For the third consecutive year, University of Wisconsin students of all backgrounds are encouraged to express their creativity and entrepreneurial skills by participating in the Wiscontrepreneur 100-Hour Challenge.
The Challenge, which is sponsored by the UW Office of Corporate Relations, and made possible by a grant from the Kauffman foundation, is set to begin Wednesday Feb. 18.
The competition invites students from UW, Edgewood College and MATC to turn $15 worth of surplus material into an innovative final product with only 100 hours of work time.
According to UW Surplus With a Purpose Inventory Control Supervisor Matt Thies, the individuals or teams will be able choose from a variety of interesting materials taken from buildings around campus to use for their projects.
The “SWAP shop,” primarily located in Verona, will set up a large selection of supplies in the Sellery Hall basement, allowing easy access for students. The basement will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both Wednesday, Feb. 18, and Thursday, Feb. 19, for participants to browse and select materials for their projects.
Contestants will then have to complete their invention along with an electronic presentation including digital photos, a slideshow, and a video of the functioning finished product by Sunday, Feb. 22.
Doug Bradley, UWOCR assistant director of marketing and communications, said some interesting past creations have included a fishing reel generator, decorative wall sconce and an alarm to prevent old space heaters from causing fires.
He added that some of the inventors who participated in the competition have pursued further business plans to market their products.
According to Bradley, $300 prizes will be given out for the most creative, socially valued and monetarily valuable creations, along with a $100 prize to be awarded to the product that receives the most online views
Although only some of the inventors will receive prizes, Bradley said everyone who participates gets something important out of their experience by forcing themselves to be creative and stretching their minds while having fun as they invent.
Bradley said the challenge provides a unique experience because it is open to all kinds of talented students who are not formally educated in entrepreneurship through business schools.
“About 85 percent of the curriculum that is taught at United States colleges about entrepreneurship is in the schools of business, but only 20 percent of the entrepreneurs come from there,” Bradley said.
Since 2007, the Kauffman Foundation has given the UW OCR a five-year $4,000,000 grant to address this issue, Bradley added.
Bradley went on to say the 100-Hour Challenge is just one of many projects the OCR has been working on to make the most of Wisconsin’s entrepreneurial talent.
“Our whole mission is to take entrepreneurship practices, learning and experience campus wide, and then state wide,” Bradley said. “We eventually want Wisconsin to be branded as a place that gets entrepreneurship.”
