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Seahawk Innovation Challenge

Application Deadline: September 27th

The Seahawk Innovation Challenge was started in 2023 as a way to encourage innovative, interdisciplinary ideas from UNCW’s creative and entrepreneurial students. UNCW Undergraduate students from any major or class standing can apply. They will submit their ideas beginning in September, where the top 15 will move on to the mentorship round. Students will be paired with a mentor through UNCW's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The mentors will give them guidance to help move their ideas forward based on design thinking, lean startup principles, and Ice House Principles. These ideas will move forward to a "trade show" style competition, where students, faculty, staff, and community members will vote on their favorite ideas. The top three competitors will move on to a rapid-pitch competition, where the students will have six minutes to pitch their idea, and then answer questions posed by our judges. The top three ideas will win a cash prize.

 

2023 Competition Information

The inaugural Seahawk Innovation Challenge took place over the Fall 2023 semester. After receiving a $1700 grant from NC Idea, Jamie Stalfort and Jay Shach planned the competition with help of the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Fifteen students from all majors and disciplines applied, the top ten moved forward to a mentorship round with the CIE Mentor Group. After the students received mentorship on their ideas, the next round was a trade show where students could showcase their ideas and the public could vote on their favorite ideas in a variety of categories ranging from booth display to innovation. The students received over 100 votes, and the top three moved on to the final pitch round, where senior EBD major Owen Palmer, junior MKT major Mallory Gardner, and MFA student Kim Carr pitched their ideas to a panel of judges, who ranged from entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and educators. Owen Palmer took home first place and a $1,000 prize, Kim Carr took home second place and a $500 prize, and Mallory Gardner took home third place and a $200 prize.

FAQs

  • Student submissions are due on September 27th at 11:59 pm.
  • Students will compete in a tabling round on October 22nd in Congdon Hall.
  • The top three students/teams will compete in the final pitch round on October 29th.
  • Any UNCW undergraduate student from any major with a unique or innovative idea.
  • The idea could be for an invention, a product, service, or any innovative approach to solving a problem. It could be a mom and pop restaurant, a tech invention, a method for cleaning up the Cape Fear River; anything as long as it is innovative in some way!
  • Yes! Students may compete in teams or as an individual.
  • The application form will be launched in the Fall of 2024. You can find it here when it goes live!

Seahawk Innovation Challenge

Ready to bring your idea to life and learn more about what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Apply now to join the Seahawk Innovation Challenge
Apply here

Contact Us

Jamie Stalfort

Phone: (910) 962-3947

stalfortj@uncw.edu

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