The top three teams in the Southeast Innovation Challenge 2018 at Southeast Missouri State University will present their concepts at a Common Hour program scheduled for noon Nov. 14 in Academic Hall Auditorium.

The teams will present their ideas, followed by remarks from guest speaker Robin Cole, a Southeast alumnus and president of The Rite Group.

The competition, sponsored by the Douglas C. Greene Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, gives current students the opportunity to be heard and win prizes for providing an innovative solution to a student campus experience. This year, students were challenged with providing new and innovative ways to enhance and use Southeasts Catapult Creative House, located at 612 Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

This years teams and their members are:

• Spread Awareness and Create Organization: Jacob Scissors, a sophomore corporate communication major from Chesterfield, Missouri; Quinn Hume, a sophomore social work major from Chesterfield; and Samuel Kehrer, a junior sport management major from Belleville, Illinois.
• Hackapult: Lisa Goette, a graduate student from Aachen, Germany; and Katrien Gille an international business graduate student from Kuringen, Belgium.
• Rooftop Community Garden: Goette; Vanessa Pendergrass a senior interior design major from OFallon, Missouri; and Whitney Whiteside, a junior finance major from St. Charles, Missouri.

Each team submitted an executive summary by Oct. 31 that was reviewed and scored by a panel of judges, including Chris Martin, chief of staff and assistant to the president for strategy and government relations at Southeast; Jakob Pallesen, director of the Small Business and Technology Development Center at Southeasts Economic and Business Engagement Center; Kendra Skinner, director of Residence Life; Barbara Glackin, dean of Kent Library; and Daniel Presson, director of Southeasts Career Services.

The top three teams will be awarded 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 shared amongst team members, less applicable taxes. The Peoples Choice winner will receive a gift bag of Redhawks memorabilia.

For more information about the Southeast Innovation Challenge, visit catapultsemo.com/sic.