Parsons Supports Cal Poly Innovation Quest Competition for Fourth Year in a Row

PASADENA, CA (May 8, 2017) – Parsons is pleased to announce that it contributed $5,000 to support Innovation Quest (iQ)—a campuswide competition led by Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE)—in addition to participating in judging the finalists at the awards banquet on April 29, 2017. Ultimately, four winning teams took home more than $30,000 in prizes at the awards banquet.

“This was Parsons’ fourth consecutive year supporting Cal Poly’s Innovation Quest Competition,” said Virginia Grebbien, Parsons’ Chief of Staff. “We understand the value of introducing students of all ages to innovation through science, technology, engineering, and math, and we are excited to continue our participation in this important competition. Innovation Quest is a mechanism for Cal Poly students to apply their skills and innovative ideas to create companies and stimulate the economy through job creation as well as to build a culture of social responsibility.”

In order to enter the iQ Competition, student innovators are required to complete an application form outlining the innovative concept being proposed. Applicants are mentored through several workshops to learn entrepreneurial and presentation skills and fine tune their ideas. Concepts that make it to the final stage feature a high potential for commercialization, a demonstrable prototype validating the novel concept, and a business plan on how to take the product to market. These requirements provide the teams with a strong framework for continued pursuit of their endeavors beyond the iQ Competition.

“We are excited to continue working with Parsons in providing a unique, challenging growth opportunity for our student innovators,” said Thomas Katona, Assistant Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Cal Poly’s Biomedical Engineering Department. “The Innovation Quest competition motivates our students to utilize their strong disciplinary foundation and apply that knowledge and experience to start an entrepreneurial journey.”

iQ is designed to encourage student innovators to pursue their ideas and get them funded. More than 150 applicants representing 44 teams from across Cal Poly competed in the initial phase of the 2017 competition.