The final round of the third annual INNOVATE 2022 competition was held March 31 in the Georgia Cyber Center.
Students, from freshmen to doctorate candidates and from any discipline, built teams to take on creating an object, product, service or plan associated with this year subject which is community needs.
“What they do is they take that back, usually to their own disciplines,” said Scott Thorp, chair of Art and Design and Associate Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research. “What we’re really seeing is students taking what they learned in class and bringing it to an innovative solution in the form of products, plans and services.
More than 30 teams, each with an Augusta University faculty or professional staff member as an advisor, began the competition. The field was narrowed to 10 finalists, including Team Fearless, Inc.
“We’re going to be pitching a product that we’re hoping benefits the children in our community, we need to start with where the root is and grow from there,” said team member Kristen Reid, a junior studying computer and cyber sciences. “We’re going to be making a product that’s going to not only help motivate them, but it’s also going to repair the social and economic damage that’s been done to our children.”
Patterned after the ABC Television show “Shark Tank,” the teams had five minutes to give their final pitch to convince judges they deserved to win INNOVATE 2022.
“That’s how we fashioned it because what we’re trying to do is get students thinking about being competitive, because they’re really good at it,” said Thorp. “Because you know, if you’re really assertive and you advocate for yourself, that makes a lot of difference in the world.”
“We want to make sure that it’s understood that this is a learning progress and whether we do it good or not, you’re still doing something and it’s more than a lot of people do nowadays,” said Reid. “We have made a product that we are confident in and if that is not portrayed, then that’s okay. What happens is we’ve learned from what we’ve already done, and in the end, you had fun with it.”
Prizes, in the form of scholarship funds in the students’ financial aid accounts, were awarded.
Reid’s optimism was well placed. Her team, Fearless, Inc., was selected first place winner. The team received $5,000.
Second place, and the $3,500 prize, was Mommy Mobile. Coming in third was iHealth Window, garnering $2,500. The $500 prize for honorable mention was awarded to GrowGusta.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
