The Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southeast Missouri State University announces the third annual Southeast Innovation Challenge to coincide with this years Global Entrepreneurship Week Nov. 12-18.
The competition gives current students the opportunity to be heard and win prizes for providing an innovative solution to a student campus experience. This years students are challenged with providing new and innovative ways to enhance and use Southeasts Catapult Creative House, located at 612 Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Interested students are required to attend one of the informational sessions being held at Catapult Creative House at noon on Sept. 19, Sept. 27, Oct. 3 or Oct. 17. More information, including judging criteria and submission deadlines, is available atcatapultsemo.com/sic.
The Southeast Innovation Challenge is open to teams of two to three undergraduate students enrolled in at least 12 credit hours and graduate students enrolled in at least six credit hours. After the teams have researched and developed their solutions, they will submit a two- to three-page executive summary online by Oct. 31 for the panel of judges to review and score based on how impactful, innovative and feasible the idea is. Diversity among majors on the team is strongly encouraged and will be rewarded by additional points added in the judging process.
The top three teams will be notified by Nov. 9 and will present their ideas at a Common Hour program scheduled on Nov. 14 in Academic Hall. The judges will then award first, second and third place with prizes, and the audience will vote to select a Peoples Choice winner to receive an additional prize. The prizes consist of $750, $500 and $250 for first, second and third place respectively to be split amongst team members, less applicable taxes. The Peoples Choice winner will receive a gift bag of Redhawks memorabilia.
The 2017 winners were:
First place and Peoples Choice Award:
Mental Health Proposal Isaac Nash, a business administration major from Jackson, Missouri; and Jackie Wiles, a management major, entrepreneurship option, from Farmington, Missouri
Second place:
Mural Project Micah Cocco, an art major from Normal, Illinois; and Emalea Rieckhoff, a corporate communication major from Windsor, Missouri
Third place:
Redhawk Research Perch – Ian Cameron, a history major from Cape Girardeau; Sonali Chilupuri, a computer science major from India; Shubroto Shuvo, a computer science major from Dhaka, Bangladesh; and James Waltz, a psychology major from Cape Girardeau
The Mental Health Proposal was a proposal for the University to have the opportunity to become a voice for compassion and a source of support to help improve the lives of future students who suffer from mental illnesses. The Mural Project was a proposal to expand on the traditions which continue to bring students to Southeast by starting a new tradition to create a mural on the main campus. Redhawk Research Perch was a proposal to create an online forum where Southeast faculty and students would be able to post the research projects they are working on, allowing for assistance and collaboration between projects.