The final judging of the tenth annual BCIT Student Innovation Challenge returned on May 22 with students showcasing their innovative and entrepreneurial ideas.
This annual contest attracts students with bright ideas and provides support, encouragement, and funding to support students in realizing their vision. The Challenge is managed by the Applied Research Liaison Office in collaboration with BCIT Schools, and the Student Association Entrepreneurial Services.
This year’s challenge had the most exciting and diverse student submissions with representation from all six BCIT Schools and 15 program areas. The Applied Research Liaison Office received 26 submissions, all of which included business plans that were carefully reviewed by a judging panel from various areas of BCIT.
After a challenging first round of review by the judges, 9 entries were short-listed for the pitch round. The nine short-listed students then pitched their ideas Dragon’s Den style to a panel comprised of our industry sponsors, applied research, and faculty.
The first prize in the Applied Research category was awarded to Joshua Lang, Neil De Hoog, and Brandon Pham from the School of Energy for “Aerial Ignition System for Wildfire Applications“.
Logan Van De Poll, Quinn Newell, Joshua Ceraldi, Nicolas Griffiths, Dillion McGee, and Claire McCallum from the School of Business took home the first prize in the Entrepreneurship category with their innovative “BrewBar” submission.
Second place in the Applied Research category was awarded to Terry Calderbank, Navraj Kambo, and Brayden Aimar from the School of Energy for their submission on “Autonomous Grape Harvesting Robot“. Mike Dahlstedt from the School of Transportation placed second in the Entrepreneurship category for “DRIVE Hockey“.
Derek Wong, Maksym Chumsak, and Shaun Tseng from the School of Computing and Academic Studies received third place in the Applied Research category for “Complex Elastic Optical Network Simulator”, while Max Jones and Chelsea Reed from the School of Business finished third place in the Entrepreneurship category for “Jones Baby and Company“.
Honourable mentions were awarded to: Nadine Hines and Tim Bientjes from the School of Construction and the Environment for “Experimental Bioremediation of a Hydrocarbon Contaminated Brownfield”; Artem Ulko and Andrew Tarovyk from the School of Business for “Purl”; and Tia Gill from the School of Business for “Herz”.
“Congratulations to all the students who entered the challenge this year,” says BCIT President Kathy Kinloch. “We can’t wait to see how your bright ideas become reality.”
A huge thank you to this year’s sponsors: Panatch Group, JTS Consulting, E B Horsman and Son, ASTTBC, Odlum Brown, and Westland Insurance – due to their support $13,000 was awarded to these nine bright and talented BCIT student groups.
See more photos from this year’s BCIT Student Innovation Challenge.
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