Members of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority crafted a makeshift raft from discarded water bottles to win top prize this week in the inaugural ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Innovation Challenge, part of a global contest sponsored locally by the Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
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The teams had less than a week to create a video of three minutes or less to show added value to any number of water bottles.
Value could be measured on any scale – social value, financial value or even humor – and came from actually implementing ideas and delivering results. ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s contest was held in coordination with the Stanford Global Innovation Tournament.
The top three teams from the local competition also had the opportunity to donate money to a charity of their choice. Gary Palin, director of the Doherty Center, said he believes that teaching entrepreneurship goes hand-in-hand with giving back to the community, and by allowing teams to select their favored nonprofits, he was able to grow a spirit of philanthropy.
“The creativity exhibited by students was outstanding,” Palin said. “And this was a great building block for an annual event focusing on the importance of creativity and entrepreneurial activities.”
1st Place:
Alpha Omicron Pi (Lauren Warr, Rachel Cieri, Kirsten Petersen, Susan Esrock, Eva Jorgensen-Graham, Laura Smith, Angela Sparrow and Lindsay Depow)
“Ticket to Freedom”
A $500 donation was made to the Arthritis Foundation
2nd Place:
Average Joe’s Gym (Alex Trevisan, Cory Dowd, Keith Williams and Clayton Winklevoss)
“ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Innovation Challenge”
A $200 donation was made to Push America
3rd Place and Audience Favorite:
First Timers (Alan Duvall, Brent Gilmore, Katie Pietrowski and Mike Depace)
“Waterbottle Powered Car”
A $100 donation was made to the Boys & Girls Club
Three members of the winning team were present to receive the award. Their raft project, they explained in the three-minute video on YouTube, showed added value for the many immigrants who attempt to cross the Rio Grande to enter the United States.
“I learned a lot about immigration,” junior Susan Esrock said. “I didn’t know that people actually come here in water bottles.”
Said her teammate, junior Angela Sparrow: “We put a lot of work into it and we really liked our idea.”
The “Waterbottle Powered Car” team used bottle to make a handheld “vehicle” that the team filmed at a fast food drive-thru and in a car wash, among other places. The teammates chose to emphasize entertainment value.
Meanwhile, the “ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Innovation Challenge” by the Average Joe’s Gym team utililzed water bottles for household goods like a piggy bank and fish aquarium.
The next challenge will take place next fall, Palin said, though he plans to have a similar innovation challenge in February for local high school students.