Yale SOM Students Win INNOVATEChina Competition
The competition convenes graduate students from around the world to tackle a real-world business innovation challenge.
A team that included two Yale SOM students won first place last month at the 2026 INNOVATEChina competition in Shanghai.
Hosted annually by China Europe International Business School, the competition asks teams of graduate students to develop innovative solutions to real strategic problems. This year, participants proposed business models for the tire company Michelin China using the theme “Reimagine Future Mobility: ESG as a Growth Engine.” The competition drew 66 teams, comprising 219 students from 32 countries and regions.
Master of Advanced Management students Junzhe Shen ’26 and Yang Zhao ’26, who previously studied at HEC Paris, teamed up with two MBA students from their former school to earn first place and a $10,000 prize.
The competition began in February, when Shen and Zhao were students at SOM; in June, they traveled to Shanghai for the final round, where they competed against seven other finalist teams. Their proposal for Michelin combined data-driven fleet insights, circularity, and electric-vehicle platform partnerships.
“Winning INNOVATEChina felt like a fitting conclusion to my two-year journey across HEC Paris and Yale SOM,” Shen said. “As an MAM student, I was especially grateful for the opportunity to learn across disciplines in courses at SOM and the Yale School of the Environment as well as at Global Network Week at INCAE Business School. The competition gave me the chance to bring many of these perspectives together in a real-world challenge around future mobility and ESG.”
“I was especially delighted to see the team from HEC Paris and Yale University announced as this year’s champion,” wrote Matthew Ye, president and CEO of Michelin China, in a LinkedIn post. “Their proposal demonstrated how global perspectives, combined with China’s dynamic mobility ecosystem, can inspire new business models for the future.”
