware.
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A 10-minute Q&A with a panel of three industry professional judges followed, during which the judges expressed genuine curiosity about both the technical build and the real-world potential of the solution.
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The judges’ visible impression at how the team had translated a theoretical concept into a functioning, impact-driven tool gave the Pink Pathway team members a significant boost in confidence and validated months of dedicated work, they said.
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Yorkville was also represented on competition day by NABDT Consulting Collective – a team comprised of Nikesh Khadka, Anita Gurung, Bhumika Budhathoki, Daringee Sherpa, and Tanmay Mehra, and mentored by Dr. Adnan ul Haque and Irfan Haq – who also competed as finalists.
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Although they didn’t reach the podium this year, all involved on Team NABDT called the OPMC experience an “outstanding” one.
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“It was a fantastic platform for high-level networking, and the insights shared by the industry-leading speakers were truly inspiring,” said Khadka. “The combination of the competition and the conference made for an unforgettable journey of professional growth.”
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Second Time’s a Charm
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Pink Pathway’s victory at the 2026 competition was made all the more meaningful by what came before it. The team previously competed at the 2025 OPMC without placing – an experience that, rather than discouraging them, became the foundation for this year’s success.
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“Last year, we didn’t walk away with a win, but that experience was a vital part of our journey,” said Voora. “It taught us that mistakes are mentors – learning from last year’s gaps was essential. That confidence is key – believing in the vision makes the presentation. And impact over information – we went in to show three months of hard work and the real-world difference our project creates.”
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By carefully analyzing their previous performance gaps and adopting a more rigorous project management framework, she said, the team returned in 2026 with a stronger approach, a higher-impact solution, and the hard-won self-assurance that only comes from having been through it before.
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A Reflection of Yorkville’s Commitment to Applied Education
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Dr. Oti praised Team Pink Pathways’s achievements at the OPMC as confirmation of what Yorkville’s talented students are capable of.
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“These students have achieved an outstanding victory,” she said. “This accomplishment is a testament to their dedication, capability, and ability to apply project management principles in a highly competitive, real-world environment toward fulfilling a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal.”
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Dr. Oti also extended her gratitude to the broader Yorkville community whose support made both teams’ success possible, including the faculty who mentored and guided them – among them Professors Iram Tanvir, Irfan Haq and Adnan ul Haque – as well as staff and leadership who facilitated participation, and the university’s partners who provided sponsorship and support.
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She added that the achievements of both Pink Pathway and NABDT speak to the strength of Yorkville’s BBA Project Management program and its focus on applied, industry-aligned education – the kind that prepares graduates to hit the ground running.
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“Moments like this reinforce the strength of our programs and the impact of applied, industry-aligned education,” she said. “We look forward to celebrating this achievement together and building on this momentum.”
