Students brought groundbreaking ideas that spanned technology, sustainability, and social impact to the 2024 Husky Innovate Pitch Competition.
The annual Husky Innovate Idea Pitch Competition will take place Wednesday, November 20, 2024, from 5-7 pm in the M&M Building, Room U115. Hosted by the College of Business and the Office of Innovation and Commercialization, the pitch competition is a platform for students to showcase their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.
The event encourages participants to present innovative, creative business or product ideas that address real-world problems and opportunities. Participants will pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and cash prizes will be awarded to the top ideas. Supported by expert guidance and feedback, participating students will gain valuable experience in a professional setting, enhance their skills, gain recognition, and make an impact.
The pitch competition is open to all enrolled Michigan Tech undergraduate and graduate students. Participants can compete individually or on teams of up to three members. Each pitch should be a maximum of five minutes and supported by up to five presentation slides. Pitches must adhere to Title IX University guidelines for student conduct.
A mandatory pitch preparation session takes place November 15 from 5:30–7:30 pm in M&M U113. The short seminar will share information about event set-up and design, present pitch idea reviews, and explain the scoring format.
To participate, please register and send pitch slides by Friday, November 17, at 11:59 pm.
By Jon Leinonen, College of Business
At Michigan Tech, entrepreneurship happens across campus. “Entrepreneurial capacity and success continues to grow at MTU. It’s a great experience for the students,” said Husky Innovate director Jonathan Leinonen, assistant dean and teaching professor in management in the College of Business.
Husky Innovate, a collaboration between the College of Business, Office of Innovation and Commercialization, and Pavlis Honors College, is Michigan Tech’s resource hub for innovation and entrepreneurship. The program works to develop a campus where entrepreneurial spirit thrives throughout the university and across all disciplines. Among other activities, Husky Innovate hosts workshops, competitions, and other entrepreneurship-related activities. View this fall’s schedule of events, which culminates with the Husky Innovate Business Pitch competition on November 20.
Elham (Ellie) Asgari, the Charles C. and John G. Gates Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is at the leading edge of entrepreneurship research, studying the formula of success in this high-stakes sector of business. Last month, Dr. Asgari was selected as a recipient of the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning Instructional Award for Innovative or Out-of-Class Teaching. Asgari’s selection was based on her innovative teaching strategies, including use of crowdfunding campaigns to help Huskies gauge startup interest, and working with students individually to help them prepare for regional and global investment pitches. During the 2022-23 academic year, Michigan Tech student teams collected $67,000 in pitch prize money.
The eleventh-annual New Venture Challenge out of Central Michigan University’s Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship brought student innovators to Mount Pleasant, vying for more than $60,000 in prizes and services.