Five teams of Wichita State student innovators will compete to claim the inaugural Koch Innovation Challenge grand championship from 9-11 a.m. Friday, May 5, in the Experiential Engineering Building, Room 223, at Wichita State.
“By targeting freshmen and first-year transfer students for the Koch Innovation Challenge, we get them thinking in the entrepreneurial mindset early in their career,” said Royce Bowden, dean of the WSU College of Engineering.
The competition, which began with 19 teams, has served as an opportunity for enterprising WSU freshmen and transfer students to bring their greatest ideas to life by pitching prototypes and business proposals to a panel of local judges. The grand champion will represent WSU at the National Conference & Pitch Competition, hosted by The Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO), this fall.
“We are excited to see the tremendous support from the students, faculty and administration for the first Koch Innovation Challenge,” said Meredith Olson, vice president of community affairs at Koch Industries. “The students have truly embraced the spirit of innovation by creating products that add value to the lives of others.”
The five finalist teams’ ideas range from innovations focused on solving societal needs to products aimed at improving quality of life. They include:
- “d-Safe” – an electronic lock box with attached breathalyzer that will only return car keys if someone is below the legal blood-alcohol limit.
- “Out Cold” – a customizable pillow with air chambers that helps reduce sleep discomfort.
- “Picture This!” – a magnetic Polaroid-like photography prop.
- “Snail-shell Camper” – an ultra-lightweight camping shell that hooks onto a bicycle.
- “Stim Support” – a small box that children with ADHD or autism can play with to help them focus.
The grand champion will be announced at a private awards ceremony on Saturday, May 6, at the Hyatt Regency Wichita. A media alert announcing the winner will be sent on Monday, May 8.
About the Koch Innovation Challenge
The Koch Innovation Challenge, sponsored by Koch Industries, is an annual competition supporting the Wichita State University College of Engineering in fostering a culture of creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and teamwork among students. Cross-disciplinary teams of new freshmen and transfer students studying engineering, art and design, business and other disciplines will compete for funding and scholarships to invent products and technologies via a freshman introductory course. The grand champions of the competition will compete nationally at a collegiate entrepreneurs’ conference.
About Wichita State University
The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. WSU enrolls about 14,500 students and offers more than 50 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in six undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers an extensive program including more than 40 master's degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas; a specialist in education degree; and doctoral degrees in applied mathematics; audiology; chemistry; communication sciences and disorders; human factors and community/clinical psychology; educational leadership; nursing practice; physical therapy; and aerospace, electrical, industrial and mechanical engineering. WSU's Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology.