The 4TH Annual InnovaIT Competition [InnovaIT 2017]
THE COMPETITION
The InnovaIT Competition was founded by Dr. Ivor D. Addo in 2014 to encourage IT innovation and technology entrepreneurship among undergraduate students. Students are offered an opportunity  to dream up innovative product ideas and work with various mentors and team members to bring their ideas to life in the form of a working technical prototype.

Undergraduate students with a passion for building software and/or hardware solutions, can propose an innovative mobile, wearable, social media, cloud, IoT (internet of things), big data, e-commerce and/or interactive advertising product idea and build a working prototype of the solution.

OBJECTIVES
  • To drive IT innovation among undergraduate students and showcase the promise of their ability to apply their newfound knowledge in business and technology to solve practical problems in the real-world.
  • Through this program, we hope to affect the regional community with an infusion of bright students who demonstrate a passion for technology, innovative thinking, and an entrepreneurial spirit.

​PROSPECTIVE PARTICIPANTS
All participants have to be currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at either Marquette University, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee, Fox Valley Technical College, Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC), Carroll University, or Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE).
  • Students can compete as either individuals or as a team. We strongly encourage students to form multidisciplinary teams. Each team can consist of up to 4 undergraduate students.
  • Participants must select a mentor of their choice to guide their work throughout the process. A mentor can be a Faculty member, University Staff member, or an Industry practitioner. 
  • Each team will compose a proposal featuring a solution to one of the competition topics (described below) and submit it for review in the first round. 10 participants (Teams/Individuals) will be selected as finalists to build their working prototype and demonstrate their work at the competition event.
  • Selected Marquette University finalists will be required to attend at least 3 of the planned weekend "hack-a-thon" sessions (i.e. coding, informational sessions, tutorials, etc.) as they embark on their journey to build a working prototype.
  • Finalists will submit and present their working prototype solution and business case during a 10-minute presentation in front of a panel consisting of Participating Faculty members, Industry Experts and fellow students

COMPETITION TOPICS
Interested participants can choose from one of the following competition topics or themes to compose their final proposal:
  1. STEM Education: Participants can attempt to build Mobile Apps that seek to foster Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education among middle school and high school students.
  2. The University Experience: Build innovative solutions that can be used to improve campus life and the learning experience at various Universities.
  3. Social Innovation: Build novel solutions to social problems in a bid to create value for regional communities and society at large.
  4. The Next Big Thing: Build an entrepreneurial solution for what you deem to be the "next big thing" to transform lives

Registration and Proposal Submission is entirely FREE. Simply complete the Proposal Form by Monday, March 6th 2017.


EVALUATION CRITERIA
The final presentations will be judged using the following criteria:
  • Novelty and Creativity of the product idea
  • Agile Project Planning -- knowledge and implementation of User Stories, effective Project Scheduling, etc.
  • Business-Technology Strategy -- Product Canvas, Business Case, etc.
  • Quality of Technical Design Artifacts -- ERD, Sequence Diagrams, Use Case diagrams, Swim Lanes diagram, Architecture, etc.
  • Overall User Experience -- Mockups, Wireframes, Usability, Story Telling, etc.
  • Completeness of the Technical Implementation -- Live Demo, Code Reviews via Hack-a-thons, etc.
  • Quality of the presentation -- timeliness, confidence, etc.

AWARDS
  • The Awards
    • Groups
      • First Prize Overall: 
        • Trophy
        • 1 iPad tablet for each team member (4 maximum)
      • Second Prize Overall:
        • 1 iPad tablet for one team member
        • 1 Android tablet for each participating team member (3 maximum)
      • Third Prize Overall
        • 1 Samsung Galaxy tablet for one team member
        • 1 Android tablet for each participating team member (3 maximum)
    • Individuals
      • First Prize Overall
        • Trophy
        • 1 Macbook laptop
      • Second Prize Overall
        • 1 iPad tablet
      • ​Third Prize Overall
        • 1 Android tablet
  • Additional Awards
    • ​Best Social Impact App
      • 1 iPad tablet
    • ​Best User Experience App
      • 1 iPad tablet
    • Most Valuable Person (MVP) - based on volunteer support at the hack-a-thons 
      • Android Tablet, T-Shirts, and other swag items
    • ​​Best Xamarin App
      • Microsoft - Xamarin T-Shirts
      • Additional Xamarin swag item
​

IMPORTANT DATES

  • Proposal Submission:                           Monday, March 6th.
  • Finalist Announcements:                  Wednesday, March 8th.
  • Semi-Final Video Presentations:  Friday, April 28th
  • Final Live Presentations & Awards:       Friday, May 5th: 4pm - 7.30pm
    ​[at Marquette University: Milwaukee, WI]

SPONSORS

  • Marquette University (College of Business - IT)
  • Microsoft
  • de-Hao Studios

QUESTIONS?

Contact:  Dr. Ivor D. Addo  
addoid@uwosh.edu

HACK-A-THON SESSIONS

[ONLY REQUIRED FOR FINALISTS]
Soft drinks and pizza will be provided at each hack-a-thon event.

To RSVP for a hack-a-thon event, contact: addoid@uwosh.edu

MILWAUKEE
Hack-a-thon 1: Sunday, 03/05 [4pm - 8pm] - Marquette University, Milwaukee WI (DS 265)
Hack-a-thon 2: Sunday, 03/26 [4pm - 8pm] - Marquette University, Milwaukee WI
Hack-a-thon 3: Sunday, 04/09 [4pm - 8pm] - Marquette University, Milwaukee WI
Hack-a-thon 4: Sunday, 04/23 [4pm - 8pm] - Marquette University, Milwaukee WI

OSHKOSH
Hack-a-thon 1: Sunday, 03/12 [4pm - 8pm] - UW-Oshkosh, Oshkosh WI
Hack-a-thon 2: Sunday, 04/02 [4pm - 8pm] - UW-Oshkosh, Oshkosh WI
Hack-a-thon 3: Sunday, 04/16 [4pm - 8pm] - UW-Oshkosh, Oshkosh WI
Hack-a-thon 4: Sunday, 04/23 [10am - 2pm] - UW-Oshkosh, Oshkosh WI
​