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Highlight: Innovation Week 2024 and the Bob Mark Pitch Competition Winners

Published January 31, 2024

This year marks Michigan Tech’s eighth year hosting Innovation Week.

Innovation Week at Michigan Tech was started by a group of University Innovation Fellows (UIFs) in 2017. At that time, UIFs hosted meet-ups, design thinking challenges, and events to get folks thinking innovatively. Throughout the years it has evolved, but one thing remains the same, Innovation Week is a celebration of innovation at Michigan Tech.

The week’s events included presenters from as far as Texas and Traverse City, Michigan as well as right here within Houghton. With the option of both in-person and virtual events, entrepreneurially-minded individuals had the opportunity to join us for one or all events. Husky Innovate kicked off the week with a presentation from our keynote speaker, Dr. L. Brad King, CEO and founder of Orbion Technologies, who shared his journey with Orbion including key insights for startup founders. On Tuesday, Nate Yenor with the Office of Innovation and Commercialization shared opportunities for startup collaboration resulting from research here at Tech. Wednesday, former IBM Corps. executive and Michigan Tech alum John Soyring (EE ‘76 & Honorary Doctorate ’06) provided us with fresh insights from the world of investing and the opportunity presented through impact investing. On Thursday, Dr. Ashley Sloat, president of Aurora Patents gave us a crash course on careful contracting with key points founders should take into consideration as they start working with developers and investors. Friday, Dr. Len Switzer, associate director of Enterprise shared entrepreneurial opportunities for both founders and technical teams through the Enterprise and Husky Innovate programs.

In addition to the stellar line-up of workshops and presentations, Husky Innovate hosted Innovation Week’s main event Wednesday evening – the Bob Mark Business Model Pitch Competition, which is a tribute to the late College of Business Professor Bob Mark. For the 18th year, community members from across the region, including innovators, entrepreneurs, faculty, staff, students, and alumni, joined to hear students pitch their business models. Ten teams pitched to win in three categories; Business Model, Social Impact, and Breakout Innovation with prizes totaling $6000. There was a lot of energy and anticipation in the room as teams pitched and waited for scoring. After two hours of pitching, the judges selected their winners and the audience selected their favorite. Congratulations and thank you to all the student contestants and winners!

Business Model Category

First place and Breakout Award winner Viraj Mane with judge Jason Mack

Presented by the College of Business with thanks to sponsors Rick and Jo Berquist, and Dan and Jane Green for sponsoring the Audience Favorite award. Student pitches were judged by how well the solution addressed the customers’ needs, the path to revenue, and the overall presentation.

First place – Viraj Mane with DocCraftAI ($2000)
Second place – Alex Nosalik with The Eternitee ($1000)
Third place- Nirmal Raja Karuppiah Loganthan with Jarvis-Vision ($500)
Honorable mention – Aliyah Maxwell Abrams with Sunny Buddy ($250)
Audience Favorite – Alex Nosalik with The Eternitee ($250)

Social Impact Award Category

Sponsored and presented by Gates Professor Dr. Elham Asgari, College of Business. The social impact category examined the significance of the social problem and how well the solution addressed it.

Olamide Ayeni with HOPCYKU ($1,000)

Breakout Innovation Award

Presented by Jason Mack, Vice President of Business Development, MTEC SmartZone, and sponsored by the MTEC SmartZone and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. The breakout innovation award considered the solution’s novelty, ease of implementation, and time to implementation.

Viraj Mane with DocCraftAI ($1,000)

This event would not be possible without support from our Michigan Tech I&E collaborators and community. Thanks to our team mentors, with special recognition to Michigan Tech alum Joseph Corso (EE ‘77), Founder and President of TouchPoint Inc., for hosting regular Office Hours mentoring sessions throughout the year with Husky Innovate students.

Thank you to our Bob Mark Business Model Pitch Competition judges: Northern Michigan University Professor Corrine Bodeman, Michigan Tech Professor Elham Asgari, Michigan Tech Professor Charles Wallace, Michigan Tech alum Dan Green (BA ‘83), Michigan Tech alum Jason Mack (MBA ‘13), and Pavlis Honors College External Advisory Board member Carolyn Yarina. We appreciate your time and expertise in helping our students improve their pitches.

Thank you to our prize sponsors. The business model prizes are sponsored by the College of Business (COB), Rick and Joe Berquist, and Dan Green and Jane Mooney. The Social Impact Award is sponsored by Dr. Elham Asgari, COB, Gates Professor of Entrepreneurship, and the Breakout Innovation Award is sponsored by MTEC SmartZone and MEDC.

Thank you to our emcee, Jordan Craven, Management of Information Systems (MIS) and Computer Science (CS) and startup founder of Sizelogic. Thanks to our marketing team, Jessie Neece, and marketing intern Eugene Agyei. Thank you to our production team, Sound and Lighting Services, and the Pavlis Honors College team for supporting this event. Thank you to our presenters and participants who helped to make the week a success. We appreciate your time and contributions to 2024’s Innovation Week.

Thanks to all who attended our Innovation Week events! We look forward to next year’s events!

Husky Innovate is a collaboration between the Pavlis Honors College, the College of Business, and the Office of Innovation and Commercialization.

If you are interested in additional opportunities, check out our Husky Innovate Events Page. Please feel free to reach out to huskyinnovate@mtu.edu for more information.

Husky Innovate Announces Fall 2023 Schedule of Events

Published September 5, 2023

By Jessie Neece

Husky Innovate, a collaboration between the Pavlis Honors College, the Office of Innovation and Commercialization, and the College of Business, has a goal to provide the tools and knowledge to cultivate Michigan Tech’s innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial spirit across all disciplines offered on campus. To accomplish that goal, Husky Innovate provides valuable innovation and entrepreneurial education programs to students, staff, and faculty at Michigan Tech and this fall’s schedule is no exception!

This semester we have an outstanding lineup of workshops and speakers – check out the schedule of events for fall 2023 below. For more information on our Husky Innovate events, please visit: http://www.mtu.edu/husky-innovate

Husky Innovate Fall 2023 Semester Calendar of Events — Husky Innovate Fall 2023 Schedule of Events

Looking for ways to get involved? Sign up for our mailing list and get information sent directly to your inbox about upcoming innovation workshops, speakers, or other ways to excel your career.

Keynote Speaker Announced – Dr. Kurt Paterson

Published October 4, 2022

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The Pavlis Honors College is excited to announce the keynote speaker for this year’s Global and Community Engagement Conference is Dr. Kurt Paterson. Paterson is responsible for organizing the first D80 conference at Michigan Tech back in 2007 while he was an Adjunct Associate Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Keynote Speaker, Dr. Kurt Paterson

Kurt Paterson is a first-generation college graduate who grew up in a fairly humble Iowa neighborhood but managed to wander into a life of global engagement. Currently, he is a professor of engineering at James Madison University, where he was Head of Engineering for seven years. He is also serving the U.S. Department of State as Senior Sustainability Advisor and was recently named a Jefferson Science Fellow of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. In these capacities, he has championed the development of climate-sensitive operations to parallel the Department’s international climate diplomacy.

Prior to these efforts, Kurt was on Michigan Tech’s environmental engineering faculty and partnered with countless faculty, staff, students, and communities on global engagement programs and projects in more than 40 countries. Inspired by these successes at Tech, Kurt helped launch a nationwide community of practice through the American Society of Engineering Education, the Community Engagement Division.

In January 2023, to take engagement to a new scale, Kurt will become Director of The Polytechnic School at Arizona State University’s Fulton Schools of Engineering. Kurt currently lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, two daughters, and Covid rescue puppy, the latter of which also started life in humble circumstances and is good at wandering.

The keynote presentation will be a featured program during the 2022 Global and Community Engagement Conference (formally known as D80 Conference). The Michigan Tech campus hosts this annual conference every fall to give a platform to the voices of those serving communities both domestically and abroad.

This year’s theme is “Re-energizing Our Communities Through Service” and the conference will be held on Saturday, October 29, 2022, from 9:00am – 3:00pm in the Memorial Union Ballroom – lunch will be provided. The conference is open to anyone interested in the development, design, and discovery of people and communities! Please register to attend by filling out this form.

In addition, faculty, staff, students, and local organizations are invited to participate in this event as presenters. We want to hear more about the work that you are doing! This is a great opportunity to share your recent studies, projects, or research with the community. Please consider submitting a 30-minute presentation proposal.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Darnishia Morris.

Finding an Undergraduate Research Mentor

Published September 10, 2020

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Are you an undergraduate interested in research, but unsure how to get started? Our video tutorial may be exactly what you need. This video addresses:

how to identify and contact a research mentor
what to expect when beginning research
opportunities for research internships and fellowships for Michigan Tech students

Watch the video on your own time, and if you have specific questions, feel free to email honors@mtu.edu, or make a 10-minute appointment for one-on-one research mentoring via Zoom on September 22, 24 or 28.

If you’re a current or prospective graduate student interested in finding a research mentor, please contact the Graduate School.

Interested in Undergraduate Research?

Pavlis Honors College can enhance your involvement in undergraduate research. Learn more about our Honors Pathway Program, meet an honors student who co-authored a field guide based on her research, and see other research options and exhibitions available to undergraduate students.

Business Model Canvas Bootcamp

Published October 30, 2018

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Workshops

The Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship will be hosting Business Model Canvas Bootcamp, a two-part workshop on November 14 and 28 from 7-9 pm in Rekhi 214. Using the Business Model Canvas, students will work with members of the Michigan Tech I-Corps Site Program teaching team to develop a business model for their technology or idea.

The Business Model Canvas is a tool developed by Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur. It emphasizes the relationships of the nine components of a business model:

Customer Segments
Value Propositions
Channels
Customer Relationships
Revenue Streams
Key Resources
Key Activities
Key Partnerships and
Cost Structure.

Check out this short video for a brief overview of the Business Model Canvas. The idea is that business plans are static while a successful business model needs to be dynamic. A successful business venture requires a tool that allows one to quickly assess the impact of changes and adjust accordingly.

The I-Corps teaching team will guide students through the process of developing their unique business model. In this workshop, you will map out your canvas with specific focus on the value proposition and the customer segments. After developing a hypothesis around your the nine components, focusing on the customer segment and its “pain points”. From there you will then test your hypothesis through customer interviews or customer discovery. Does your solution create value for your customer segment? Based on the customer discovery process you will understand if you need to adjust your value proposition and pivot.

Business Model Bootcamp 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 to help them prepare for future competitions, as well as future intrapreneurial and/or entrepreneurial business ventures. Registration for this workshop is required.

Students who participated in the Idea Pitch Competition and/or plan to compete in the upcoming Bob Mark Business Model Competition, are strongly encouraged to register for Business Model Canvas Bootcamp. There is a cap of 25 contestants for our Bob Mark Business Model Competition. Priority will be given to those who have completed the Business Model Boot Camp. Husky Innovate is hosted by the Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship, a collaboration between the School of Business & Economics, Pavlis Honors College, and the Vice President for Research Office.

I-Corps Site Program at Michigan Tech

Published December 12, 2017

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The Michigan Tech I-Corps Site Program and the Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship will be hosting its next NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Workshop beginning January 2018. Dates and times for the upcoming workshop are tentatively scheduled for Jan. 17, Jan. 24, Feb. 14 and Feb. 21 from 5pm-8pm.

The I-Corps Site program is a team-based program structure that was developed through a partnership between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. The workshop provides an introduction to the Lean Start-up business development methodology which focuses on getting out of the lab and using the proven tools of Customer Discovery and the Business Model Canvas to evaluate the commercial potential of innovative technologies.

This is a great opportunity to work with an experienced team of workshop leaders to determine, document, and fully realize the commercial potential of your technology. Teams which successfully complete the program requirements are eligible for $2500 to advance their technology-focused start-up ideas through customer discovery and prototyping. Teams also become eligible for NSF’s National I-Corps program which includes $50,000 in funding.

Participants of I-Corps Site programs and NSF’s National I-Corps have demonstrated significantly higher funding rates from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs which offer Phase I awards up to $225,000 and Phase II awards up to $750,000. Past participants also report that the I-Corps program had a positive impact on their careers, as well as their approach to research, teaching and mentoring.

Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor, Dr. Andrew Barnard commented on his experience with I-Corps, “Our participation in the I-Corps Site Program at Tech helped us to understand our potential customers and get answers to questions that will steer our research for years to come. It has propelled us to the National I-Corps Program where we’re excited to learn more from our customers about our product idea.”

Apply today for this great experience. For more information on the Michigan Tech I-Corps Site Program or to apply for the January workshop, visit mtu.edu/honors/ice/icorps/.

Michigan Tech I-Corps Site Workshop

Published December 15, 2016

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The Michigan Tech I-Corps Site Program and the Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship will be hosting its next NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Workshop in January over a 4-week period, with the first session starting on Saturday, January 7th.