Students from the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University are the national winners of the 2009 RBC Next Great Innovator Challenge, Royal Bank of Canada said Tuesday.

The ‘OMEGA4’ team made up of graduate students Jonathan Chiriboga, Carey Gibson, Binh Lu and Zuzana Fabian triumphed over submissions from 24 other universities and colleges across Canada to take home the $20,000 grand prize for their winning idea, L.E.O., a personal virtual online advisor.

“The teams in this year’s challenge represented some of the best and the brightest from schools across Canada,” said Avi Pollock, RBC’s head of applied innovation. “They came up with compelling insights from other industries or global regions with innovative concepts that could ultimately benefit RBC clients.”

This year’s challenge asked university and college students from across Canada to “Suggest an innovative concept, product or process from another region or different industry that Canadian financial services providers should adopt.” Working in teams of three or four, students were asked to submit a unique and innovative idea related to the challenge.

“This challenge is all about continuing to focus on innovation in all that we do and ultimately find new ways to help our clients navigate the current and future environment to create their financial dreams,” added Pollock.

A team from York University came in second place, followed by three runners up: two teams from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto and a team from the University of Waterloo.

Additional details on the RBC Next Great Innovator Challenge can be found at: www.nextgreatinnovator.com.

IE