Hundreds of students and 86 student teams competed in the Business Scholars Innovation Showcase on Friday, April 13, in Lassonde Studios at the University of Utah. Each of the teams consisted of first-year students in the Business Scholars program at the David Eccles School of Business. The teams spent months developing product ideas before competing at the showcase for for prizes including Best Idea, Best Pitch, Best Prototype and Best Branding.
The Best Idea Award went to Lock ’N‘ Go. The team includes students Kaden Madson, Tinola Rosales and Kate Ruth. They created a lockbox to solve the problem of delivering packages when you are not home. Their system includes a secure box and an app. It allows a mail carrier to drop a package in the box using an app when you are not at home, and you remove the package using the app when you arrive.
All of the teams learned valuable lessons about creating a new product, finding a problem and developing an idea by participating in the program.
“We all learned how to execute,” Madson said. “We are not the most innovative people on the planet. But even though single-handedly we are not the most innovative, together we can come up with a great product, and we can execute that product the way that we want.”
Other top teams included: Best Prototype winner Coweb (Camille Bagnani, Ryan Kinville, Adam Monsen and Liam Stenberg), Best Pitch winner SLC Shatter Shack (Alejandra Caceres, Ashley Lodmell, John Nixon and Gissel Vera Reyes) and Best Branding winner RotoCharge (Claira Durham, Jolly Karungi, Brian Lopez and Fabian Vega).
Hundreds of students and 86 student teams competed in the 2018 Business Scholars Innovation Showcase.
“We were very impressed with all the project ideas this year,” said Kathy Hajeb, an assistant professor lecturer with the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute, which hosted the event. “This project allows students to experience the entrepreneurial process firsthand. They also get a chance to apply what they are learning in the classroom to their business idea.”
The public and campus community was invited to attend the Innovation Showcase and judge the teams. Judges included industry experts, faculty members, recent graduates and other students.
The Business Scholars program at the University of Utah‘s David Eccles School of Business gives high-achieving students an honors-level introduction to the various business disciplines. With an emphasis on experiential learning, Business Scholars work with top faculty members to explore the challenges facing companies in marketing, entrepreneurship, accounting, finance, data analytics and management.
Business Scholars have the unique opportunity to travel regionally and internationally to meet and interact with business leaders from the companies that they study. Business Scholars can take Honors and Business Scholars specific courses, ensuring smaller class sizes and a more personalized experience.
Learn more about the Business Scholars program here: eccles.utah.edu/students/business-scholars/.
Photo Gallery
Below is a photo gallery from the 2018 event. Find more images on Facebook here.
