Pavlis Honors College Blog

Month: November 2018

Science Fair Mentoring Program

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Volunteer for the Science Fair Mentoring Program held at Houghton Elementary School during the Spring 2019 semester. As a volunteer in this program you will:

  • Serve as a one-on-one mentor to a 4th grade student and guide them through the process of creating their science fair project
  • Be part of a team of volunteers and be provided with all of the necessary resources and training you will need
  • Have additional opportunities to conduct experiments and demos with 4th grade classes

This program will run from early February to mid-March and will involve an approximately 2 hour per week commitment for the duration of the program. This is a great volunteer opportunity for anyone interested in:

  • Pursuing graduate school in any discipline
  • Improving your science communication skills and sharing your enthusiasm for STEM
  • Inspiring young students
  • Fulfilling your Leadership/Mentorship component

If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out this form by December 14th.

If you have any questions or would like additional information contact Elise Cheney-Makens at eacheney@mtu.edu.

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Bob Mark Business Model Competition is December 5

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The Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship is hosting the 2018 Bob Mark Business Model Competition on Wednesday, December 5 from 7-9 p.m. in the Opie Library. Students can apply to compete here.

The 2018 Bob Mark competition includes an idea pitch and a business model description. This event takes place later in the year so that contestants will have had the opportunity to develop their business model through participation in Husky Innovate workshops. Using Lean Launchpad methods and the Business Model Canvas, students will share insights from customer interviews that inform their business model.

Prizes will be awarded to the most scalable and actionable business model pitches. Using prize money, students have a chance to take their entrepreneurial idea to the next stage of development further preparing them for additional opportunities such as competing at the New Venture Competition held this April at Central Michigan University.

President Koubek will serve as a distinguished judge alongside other entrepreneurially minded faculty, staff, and community members.

Prizes for the Bob Mark Business Model Competition include:

First Prize – $2,000 + $100 services from MTEC SmartZone

Second Prize – $1,000 + $100 services from MTEC SmartZone

Third Prize – $500 + $100 services from MTEC SmartZone

Honorable Mention (2 prizes) – $250 each

Audience Favorite – $250

MTEC SmartZone prize – $1000

This event is a tribute to the late Bob Mark, professor of practice in the School of Business and Economics. Mark founded the Elevator Pitch Competition and brought the Business Plan Competition to Michigan Tech. The Bob Mark Elevator Pitch Competition and other efforts support his entrepreneurial spirit and that continues to live on in students, faculty, and staff.

Students who participated in the Idea Pitch Competition on October 17 are strongly encouraged to apply to compete in the Bob Mark Business Model Competition. Students should apply by submitting this form no later than midnight on Wednesday, November 21st (before Thanksgiving break). The top 15 applicants will be selected to participate in the Bob Mark Business Model Competition. Students who upload a business model canvas to their application will be given priority consideration. Student guidelines, scoring criteria, and a blank Business Model Canvas can be found at mtu.edu/honors/ice/husky-innovate.

Erica Austin and Kyle Schuhknecht presenting their idea, Mr. Green Tips, an eco-friendly informational application at the Idea Pitch Competition in October.

The 2018 Bob Mark Business Model Competition is part of Husky Innovate, a series of workshops and events that build on each other with the intention of guiding students through key phases of innovation or business development while emphasizing evidence-based strategies for success. Bob Mark Business Model Competition is hosted by the Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship, which is a collaboration between the Pavlis Honors College, the School of Business and Economics, and the Vice President for Research Office.

 

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Lear Student Innovation Challenge Now Accepting Applications

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Lear is now accepting applications for its 2019 Student Innovation Challenge in Detroit. The competition brings together students from local universities with varied disciplines to compete in teams for cash prizes. The Challenge will kick off with a two-day workshop on February 9 and 10, followed by a two-week incubation period, and ending with a group solution pitch on February 23 to Lear executives and subject matter experts. Winning participants may be offered the opportunity to be a Lear Innovation intern summer 2019.

The competition is designed to teach an innovative mindset and prepare students to create ideas for the future of mobility and vehicle connectivity. Participants will work with innovation coaches and Lear technology development experts to learn how to develop solutions that advance technology and manufacturing. The 2018 Lear Student Innovation Challenge involved increasing vehicle occupant safety. Out of the five Michigan Tech students that competed earlier this year, four took home awards. Tech student, Shawn Badanjek was on the grand prize team and received the coveted summer internship position.

2018 Lear Open Innovation Challenge grand prize winning team: (from left) Michigan Tech student Shawn Badanjek, Janelle Newman, Shivam Bajaj, Nicole Goldi and Adrian Maloy.

Applications must be submitted by November 30 at 7 pm. Keep in mind that this is a very competitive selection process, so applicants may want to include a video or other supplemental materials to bolster their application. Any questions can be directed to the Lear Innovation team at innovate.elevate@lear.com.

 

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Michigan Tech Students Named University Innovation Fellows

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Congratulations to Cara Hardin, Lexi Steve, Gi West, and Cameron Philo for being named University Innovation Fellows (UIF) by Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school). This global program trains student leaders to create new opportunities for their peers to engage with innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity.

The University Innovation Fellows Program empowers students to become agents of change at Michigan Tech. Fellows work to ensure that their peers gain the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to make a positive impact on the world.

“During training, Fellows gain skills, mindsets and knowledge to face ever-more complex challenges at their schools and in the world,” said Humera Fasihuddin, co-director of the University Innovation Fellows program. “They learn frameworks like design thinking and lean startup, which help them analyze their campus ecosystems, understand the needs of others, and uncover opportunities for change. As a result, Fellows design learning experiences that better prepare peers for their careers.”

Cara Hardin is a third year student majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Steve, West, and Philo are all Pavlis Honors Pathway Program students. Lexi Steve serves as an Honors Ambassador and is currently studying abroad in Spain this Fall semester. Gi West is the Student Director for The Alley makerspace. Cameron Philo recently competed and won first prize and audience favorite in the Husky Innovate Idea Pitch Competition.

Hardin, Steve, West, and Philo were sponsored by Pavlis Honors College Assistant Dean, Mary Raber. Michigan Tech’s Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship funded the Fellows’ six week online training. These students will have the opportunity to travel to the University Innovation Fellows Silicon Valley Meetup in California this coming Spring 2019. During the meetup, Fellows will take part in immersive experiences at Stanford’s d.school and Google, and work with leaders in education and industry. They will participate in experiential workshops and exercises focused on topics including movement building, innovation spaces, design of learning experiences, and new models for change in higher education.

“In traditional education systems, students have to wait until they graduate to make a difference. We don’t believe that,” said Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, co-director of the University Innovation Fellows program. “Students are uniquely equipped to make a difference while they’re in school; they know best what other students want and need. Our Fellows are working with their peers, faculty and administrators to co-design a different educational experience and bring about change where it’s needed most.”

Tech’s new Fellows will advocate for lasting change by creating opportunities for students across campus to engage in more activities and events that inspire innovation, entrepreneurship, design thinking and creativity.

 

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Industry Speaker to Visit from Altair

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The Enterprise Program will be hosting Altair’s Training and EDU Technical Relations Manager, Erik Larson, November 14 and 15 for a two part industry speaker series event. On Wednesday, November 14 from 1-3pm in the Active Learning Center (MEEM120) Erik Larson will provide an overview of Altair’s revolutionary, easy to use structural, optimization and motion analysis tool, Inspire.  Inspire offers a simple interface that will allow the user to quickly and easily prepare and solve Finite Element Analysis problems to aid in the engineering and light weighting of static and motion based systems. Inspire leads Altair’s suite of software that promotes their philosophy of simulation driven design. Attend this seminar and start creating intelligent designs for your senior design and enterprise projects. This session is open to all levels of student and no prior FEA experience is necessary. Instructions for downloading the FREE, fully functional student edition of Inspire will be provided at the seminar as well.

On Thursday, November 15 from 10am-12pm and 2-4pm in M&M 718A students will have the ability to meet with Erik to get support and guidance on the application of the Altair software suite to current projects.

Erik Larson (’91 BSME) is Altair’s Training and EDU Technical Relations Manager. He is responsible for managing and conducting both online and instructor-led trainings for the United States. Additionally, Erik acts as a technical liaison for the Altair EDU outreach program, helping universities discover how the Altair suite of tools can enrich their curriculum and training faculty and students in the tools. Erik has over 25 years of experience conducting FEA structural, optimization and crash analysis.

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