Purdue takes top prize at UChicago Trading Competition

Friday, April 23, 2021

A team of Purdue students placed first overall at the University of Chicago and the Financial Markets Program 9th annual UChicago Trading Competition. In addition to overall honors, the team placed 2nd in the case portion of the program. The event was held virtually from Friday, April 16 to Saturday, April 17, 2021.

The Purdue team was comprised of three Krannert students and one engineering student: Williams Tian, BS Finance and Data Analytics, 2023; Kenneth Kanwischer, BS Economics, 2023; Eli Coltin, BS Economics Honors, Computer Science, Data Science, 2023; and David Nickel, BS Electrical Engineering, 2023.

The innovative and exciting event offers a unique opportunity for students from top-tier colleges and universities to engage and network with companies in the financial industry. Students from across the nation who share a passion for trading and quantitative finance came together for this competition, where they competed in teams in simulated trading, connected with each other, and extensively networked with sponsor firms and employers.

The UChicago Trading Competition is the nation’s premier algorithmic trading competition. Senior members of the Financial Markets Program develop case studies designed to challenge participants in multiple aspects and themes of trading. Participants develop algorithms to make automated trading decisions, and have their technical programming skills, financial acumen, and ability to adjust based on algorithm performance tested.

"This trading competition allowed me to explore a financial career path that heavily utilizes the skillset I am acquiring here at Purdue," Nickel says.

“The UChicago Trading Competition provided a challenging, unique opportunity to program quantitative finance and automated-trading techniques," adds Coltin. "I was excited to take part in a competition that allowed me to apply my interest in this field in a realistic setting."