BCIT SA President Wins Student Innovation Challenge

With five grand on the line, it’s no surprise that the 2012 BCIT Student Innovation Challenge brought out a record number of applicants. More than 70 BCIT students from all programs submitted their best business concepts last month. But in the end, the last person standing turned out to be a familiar face.

Business Administration student and current President of BCIT’s Student Association, Nicola Gardner, took home the third annual Challenge for her idea of a food waste collection company called Green Earth.

“I was unbelievably excited when I got the phone call that I won,” said Nicola. “It was right up there with winning the election. I think I actually screamed with excitement, which is very out of character for me.”

Green Earth would pick up food waste from commercial food service units in Greater Vancouver and then deliver it to organic processing facilities where it could be turned into compost or bio fuel.

A former restaurant server, Nicola was often bothered about how much food went to waste.

“I started looking into it with the idea of having a composting business,” says Nicola. “And my research led me to discover how food waste can be transformed into bio fuel and my idea ran from there.”

Ironically, Nicola wasn’t initially planning on entering. As president, her goal was to just help get the word out about the contest to other students. It wasn’t until two days before the Challenge closed that she started writing her idea.

The last-minute decision paid off as she was one of six finalists invited to pitch her idea in front of a panel of judges made up of BCIT faculty and staff on April 4 at BCIT’s CARI Building. Despite being a seasoned public speaker, Nicola found the Dragon Den style of judging to be intimidating.

“I’ve done a lot of presentations at BCIT, both in the classroom and as a student executive and that was by far the most nervous I have ever been,” Nicola said. “There was a lot on the line.”

Joining Nicola in the finals were Weslley Loke, Jag Manhas (Financial Management), Ryan Iacoviello (Marketing Management – Entrepreneurship), Derek Barr (Technology Management) and Curtis Baldwinson (Computer Systems Technology). All six finalists came in with strong, well prepared and creative presentations. Derek, who lives in Quesnel, BC, actually flew in specifically for this contest!

Nicola was not the only participant to walk away with some extra change. The $1,000 cash runner-up prize went to Jag, who came up with the idea of selling high resolution ad space on napkins for advertisers who want their messages directly in their target audience’s hands. Ads on Naps (AON) has already signed up 144 restaurants around the Lower Mainland to use the napkins and they plan on expanding in other markets across Canada as well as in airlines and stadiums.

“The prize money is already helping us with developing our sample media kit packages that will be mailed to new clients,” said Jag. “Also it will add to needed funding for future expansion.”

As for Nicola, she used her winnings to pay off student loans. She indicated that she would like to pursue Green Earth, but that all depends on whether she goes to law school after BCIT. Whichever she chooses, Nicola thinks her Student Innovation Challenge experience will help her down the road.

“I think the Innovation Challenge is a great opportunity for students, it forces them to think outside the box,” said Gardner. “It promotes entrepreneurship and I think that’s fantastic.”