Students Worldwide Innovate to “Make Saving Money Fun!” in Rapid-Fire Stanford University Competition
Business Wire, Dec 04, 2009
Eight-Day Contest Results in Virtual Reality Tools, Online
Applications, Games, Humorous Videos and Other Fun Ways to Approach a
Serious Global Challenge
STANFORD, Calif. — Use foot power to recharge your mobile phone? A puzzle that motivates
children to save instead of spend? These are among the winning ideas
announced today of the Global Innovation Tournament. which challenged
contestants to Make saving money fun! In celebration of Global
Entrepreneurship Week, student teams in 31 countries developed
everything from virtual reality tools to animated films and online games
as they competed in the eight-day tournament hosted by the Stanford
Technology Ventures Program at Stanford University. Entrants had to
create value, have as much impact as possible, and convey their results
in a short YouTube video. A panel of judges from throughout the world
evaluated nearly 1,000 entries to help select 22 winners.
Winning entries included a virtual reality game tied to ones bank
account that rewards the user with virtual goods as he or she builds
real-world financial reserves; a credit card that cries out in agony
when used; provocative outlet covers that motivate consumers to unplug
idle appliances; a captivating animated film; a new bartering system
presented with a sense of humor; and several products for kids, such as
a savings puzzle and board game. Other winners devised working
prototypes of a gadget that generates electricity as you walk and a
recycling/videogame kiosk. While most participants were university
students, two of the winning entries and four of the 39 finalists were
junior high school and high school students. Winners hail from Chile,
China, Denmark, Ecuador, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Latvia,
Malaysia, Romania, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.
A complete list of global and Stanford winners, including links to their
videos, is available at http://www.unleashingideas.org/tournament/winners.
The Global Innovation Tournament is a fast and furious competition that
encourages students to work in teams, challenge assumptions, seize
opportunities, and be creative. Most of all, it gives them a taste of
what its like to be entrepreneurial by creating value from basically
nothing (in this case, a different twist on a common idea related to a
global problem), while working with constraints, such as limited time
and resources.
The competition was developed by the Stanford Technology Ventures
Program at Stanford University and is sponsored globally by Intuit Inc.,
a leading provider of financial management solutions for consumers and
small businesses.
More than 4,000 students from more than 100 institutions in 31 countries
participated this year. Local hosts conducted the competition in their
respective areas, chose local winners, and submitted them to Stanford
University. STVP then coordinated two rounds of global judging by a
panel of Stanford representatives, university professors from around the
world, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and senior executives from
companies such as Intuit, Logitech, Deloitte and Intel Capital. The
local winners in most locations were announced during Global
Entrepreneurship Week, Nov. 16-22.
This is the third year weve run this competition, and the results are
always astounding, said Tina Seelig, executive director of the Stanford
Technology Ventures Program. Every team has the same number of hours
and raw material with which to work, and yet the range of ideas and
execution activity blows us away every time
make money quick
Dec 18, 2009
Comments
No comments yet, be the first to add one!