Category: Competitions

Idea Pitch Competition – Registration Now Open

Do you have an innovative idea that could disrupt the norm and redefine “business as usual”? If so, we invite you to showcase your innovation at the upcoming Fall 2023 Idea Pitch Competition. Register here

Date and Time: October 11, 2023, from 5:00 PM to 7:30 PM

Location: Great Lakes Research Center, Room 202

At the Idea Pitch Competition, you will have a platform to present your groundbreaking idea in an engaging community setting. Each contestant will have THREE MINUTES to captivate the audience and judges with their visionary ideas. Judges will vote to select top pitches and award cash prizes to the top contestants:

  • First place: $200
  • Second place: $100
  • Third place: $50
  • Honorable mention: $25 
  • Audience favorite: $25

Pitch Deck Submissions Due: October 9, 2023 (Send to huskyinnovate@mtu.edu)

Live Pitch Event: October 11, 2023, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

TCD (Traffic Control Device) Student Challenge

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) Standing Committee on Traffic Control Devices (ACP55) and the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) sponsor and conduct the exciting design competition, the Traffic Control Device (TCD) Student Challenge, to promote innovation and stimulate ideas in the traffic control devices area with a goal to improve operations and safety.

2024 Theme: Innovations to Improve the Nighttime Visibility of Traffic Control Devices

The TCD Student Challenge is open to individual students or teams of students from high school, junior college, student college or university (graduate or undergraduate). All that is required in terms of technical expertise is an interest in transportation and safety, along with an understanding of traffic control devices.

https://www.atssa.com/Technical-Services/Innovation/TCD-Student-Challenge

Apply online by Oct. 1, 2023

New Venture Challenge prep-register by 3/1/23

Are you a student with a great business idea or do you want to team up with a student who has a great business idea?  If so, the New Venture Challenge provides an exciting venue to pitch your business, get valuable feedback, network with representatives within Michigan’s innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystem, and last but not least, an opportunity to win some valuable prize money!

For over a decade, Michigan Technological University and Central Michigan University have collaborated to offer Tech students the opportunity to compete at the New Venture Competition in Mount Pleasant, MI.  Students compete for over $100,000 of cash prizes and in-kind services.

We will host an information session and two prep sessions, we encourage you to attend all prep sessions if you plan to pitch.  The pitch competition itself will involve a trip to Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant where you will pitch your idea.  

If interested, register here  by 3/1/23.

2023 Design Expo Registration Now Open

The Enterprise Program and College of Engineering are excited to announce the 23rd Design Expo will be held in person from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 18 in the Van Pelt and Opie Library’s first floor and the Memorial Union Building’s ballroom.

Design Expo continues to highlight Enterprise and Senior Design/Capstone projects from all areas of the Michigan Tech campus, including teams from the following colleges:

  • College of Business
  • College of Computing
  • College of Engineering
  • College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science

Call for Student Teams to Register
Senior Design/Capstone projects and teams from across campus are invited and encouraged to participate in this year’s event. Students can find more information about Design Expo on the student registration page. Registration closes March 3.

RSVP for Design Expo Today!
The Michigan Tech community, friends and sponsors are invited to register for this year’s Design Expo.

More than a thousand students in the Enterprise and Senior/Capstone Design programs will come together to showcase their work and compete for awards. In addition, a panel of judges, made up of distinguished corporate representatives, alumni, community members and Michigan Tech staff and faculty, will be able to critique videos of team projects, solutions and results in advance of the live event, then come to Design Expo to meet the teams and ask questions in person.

Social Hour and Awards Ceremony
Starting at 2:30 p.m., all student teams, judges, sponsors and friends, and the Michigan Tech campus community are invited to a social hour at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts with light refreshments, entertainment and door prizes. Then, at 3:30 p.m., we will begin the Design Expo Awards Ceremony, where student teams will be recognized and more than $3,000 in cash will be awarded.

Both events are free and open to the public. We encourage current and future students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, families of students and others to help us celebrate our students and their achievements. Register today to see a schedule of events and attend the 2023 Design Expo.

Become a Judge
Are you interested in judging for the 23rd annual Design Expo? We welcome all Michigan Tech faculty, graduate students, staff, alumni, industry representatives and community members interested in the great work of our students! Find out more at our Become a Judge webpage.

This year, judges will be able to evaluate team videos anytime between noon on April 17 and 2 p.m. on April 18. Judges will be assigned three to five teams and will evaluate each team’s video using an electronic ballot. Judges are asked to attend Design Expo in person between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 18 to judge their teams in person. Judges will be selected based on their availability to attend Design Expo in person.

2023 Design Expo Website
For more information on attending and judging Design Expo, visit our website. For questions, please reach out to Briana Tucker at bctucker@mtu.edu.

Michigan ITE: DANIEL B. FAMBRO STUDENT PAPER AWARD

The Daniel B. Fambro Student Paper Award is awarded annually for a significant paper prepared by a student member of ITE. The award honors the work of Daniel B. Fambro, who was a professor at Texas A&M University and an associate research engineer at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and passed away in 1999. In naming the award in Dan’s honor, ITE recognizes his exemplary service to ITE, and his dedication to his students and the profession. The award provides ITE a means to encourage student members to conduct and report on independent and original research and investigate transportation subjects. The Dan Fambro Award recognizes outstanding accomplishment in this area and shines a spotlight on young and talented transportation researchers.

The Michigan Section awards $500 for first place and $300 for second place. The deadline for submitting paper to me for the Michigan award is February 10.

Save the Date for Innovation Week 2023

January 17-20th, the second week of the spring semester, Husky Innovate will host innovation-themed talks and events including the Bob Mark Business Model Pitch Competition.  Started by Michigan Tech’s University Innovation Fellows (UIFs) in 2015, Innovation Week is a celebration of innovation across our Tech Community.  Students, faculty, staff, and community are invited.  

Check out our lineup here .  Register early for locations and Zoom links.

Michigan Section ITE Student Paper

Attached is the announcement from ITE for the Daniel Fambro Student paper award.  As part of that, the Michigan Section also has a student paper contest this year with an award of $500 for first place and $300 for second.  The rules for the Michigan award are the same as the National award.  The deadline for submission is March 1 for both. 

Submissions for the Michigan Award should be sent to Tim Haagsma at haagsma@kentcountyroads.net. To be eligible for the National award, papers should be submitted to David Addison at daddison@jmt.com

Please make sure that any submission follows the criteria for the Fambro award.