On April 3rd, 2025, the Pittsburgh chapters of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) hosted their annual Presentation Competition.
College students from local universities presented on a wide variety of fraud and internal audit-focused topics. Students were given approximately two months to prepare their presentations and present to a panel of four judges, comprising the following industry professionals: Arvah Rana, Cordia Energy; Brittany Nimal, Herbein & Co.; Connor Bigelow, Schneider Downs & Co.; and Kortney Lampel, Northwest Bank.
This year, four teams, each consisting of four to five students, registered from the following schools: Duquesne University, Point Park University, and Robert Morris University.
Two teams from Duquesne University presented on fraud risk assessment and changes in IIA Standards. The fraud risk assessment presentation covered the purpose, importance, process, how internal audit can assist in the assessment process, and how fraud risk assessments can be static or dynamic in nature. The presentation on changes in IIA Standards compared the 2017 standards to the new 2024 standards, noting key changes and impacts.
Point Park University’s team prepared a presentation on the impact of corporate culture on fraud, including internal audit’s influence on corporate culture.
The team from Robert Morris University presented on data analytics and AI’s impact on the internal audit and fraud fields. They discussed ways to innovate in the industry and how AI and data analytics tools can empower internal auditors and fraud examiners.
All of the students who participated in the competition put in substantial thought and hard work, especially with the event taking place during the end of the semester. In addition to the efforts made by our participants, the event could not have been a success without the judges who volunteered their time and professional insight. A special thanks to the aforementioned individuals and everybody who helped plan the event.
The winning team of this year’s presentation competition was the team from Robert Morris University. The second and third place teams were the Point Park team and the Duquesne University team that presented on fraud risk assessment, respectively.
Congratulations to all the teams for their impressive presentations and thank you to everyone who contributed to making this year’s competition such a fun and rewarding event.
About Schneider Downs
Schneider Downs is a Top 60 independent Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firm providing accounting, tax, audit and consulting services to public and private companies, not-for-profit organizations and global companies. We also offer risk advisory, transaction advisory, digital consulting, wealth management, retirement plan solutions and investment banking services. Schneider Downs serves individuals and companies in Pennsylvania (PA), Ohio (OH), West Virginia (WV), New York (NY), Maryland (MD), metropolitan Washington (DC) and additional states in the United States with offices in Pittsburgh, PA, Columbus, OH, and McLean, VA.
