Posted March 1, 2023 by Tiffany Lee
Budding Husker entrepreneurs with ideas for solving an engineering-related problem can compete for award money in the 2023 Engineering Pitch Competition, co-hosted by the College of Engineering and NUtech Ventures.
The event is March 22 at 4 p.m. in Othmer Hall, Room 106. Registration is required. The contest is open to graduate and undergraduate students.
Teams can have between one and five participants, one of whom must be a member of the College of Engineering, and teams must focus on an engineering-related problem. Students are strongly encouraged to form interdisciplinary teams and to consider how participants from diverse fields can contribute to a project.
Faculty are encouraged to promote this opportunity to their students and help them envision the benefits of an interdisciplinary team. In addition to engineering and business participants, the competition organizers hope to draw students from other fields, including:
- the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, who could contribute to promotional and marketing aspects of a pitch.
- the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, who could add expertise to ag-tech projects and more.
- the College of Arts and Sciences, who have expertise in mathematics, data science, informatics and beyond.
Teams will be judged on their ability to identify an important problem; formulate a value proposition related to solving that problem; estimate market size; and describe their business model. Technical details will be discussed at only a very high level.
The top three teams will receive award money, which must be used to further develop the business idea. Amounts are $3,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place.
Each team is encouraged to complete at least one coaching session with an event organizer, whose names and contact information are listed here.
To receive a pitch deck template, or for other questions related to this event, contact Joy Eakin, entrepreneurship program manager for NUtech, or Zane Gernhart, senior technology manager for NUtech.
