With a surprising twist, elementary school students have selected the recipients of the University of Nebraska Lincoln University's 8th Annual Innovation Challenge. A team of students from six universities across the campus have designed products that will help children aged 10-12 to take vitamins without parental reminders, using entrepreneurial technology and artificial intelligence tools.
The 33 competitors represent universities in Business, Arts, Science, Engineering, Journalism and Mass Communications, and Hixon represents amazing and amazing arts and performing arts. They built a child persona for feedback and developed paper prototypes to realize the concept.
“It's entrepreneurship,” says Samantha Faircrow, an associate professor of practice in management, which raises new challenges each year. “Experimentation and prototyping are fundamental to the entrepreneur's process. Put the idea in the hands of a potential customer and ask, “Does this solve your problem?”
Marcus Heland, a junior in Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, arrived at the competition with an open mind, knowing it was a class requirement.
“I thought I was sitting in the classroom and listening to someone else's lecture for seven hours. Instead, I was happy to be able to get a hands-on experience using my brain while catering to a young crowd,” Heland said.
Elementary school judges were forced to move from a sophisticated academic pitch to their competitors to a child-friendly presentation.
“When the kids came in as judges, it was a bit nervous,” said Anas Elbacher, a senior computer science and management major in Papillion, Nebraska. “We had a pitch for the adult judges, so we had to adapt quickly.”
After the pitch, the judges asked about costs, design, colour and more. They eventually chose a team consisting of Emma Cassadey, a senior marketing and business analytics major from Bellaria, Italy. Slade Lees, a junior advertising and public relations major in Spring Texas. Nikolay Shisoyev, senior business management major in Sarasota, Florida.
Their victory concept was Zippy, an interactive reminder device that provides gentle cues for playing music and taking vitamins.
“The key to our victory was to choose the name Zippy and make it interactive,” Casadei said. “Children don't want to be treated like little ones. They want technology and independence.”
Sysoev shared how the team originally designed Zippy as a speaker to stop music, but changed courses after feedback from children's testers.
“In the beginning, our prototype wasn't good,” Sisov said. “The kids who tested it said they liked it as a friend who reminded you, not as a boss who would stop your music.”
Lease added that adjusting the pitch also makes a difference.
“All kids want to act a little more grown-up. When pitching, we changed our presentation to suit our age range,” he said. “It's really important to know your audience, and that's something you hear all the time in your class, but this assignment made it a reality.”
The young judges enjoyed their roles and left a new impression on the university.
“I wanted to go to college later, so I wanted to see how this experience worked,” said Raygan Schultz of Piertle Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska. “I forgot to take vitamins from time to time, so this project was about what I could really use.
Her fellow judge, Cyrus Rodriguez of Arnold Elementary School in Lincoln, said the most difficult part was adjusting to so many college students when they pitched their ideas. However, he listened closely to their ideas to choose the winner.
“The deciding factor was that Zippy was a fellow capable of playing music,” Rodriguez said. “It was really good to meet all the people and tell the college students who won.”
The Innovation Challenge attracts students from a variety of fields looking to develop teamwork skills in a design environment aimed at clients and adapt to new situations and feedback.
“The best part was that after brainstorming together, we were able to actually hold something in our hands and make it, and we also had to adapt to seeing who the judges were,” Elbacher said.
Fairclough says that's exactly the point and whether the students have adjusted or not, they know the next time now.
“It's not just about entrepreneurship, it's about using the true things that's been tested and introducing new technology,” Fairclough said. “It's about testing, learning, adapting, and knowing your audience.”
