The winning team, Maternal Innovations.
We understand the value of introducing students of all ages to innovation through science, technology, engineering, and math, so it should come as no surprise that we have supported Innovation Quest (iQ)—a campuswide competition led by Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE)—for five consecutive years. In addition to contributing $5,000 to support the 2018 competition, Jim Trial, Parsons Information Services Advisor, had the privilege of presenting the 3rd and 1st place awards. Ultimately, three winning teams took home $30,000 in prizes at the 2018 awards banquet, which was held on April 28th.
iQ 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.
More than 46 applicants representing 13 teams from across Cal Poly competed in the initial phase of the 2018 competition. Cal Poly’s CIE opens a world of entrepreneurial opportunity to Cal Poly students and faculty members and promotes entrepreneurial activity and dialogue across the university and throughout San Luis Obispo County. For more information, visit cie.calpoly.edu.