2013 Student Innovation Challenge

With a new face, a new format and up to $10,000 on the line to take ideas to the next level, we hoped that this year’s Student Innovation Challenge was going to entice BCIT’s best and brightest student entrepreneurs and innovator’s and we were not disappointed!

After 2 rounds of judging, the race was narrowed down to eight finalists that presented their ideas in a Dragon’s Den like “Pitch Round” made up of a panel of 4 Judges including: Paul Dangerfield, Vice President of Education, Research & International at BCIT, Lori Law, Industrial Technology Advisor at National Research Council Canada, David Pepper, Director of Library Services at BCIT and Tony Asseiro, Intellectual Property and Patents expert. An intimidating group with years of experience behind them.

The final competition was very stiff and all 8 competitors/teams wowed the judges with their innovative ideas ranging from new products, to apps to parking technology. In the end there was one clear winner, Gabriel Castanon and his invention the Venterosso, an innovative wine aerator that intrigued the judges from the start.

“Gabriel blew us all away! He had covered all of his bases and was fully prepared for all the questions the judges threw at him. He was very impressive and so was his product. Oh, and I want one! ” Tony Asseiro

A very close Second Place went to Elton Lu and Yahoel Van Essen for their innovative loyalty and rewards business model aimed at local fashion markets. Yahoel and Elton are both School of Business students and were supported by friends family, BCIT School of Business and BCIT Aboriginal Services.

“This is just the first step, we can’t wait to see what happens next!” Yahoel Van Essen

Best Business Plan prize went to Nalumbikya Mgana for his business idea, SENN Sensor. SENN solves city parking issues innovatively using presence detection software that allows mobile devices, using the PARKeD App, to display all available parking spaces within a driver’s desired radius. Nalumbikya’s Business Plan was extremely thorough, well thought out and presented.

Best Applied Research prize went to an impressive group of 3 engineers, Clayton McMunn, Tariq Shobab and Alex Hufsmith, for their “Third Wheel”, an innovative trailer solution for motorcycles. In addition to their win in the Student Innovation Challenge, these students placed first in the 2013 Western Engineering Competition. A significant coupe!

Finally, Best Pitch. When the Student Innovation Challenge was designed, Best Pitch was not made a category. It is a testament to Tyler’s skills that the judges were so impressed by him that they decided to create one. Yet another outstanding individual, Tyler was recently featured on BCIT’s update blog.

On April 17 Friends, Family and many BCIT faculty and staff joined the winners to celebrated one of the most successful Student Innovation Challenges to date.

What’s next for our Winners?

More winning! The Applied Research Liaison Office and supporters from all over BCIT continue to work with these outstanding individuals to assist them in connecting with partners and growing their ideas. Over the next months the students will apply for funding through the Student Commercialization Fund, endowed by Lorne and Pat Fingarson.

A very special thanks goes to Pat and Lorne for their endowment to the Student Innovation Challenge & Student Commercialization Fund. It is their dedication and belief in young entrepreneurs that swayed them to support the Challenge and because of them BCIT has the funds to help these students make their ideas a reality.

BCIT’s Student Innovation Challenge is an annual innovation contest aimed at providing funding, support, and encouragement to BCIT students who have “big ideas”.

2013 Student Innovation Challenge Winners
1st Place	Gabriel Castanon	Ventorosso – Wine aerator
2nd Place	Elton Lu & Yahoel Van Essen	Apparel Exclusive
Best Pitch	Tyler Basu	Chatting With Champions
Applied Research Prize	Aaron Hufsmith, Tariq Shobab Clayton Mcmunn	3rd Wheel Innovations
Best Business Plan	Nalumbikya Mgana	SENN Software