Competition Process | Inspired Ideas Competition
Registering your Team and Idea
Fill out using your pacificu.edu account the Google Forms (link below) to share with us your idea on how you can solve a problem- its that simple!
Not sure if your idea fits? contact the Director of the Berglund Center at any time.
The registration form is found here. Email questions to jasoria@pacificu.edu .
Idea Presentation & Competition
The framing of the “problem” you are trying to solve by your innovative idea (where it lives, what it is, how it affects or impacts people, etc), and your proposed solution to the problem are the focus of the presentation. Highlighting your own unique approach to how your solution is different and how you envision it to work. Details are important, so if you need specific equipment (3-D printer, consulting services, etc.) this is the place to disclose that.
We are judging your team's understanding of the problem and your teams understanding of the proposed solution
Teams will have 5 minutes to make their presentations and “pitch” their ideas to a panel of judges.
Judges will be responsible for selecting the winning teams. In addition, every member of the public that attends the presentations will be given a scoring sheet, and their input will be crucial to decide the winners
Above all, we want the experience to be fun and creative, so feel free to break with the mold of powerpoint presentations and take all the freedom you need (within reason) to share with us your ideas and convince us to fund you.
Judging Metrics and Criteria (Actual guidelines used by the judges)
The Purpose
The purpose of this competition is to promote innovation and creativity among all fields of study at Pacific University. This means that innovation, or a creative solution to a problem is highly valued. Teams that have created, invented or improved elements of an existing service or product that has a well-defined need – and benefit- should be recognized.
Key factors to consider are uniqueness, innovative merit and a clear need identified for the service or product. The presentation should clearly describe what the envisioned product or service is and does. The benefits of the product or service should be emphasized, and the team must demonstrate that they understand the technical background of how their idea works (I.e. The team should have an idea of how the innovation should work and how it will benefit others- it doesn't mean you need to know engineering, coding, etc.). The presentation should state what is innovative and unique about the product or service. Finally, there should be a clear description of how the service or product creates value to someone. What real need does it solve?
The Service vs Product
We hope to evaluate in equal grounds services and products- keeping in mind that the human brain naturally gravitates towards physical products. So please be conscientious of this tendency when judging.
Additional Guidance
- Because this is not a business plan competition, we do not address distribution or marketing strategies, financial analyses, advisory panels, or business plans.
- The ideas can be, but do not need to be, brand new – they can be based on existing technology/services and/or modifications of existing technology/services for the purpose of generating a new creative product or service.
- For a winning entry, it should be reasonable to assume that the idea could be build to a prototype within an academic year.