How do you cultivate entrepreneurship in students? Start a contest, encouraging students to think about the potential of their discoveries. Supported by Ingenuity Enterprise, the TEC Student Entrepreneurship program, in partnership with the UofA School of Business held its 2nd TEC Innovation Contest.
“We wanted students to think outside the box, ‘outside the lab’. We invited them to consider, ‘What can I do with my research? How could my research benefit society?’” said Nancy Collier, the TEC Student Entrepreneurship manager.
University of Alberta students submitted posters with a solution that described the commercial potential and business strategy of the solution.
“As an engineer, my long-term career goal is to apply novel techniques to benefit our society, “says Xuantao Su, co-winner of the Innovation’s in Health Award. “Thanks to the TEC Innovation Contest, I have learned key skills to evaluate a project and to seek future revenues. It is also a great opportunity to meet people with different backgrounds to explore their inner entrepreneurial spirit.”
On November 24, 2009 the student finalists presented their solution-based research posters to the judges. Awards of $500, plus TEC Edmonton services were given to the winners in each category:
- Innovations in Health - a tie between Xuantao Su for a new micro fluidic cytometry technique and Kristen Miller for a solution adressing the global health burden of hepatitis B.
- Green Solutions - Michael Thomas for novel biosensors applicable for environmental monitoring applications such as detecting and measuring toxins in the air, waste water and ground water.
- Economic Excellence - Hector de la Hoz Siegler for a bioprocess sensor that allows morphological quantification of cells in liquid cultures.
- Academic Synergy Star - Jennifer Klein for a teaching device to help kids tell time
- Industrial Synergy Star - Sandeep R. Kondaveeti for a graphical representation of industrial alarm data
An important part of cultivating entrepreneurship among students is familiarizing them with what TEC Edmonton resources are available from protecting their IP to business development.
"The TEC Innovation Contest requires you to have a closer look at market data to figure out if there is a real opportunity for commercializing your idea. I also had the chance to use some databases for market research I was not aware existed,” said Hector De la Hoz, the winner of the Economic Excellence Award.