Virginia Commonwealth University has launched its inaugural Innovation Challenges competition to solve problems facing education, energy and health. The monthlong competition offers teams of VCU students a chance at $10,000 in prizes and services.
Three challenge areas were nominated by Richmond-area businesses and organizations, including Cherry Bekaert, Dominion Energy, New Economy Thinker Community-Virginia Chapter, the MacLaurin Group and VCU Health.
- How can technology improve outcomes in K-12 and higher education?
- What is the future of electric vehicle charging in Virginia?
- How can emerging technologies – such as the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, blockchain, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence – improve the health of the Richmond community and beyond?
The competition is organized by the da Vinci Center, a collaboration of interdisciplinary VCU schools that runs innovation and entrepreneurship programs. Innovation Challenges are open to any VCU student.
At the end of the four-week competition, which started Oct. 18 and will accept submissions until Nov. 15, teams will present to university faculty and staff and industry experts. Top entries in each category will win a share of the $10,000 and will be offered acceptance to the 2019 VCU Pre-Accelerator Program, also known as Pre-X, which helps student entrepreneurs get startups off the ground.
“This is about allowing talented students at VCU to actively participate in solving real-world challenges facing our community partners and companies in the greater Richmond region,” said Garret Westlake, executive director of the da Vinci Center, in a statement.
“This isn’t a competition in the way that we might typically think of a competition, where you would keep your ideas separate because you don't want anybody to steal them,” he said. “This is meant to be a really collaborative effort to generate the best ideas possible. And so we expect [team] gatherings to be more like design jams, with a lot of open communication and collaboration.”
The da Vinci Center will host pop-up events throughout November bringing together students in the health sciences and student innovators on the Monroe Park Campus.
